[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 87 (Friday, May 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 24037]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-9213]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[R04-OAR-2005-NC-0002-200508; FRL-7909-2]


Adequacy Status of the Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, and Winston-
Salem, NC Carbon Monoxide 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 Charlotte 
(Mecklenburg County), Raleigh/Durham (Durham and Wake Counties), and 
Winston-Salem (Forsyth County) carbon monoxide maintenance plan 
updates, submitted March 23, 2005, 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 
Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, and Winston-Salem areas can use the MVEB 
from the submitted Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, and Winston-Salem carbon 
monoxide maintenance plan updates, respectively, for future conformity 
determinations.

DATES: These MVEB are effective May 23, 2005.

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 April 29, 2005, 
stating that the MVEB in the submitted Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, and 
Winston-Salem carbon monoxide maintenance plan updates submitted on 
March 23, 2005, 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 tables.

                           Charlotte Area MVEB
                             [Tons per day]
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                County                         Pollutant           2015
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Mecklenburg..........................  CO......................   470.18
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                        Raleigh/Durham Area MVEB
                             [Tons per day]
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                County                         Pollutant           2015
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Durham...............................  CO......................   177.22
Wake.................................  CO......................   384.27
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                         Winston-Salem Area MVEB
                             [Tons per day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                County                         Pollutant           2015
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Forsyth..............................  CO......................   247.64
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    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 July 
1, 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: April 29, 2005.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 05-9213 Filed 5-5-05; 8:45 am]
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