[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 104 (Friday, May 28, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30641-30642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-12274]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[CA305-0457; FRL-7668-2]


Adequacy Status of the Southeast Desert and Ventura County, CA; 
1-Hour Ozone Progress and Attainment Plans 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 California State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) submittals for progress and attainment of the 
1-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in the 
Southeast Desert and Ventura County nonattainment areas are adequate 
for transportation conformity purposes. As a result of our finding, the 
Southern California Association of Governments, the Federal Highway 
Administration, and the Federal Transit Authority must use the motor 
vehicle emissions budgets from the submitted plan for future conformity 
determinations.

DATES: This determination is effective June 14, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The finding is available at EPA's 
conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/conform/reg9sips.htm. You may also contact Dave Jesson, U.S. EPA, Region IX, 
Air Division, AIR-2, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901; 
(415) 972-3957 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice announces our finding that the 
following emissions budgets contained in revisions to the 1-hour ozone 
progress and attainment SIP for the Southeast Desert Modified AQMA 
Area, submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on May 4, 
2004, are adequate for transportation conformity purposes: 1-hour ozone 
budgets for volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides 
(NOX) for the years 2005 and 2007. These budgets relate to 
the 2004 update to the Southeast Desert Ozone Attainment Plan, which 
consists of: (1) The Mojave Desert District Final 2004 Ozone Attainment 
Plan, adopted on April 26, 2004; (2) the 2004 Antelope Valley District 
Ozone Attainment Plan, adopted on April 20, 2004; and (3) the Coachella 
Valley Ozone Attainment Demonstration in the 2003 South Coast Air 
Quality Management Plan, adopted on August 1 and November 7, 2003.
    This notice also announces our finding that the 2005 VOC and 
NOX emissions budgets contained in revisions to the 1-hour 
ozone progress and attainment SIP for Ventura County, submitted by CARB 
on April 21, 2004, are adequate for transportation conformity purposes. 
These budgets are included in the Ventura County 2004 Air Quality 
Management Plan Revision adopted on April 13, 2004.
    EPA Region IX made these findings in letters to CARB on May 21, 
2004. We are also announcing these findings on our conformity Web site: 
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/conform/reg9sips.htm.
    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 conform. 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 
emissions 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 
attainment or maintenance (as appropriate) of the relevant ambient air 
quality standard. We have preliminarily determined that the Southeast 
Desert and Ventura County SIP submittals provide for progress and 
attainment of the 1-hour ozone NAAQS, and that the budgets associated 
with the plans are consistent with the plan and, therefore, can be 
found adequate.

[[Page 30642]]

    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 budgets in the Southeast Desert and Ventura County 
SIP submittals.

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

    Dated: May 21, 2004.
Thomas Huetteman,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 04-12274 Filed 5-27-04; 8:45 am]
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