[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 35 (Thursday, February 21, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8017-8018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-4259]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[CA071-NOA; FRL-7148-5]


Adequacy Status for Transportation Conformity Purposes of the 
Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in the San Francisco Bay Area Ozone 
Attainment Plan

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy status.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that it has found 
the motor vehicle emissions budgets in the submitted San Francisco Bay 
Area Ozone Attainment Plan for the 1-Hour National Ozone Standard 
(adopted October 24, 2001) are adequate for transportation conformity 
purposes.

DATES: The adequacy finding is effective March 8, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: This notice, the findings letter and 
its enclosures (giving the basis for the adequacy finding and responses 
to public comments) are available on EPA's conformity web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/traq, (once there, click on the ``Conformity'' button, 
then

[[Page 8018]]

look for ``Adequacy Review of SIP Submissions for Conformity''). You 
may also contact Ginger Vagenas, U.S. EPA, Region IX, Air Division AIR-
2, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 972-3964 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Note: In this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and ``our'' refer to EPA.

    Today's notice is an announcement of a finding that we have already 
made. On February 14, 2002, EPA Region IX sent a letter to the 
California Air Resources Board (CARB), stating that motor vehicle 
emission budgets in the San Francisco Bay Area Ozone Attainment Plan 
for the 1-Hour National Ozone Standard (revised September 2001 and 
submitted by CARB on November 30, 2001) are adequate for transportation 
conformity purposes. These budgets are for the year 2006 and are 164.0 
tons per day of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and 270.3 tons per day 
of nitrogen oxides (NOX).
    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act (CAA). Our conformity rule requires that transportation 
plans, programs, and projects conform to state air quality 
implementation plans (SIPs) and establishes the criteria and procedures 
for determining whether or not they do. Conformity to a SIP means that 
transportation activities will not cause new air quality violations, 
worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of the national 
ambient air quality standards.
    The criteria by which we determine whether a SIP's motor vehicle 
emission budgets are adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in 
40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). An adequacy review is separate from the SIP 
completeness review required by CAA section 110(k)(1). In addition, it 
should not be used to prejudge our ultimate action on the SIP. Even 
when we find budgets in a SIP adequate for transportation conformity 
purposes, we may still later disapprove the SIP.
    We have described our process for determining the adequacy of 
submitted SIP budgets in guidance (May 14, 1999 memo titled 
``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 1999 Conformity 
Court Decision''). We followed this guidance in making our adequacy 
determination.

    Dated: February 14, 2002.
Wayne Nastri,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 02-4259 Filed 2-20-02; 8:45 am]
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