[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 141 (Friday, July 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43979-43980]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16832]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[R04-OAR-2004-NC-0002-200422; FRL-7791-6]


Adequacy Status of the Raleigh/Durham and Greensboro/Winston-
Salem/High Point, NC 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan Updates 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 EPA has found 
that the motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEB) in the Raleigh/Durham 
area (Durham and Wake Counties and a portion of Granville County) and 
Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point area (Davidson, Forsyth, and 
Guilford Counties, and a portion of Davie County) 1-hour ozone 
maintenance plan updates, submitted June 4, 2004, by the North Carolina 
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), are adequate 
for transportation conformity purposes. On March 2, 1999, the DC 
Circuit Court ruled that submitted State Implementation Plans (SIPs) 
cannot be used for transportation conformity determinations until EPA 
has affirmatively found them adequate. As a result of EPA's finding, 
the Raleigh/Durham and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point areas can 
use the MVEB from the submitted Raleigh/Durham area and Greensboro/
Winston-Salem/High Point area 1-hour ozone maintenance plan updates, 
respectively, for future conformity determinations.

DATES: These MVEB are effective August 9, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Laurita, Environmental Engineer, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, Air Planning Branch, 
Air Quality Modeling and Transportation Section, 61 Forsyth Street, 
SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Mr. Laurita can also be reached by 
telephone at (404) 562-9044, or via electronic mail at 
[email protected]. The finding is available at EPA's conformity 
Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp.htm (once there, click on the 
``Transportation Conformity'' text icon, then look for ``Adequacy 
Review of SIP Submissions'').

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Today's notice is simply an announcement of a finding that EPA has 
already made. EPA Region 4 sent a letter to NCDENR on June 23, 2004, 
stating that the MVEB in the submitted Raleigh/Durham area and 
Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point area 1-hour ozone maintenance plan 
updates submitted on June 4, 2004, are adequate. This finding has also 
been announced on EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp.htm, (once there, click on the ``Transportation Conformity'' 
text icon, then look for ``Adequacy Review of SIP Submissions''). The 
adequate MVEB are provided in the following table.

                                            Raleigh/Durham Area MVEB
                                                 [Tons per day]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   County                                Pollutant              2007     2010     2012     2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Durham......................................  VOC...........................     8.30     6.77     5.94     5.26
                                              NOX...........................    15.29    11.35     9.09     6.49
Granville*..................................  VOC...........................     0.55     0.46     0.41     0.37
                                              NOX...........................     1.46     1.13     0.89     0.62
Wake........................................  VOC...........................    20.04    17.36    15.64    14.35

[[Page 43980]]

 
                                              NOX...........................    41.38    29.90    24.41   17.90
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*Partial County.


                                  Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point Area MVEB
                                                 [Tons per day]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   County                                Pollutant              2007     2010     2012     2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Davidson....................................  VOC...........................     5.77     4.73     4.38     3.94
                                              NOX...........................    10.49     7.79     6.36     4.72
Davie*......................................  VOC...........................     0.01     0.01     0.01     0.01
                                              NOX...........................     0.03     0.02     0.02     0.01
Forsyth.....................................  VOC...........................    12.06     9.93     9.12     8.14
                                              NOX...........................    19.53    14.49    11.83     8.79
Guilford....................................  VOC...........................    17.55    14.32    13.10    11.66
                                              NOX...........................    27.28    20.11    16.44   12.18
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Partial County.

    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990. EPA's conformity rule requires that 
transportation plans, programs and projects conform to State air 
quality implementation plans 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 EPA determines whether a SIP's MVEB are 
adequate for transportation conformity purposes are outlined in 40 Code 
of Federal Regulations 93.118(e)(4). Please note that an adequacy 
review is separate from EPA's completeness review, and it also should 
not be used to prejudge EPA's ultimate approval of the SIP. Even if EPA 
finds a budget adequate, the Agency may later determine that the SIP 
itself is not approvable.
    EPA has described the process for determining the adequacy of 
submitted SIP budgets in guidance (May 14, 1999 memorandum entitled 
``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 1999 Conformity 
Court Decision''). EPA has followed this guidance in making this 
adequacy determination. This guidance is incorporated into EPA's June 
14, 2004, final rulemaking entitled ``Transportation Conformity Rule 
Amendments for the New 8-hour Ozone and PM2.5 National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards and Miscellaneous Revisions for Existing 
Areas; Transportation Conformity Rule Amendments: Response to Court 
Decision and Additional Rule Changes.''

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

    Dated: July 14, 2004.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 04-16832 Filed 7-22-04; 8:45 am]
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