[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 188 (Monday, September 29, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55950-55951]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24559]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[AZ-096-FIN; FRL-7564-3]


Adequacy Status of the Maricopa County, Arizona, Submitted CO 
Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan for Transportation 
Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy.

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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 
Maricopa County 2003 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Redesignation Request and 
Maintenance Plan are adequate for conformity purposes.
    As a result of our finding, the Maricopa Association of Governments 
and the U.S. Department of Transportation must use the CO motor vehicle 
emissions budgets from the submitted CO Redesignation Request and 
Maintenance Plan for future conformity determinations.

DATES: This determination is effective October 14, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The finding is available at EPA's 
conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/conform/adequacy.htm, (once there, click on the ``What SIP submissions has EPA 
already found adequate or inadequate?'' button.)

[[Page 55951]]

    You may also contact Wienke Tax, U.S. EPA, Region IX, Air Division 
AIR-2, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901; (520) 622-
1622 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice announces our finding that the 
emissions budgets contained in the submitted Maricopa County 2003 
Carbon Monoxide (CO) Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan, 
submitted by the State of Arizona on behalf of the Maricopa Association 
of Governments, are adequate for conformity purposes. EPA Region IX 
made this finding in a letter to the State of Arizona, Department of 
Environmental Quality, on September 10, 2003. We are also announcing 
this finding on our conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/conform/adequate.htm, (once there, click on the ``What SIP 
submissions has EPA already found adequate or inadequate?'' button).
    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 motor vehicle 
emissions budgets, when considered together with all other emissions 
sources, are consistent with applicable requirements for a maintenance 
plan. We have preliminarily determined that the MAG 2003 CO 
Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan meets the necessary 
emissions reductions and therefore, the motor vehicle emissions budgets 
can be found adequate. Please note that an adequacy review is separate 
from EPA's completeness review which is required by section 110(k)(1) 
of the Clean Air Act, and it also should not be used to prejudge EPA's 
ultimate approval of the submitted plan itself. Even if we find a 
budget adequate, the submitted plan could later be disapproved.
    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 MAG 2003 CO 
Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan.

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

    Dated: September 12, 2003.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 03-24559 Filed 9-26-03; 8:45 am]
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