[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 158 (Tuesday, August 17, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51098-51100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-18724]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4912-N-10]


Air Quality Conformity Determination for the World Trade Center 
Memorial and Redevelopment Plan, City of New York, New York County, NY

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Conformity Rule, the Lower 
Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) has reviewed the air quality 
analysis conducted for the World Trade Center Memorial and 
Redevelopment Plan (the Selected Project pursuant to the June 2004 
Record of Decision and Lead Agency Findings Statement under the 
National Environmental Policy Act and New York State Environmental 
Quality Review Act). LMDC is a subsidiary of the New York State Urban 
Development Corporation d/b/a Empire State Development Corporation (a 
political subdivision and public benefit corporation of the State of 
New York) and, as the recipient of HUD Community Development Block 
Grant funds appropriated for the World Trade Center disaster recovery 
and rebuilding efforts, acts as the responsible entity for compliance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act, 42 
U.S.C. 7401 et seq. [particularly sections 7506(c) and (d)] in 
accordance with 24 CFR 58.4 and 58.5. LMDC released its Record of 
Decision and Lead Agency Findings Statement for the Selected Project on 
June 2, 2004, which includes responses to comments received on the 
Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement that was subject to public 
comment from April 16, 2004, through May 24, 2004.
    The Selected Project is located in Lower Manhattan, New York 
County, which has been designated by the United States Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) as a moderate non-attainment area for 
particulate matter less than 10 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter 
(PM10), and a severe non-attainment area for ozone. The area 
is in attainment of all other criteria pollutants: nitrogen dioxide 
(NO2), lead, sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon 
monoxide (CO). LMDC's review has been conducted consistent with the 
requirements of 40 CFR part 93, subpart B: ``Determining Conformity of 
General Federal Actions to State or Federal Implementation Plans' 
issued on November 30, 1993. LMDC has determined that, during some of 
the construction years, annual nitrogen oxide (NOX) 
emissions from all the portions of the Selected Project that may be 
federally-funded are predicted to exceed the de minimis threshold of 25 
tons per year; accordingly, LMDC prepared a general conformity 
determination to demonstrate that the federally-funded portions of the 
Selected Project conform with the ozone State Implementation Plan.
    Pursuant to the requirements of 40 CFR 93.156(b), the Draft 
Conformity Determination: World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment 
Plan were made available for public review beginning May 7, 2004. 
Notice of the draft determination was published in the New York Post on 
May 7, 2004, and copies of the draft determination were delivered to 
all applicable agencies pursuant to 40 CFR 93.155 that same day. In 
addition, the notice of availability of the draft determination and the 
proposed list of activities of the federally-funded portions of the 
Selected Project that are presumed to conform was published in the 
Federal Register on May 12, 2004 (69 FR 26403). One comment letter on 
the draft conformity determination was received by LMDC.
    As per the requirement in 40 CFR 93.153(h)(4), this notice lists 
the

[[Page 51099]]

