[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 82 (Tuesday, April 29, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22694-22695]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-10549]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[CA089-NOT; FRL-7489-2]


Adequacy Status of the San Diego County, California Submitted 1-
Hour Ozone Redesignation to Attainment and Maintenance Plan for 
Transportation Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy determination.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that we have found 
that the motor vehicle emissions budgets contained in the submitted San 
Diego County, California serious 1-hour ozone nonattainment area 
redesignation request and maintemance plan are adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes. As a result of our finding, the San 
Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the Federal Highway 
Administration and the Federal Transit Authority must use the VOC and 
NOX motor vehicle emissions budgets from the submitted plan 
for future conformity determinations.

DATES: This determination is effective May 14, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The finding is available at EPA's 
conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq. Once there, go to 
``Transportation Conformity,'' then select ``Adequacy Web Pages.'' You 
may also contact John Kelly, U.S. EPA, Region IX, Air Division, AIR-2, 
75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 947-4151 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This notice announces our finding that the emissions budgets 
contained in the Ozone Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan for 
San Diego County,

[[Page 22695]]

submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on December 20, 
2002, are adequate for transportation conformity purposes. EPA Region 
IX made this finding in a letter to CARB on April 9, 2003. We are also 
announcing this finding on our conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq. Once there, go to ``Transportation Conformity,'' then select 
``Adequacy Web Pages.''
    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act. 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 produce 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). One of these criteria is that the plan provide for 
maintenance of the relevant ambient air quality standard. We have 
preliminarily determined that the San Diego County 1-hour ozone 
maintenance plan does provide for maintenance of the 1-hour ozone 
standards and, therefore, can be found adequate.
    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 on the emissions budgets contained in the San Diego 
County 1-hour ozone maintenance plan.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671 q.

    Dated: April 21, 2003.
Alexis Strauss,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 03-10549 Filed 4-28-03; 8:45 am]
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