activities that are presumed to conform and the basis for these 
presumptions. A comprehensive presentation of the bases for the 
conformity presumptions is included in the report entitled ``Final 
Conformity Determination: World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment 
Plan.'' The Final Conformity Determination also includes a summary of 
all comments received through the end of the comment period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Further information and a copy of the 
Final Conformity Determination may be obtained by contacting: William 
H. Kelley, Planning Project Manager, Lower Manhattan Development 
Corporation, One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006; 
Telephone: (212) 962-2300; Fax: (212) 962-2431; E-mail: 
[email protected]. The Final Conformity Determination is 
also available on the LMDC Web site at www.RenewNYC.com in the 
``Planning, Design & Development'' section.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    The Selected Project involves the construction of a World Trade 
Center Memorial and memorial-related improvements, as well as 
commercial, retail, museum and cultural facilities, new open space 
areas, new street configurations, and certain infrastructure 
improvements at the World Trade Center Site (WTC Site) bounded by 
Liberty, Church, and Vesey Streets and Route 9A and the Southern Site, 
which comprises two city blocks south of the WTC Site and portions of 
Liberty Street and Washington Street. As documented in the Final 
Conformity Determination, the federally-funded portions of the Selected 
Project might include portions of the following uses: (a) Cultural uses 
in the northwest and southwest quadrants of the WTC Site; (b) the 
Memorial; (c) open spaces; (d) deconstruction of the building at 130 
Liberty Street (Deutsche Bank); and (e) sub-grade construction at the 
Southern Site.
    The Clean Air Act (CAA), as amended in 1990, defines a non-
attainment area (NAA) as a geographic region that has been designated 
as not meeting one or more of the National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS). The Selected Project is located in Lower Manhattan, 
New York County, which has been designated by the EPA as a moderate NAA 
of the NAAQS for PM10 and severe NAA for ozone. No formal 
designation has been made to date regarding attainment of the NAAQS for 
fine particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in aerodynamic 
diameter (PM2.5), which became effective September 16, 1997. 
The area is in attainment of all other criteria pollutants: 
NO2, lead, SO2 and CO. EPA had re-designated New 
York City as in attainment for CO on April 19, 2002 (67 FR 19337); the 
CAA requires that a maintenance plan ensure continued compliance with 
the CO NAAQS for former NAAs.
    A State Implementation Plan (SIP) is a State's plan on how it will 
meet the NAAQS under the deadlines established by the CAA. In November 
1998, New York State submitted its Phase II Alternative Attainment 
Demonstration for Ozone, which addressed attainment of the NAAQS by 
2007, and has recently submitted revisions to the SIP for the 
attainment of the one-hour ozone NAAQS. These SIP revisions included 
additional emission reductions that EPA requested to demonstrate 
attainment of the standard and also update the SIP estimates using a 
new EPA model to predict mobile source emissions (MOBILE6).
    The general conformity requirements in 40 CFR part 93, subpart B, 
apply to those Federal actions that are located in a non-attainment or 
maintenance area, and that are not subject to transportation conformity 
requirements at 40 CFR part 51, subpart T, or part 93, subpart A, where 
the action's direct and indirect emissions have the potential to emit 
one or more of the six criteria pollutants (or precursors, in the case 
of ozone) at emission rates equal to or exceeding the prescribed rates 
at 40 CFR 93.153(b), or where the action encompasses 10 percent or more 
of a NAA or maintenance area's total emissions inventory for that 
pollutant. In the case of New York City, the prescribed annual rates 
are 25 tons of VOCs or NOX (severe ozone NAA), 100 tons of 
CO (maintenance area), and in New York County only, 100 tons of 
PM10 (moderate PM10 NAA).
    LMDC, as the recipient of HUD Community Development Block Grant 
Funds, has determined that the total annual direct and indirect 
emissions of CO, VOCs and PM10 from the Selected Project 
that could be applicable to the general conformity regulations are less 
than the rates prescribed in 40 CFR part 93 that would trigger the 
requirement to conduct a general conformity determination. Therefore, a 
general conformity determination for CO and PM10 emissions 
is not required. Temporarily, during some of the construction years, 
annual NOX emissions are predicted to exceed the prescribed 
rate of 25 tons per year; accordingly, LMDC has concluded that a 
determination of conformity with the ozone SIP is required.

B. Requirements of the Conformity Determination

    The purpose of the conformity analysis is to establish that the 
federally-funded portions of the Selected Project would conform to the 
New York ozone SIP, thereby demonstrating that total direct and 
indirect emissions of the ozone precursors, NOX and VOC, 
from the project would not:
     Cause or contribute to any new violation of any standard 
in the area,
     Interfere with provisions in the applicable SIP for 
maintenance of any standard,
     Increase the frequency or severity of any existing 
violation of any standard in any area, or
     Delay timely attainment of any standard or any required 
interim emission reductions or other milestones in the SIP for purposes 
of--
    1. A demonstration of reasonably further progress (RFP),
    2. A demonstration of attainment, or
    3. A maintenance plan.
    For the purposes of a general conformity determination, direct and 
indirect emissions are defined as follows (40 CFR 93.152):
     Direct Emissions: Those emissions of a criteria pollutant 
or its precursors that are caused or initiated by the Federal action 
and occur at the same time and place as the action;
     Indirect Emissions: Those emissions of a criteria 
pollutant or its precursors that--
    1. Are caused by the Federal action, but may occur later in time 
and/or may be further removed in distance from the action itself but 
are still reasonably foreseeable; and
    2. The Federal agency can practicably control and will maintain 
control over due to a continuing program responsibility of the Federal 
agency.
    LMDC has concluded that the pollutants of concern regarding the 
ozone SIP conformity are the ozone precursors: NOX and VOCs. 
These precursors were the basis for the ozone SIP analysis for the 
ozone NAA, and are therefore used for this general conformity 
determination. LMDC has determined that the only predicted emissions 
due to the Selected Project would include direct emissions from engines 
operating on-site during construction, and indirect emissions from 
construction-related vehicles traveling to and from the site.\1\
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    \1\ Pursuant to the direction of the Interagency Consultation 
Group, LMDC is coordinating with the New York State Department of 
Transportation, New York State Department of Environmental 
Conservation, EPA, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization in 
order to make transportation data from the operational phase of the 
Selected Project available for inclusion in the regional 
transportation Best Practices model and in the regional 
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

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[[Page 51100]]

C. Presumption of Conformity

    LMDC has reviewed the air quality analysis conducted for the 
Selected Project consistent with the requirement of 40 CFR part 93, 
``Determining Conformity of General Federal Actions to State or Federal 
Implementation Plans (SIP).''
    LMDC has determined that maximum predicted direct and indirect 
emissions of CO and PM10 from the federally funded portions 
of the Selected Project is predicted to be 58.0 and 3.2 tons per year, 
respectively. The CO and PM10 emissions would be below the 
prescribed level of 100 tons per year as defined at 40 CFR 93.153; 
therefore, no further conformity determination was deemed necessary for 
CO or PM10.
    The Selected Project would be located in an area designated as a 
severe ozone non-attainment area under the 1-hour average ozone NAAQS. 
The direct and indirect emissions during construction of the federally-
funded portions of the Selected Project were predicted to exceed the 
prescribed level for severe ozone non-attainment areas (25 tons per 
year of NOX). Therefore, LMDC has reviewed the local 
NOX and VOC emissions modeling analyses for the Selected 
Project and has determined the following:
     The methods for estimating direct and indirect emissions 
from the Selected Project meet the requirements of 40 CFR 93.159. The 
emissions scenario used in the air quality analysis is expected to 
produce the greatest off-site impacts on a daily and annual basis. Non-
road engine emissions were predicted using the NONROAD model--the 
latest EPA model for determining emissions from non-road engines. On-
road emissions were predicted using the MOBILE6 model--the latest EPA 
model for predicting emissions from on-road vehicles. Resuspension of 
road dust by on-road vehicles was estimated using the latest EPA 
guidance set forth in ``AP-42--Compilation of Emission Factors.'' All 
of the above emissions modeling procedures were conducted based on the 
latest EPA guidance.
     The federally-funded portion of the Selected Project was 
predicted to result in the following emissions of NOX and 
VOCs (total tons per year):

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                                                                             Year
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                                              2004    2005    2006    2007    2008            2009-2013
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NOX........................................     4.2    61.4    39.6    19.2    16.1  None.
VOCs.......................................     0.4     6.2     3.6     1.5     1.3  None.
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     Pursuant to 40 CFR 93.158(a)(5)(i)(A), the New York State 
Department of Environmental Conservation has determined and documented 
that the total of direct and indirect VOC and NOX emissions 
from the federally-funded portions of the Selected Project, together 
with all other emissions in the non-attainment area, would not exceed 
the emissions budget specified in the ``New York State Implementation 
Plan for Ozone--Phase II Alternative Attainment Demonstration.''
     The Selected Project does not cause or contribute to any 
new violation, or increase the frequency or severity of any existing 
violation, of the standards for the pollutants addressed in 40 CFR 
93.158.
     The Selected Project does not violate any requirements or 
milestones in the ozone SIP.
    Based on these determinations, the federally-funded portions of the 
Selected Project are presumed to conform to the applicable SIPs for the 
project area. The activities that are presumed to conform include 
construction-related activities of the portions of the Selected Project 
that may be federally-funded.
    Questions may be directed to the individual named above under the 
heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Dated: August 9, 2004.
Nelson R. Bregon,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development.
[FR Doc. 04-18724 Filed 8-16-04; 8:45 am]
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