[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 13124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-3588]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R09-OAR-2006-0147; FRL-8044-7]


Adequacy Determination for the Sacramento Eight-Hour Ozone 
Reasonable Further Progress Plan for Transportation Conformity 
Purposes; State of California

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 emissions budgets in the Sacramento 8-hour ozone 
reasonable further progress plan are adequate for conformity purposes. 
As a result of our finding, the Sacramento 8-hour ozone nonattainment 
area (which consists of all of Sacramento and Yolo counties, and 
portions of Placer, El Dorado, Solano, and Sutter counties) must use 
the motor vehicle emissions budgets from the submitted 8-hour ozone 
reasonable further progress plan.

DATES: This determination is effective March 29, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Jesson, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region IX, Air Planning Office (AIR-2), 75 Hawthorne Street, 
San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 972-3957, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we'', 
``us'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
    Today's notice is simply an announcement of a finding that we have 
already made. EPA Region IX sent a letter to the California Air 
Resources Board, dated February 24, 2006, stating that the motor 
vehicle emissions budgets for the year 2008 for the Sacramento 8-hour 
ozone reasonable further progress plan are adequate. This finding is 
also posted on EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/conform/pastsips.htm.
    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act. 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 demonstrate conformity. 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 SIP. We have 
preliminarily determined that the Sacramento 8-hour ozone reasonable 
further progress plan meets the necessary emission reduction 
requirements 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 action (approval or disapproval) on the submitted plan itself. 
Even if we find budgets 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''). This guidance is now reflected in the transportation 
conformity rule at 40 CFR 93.118(e), most recently amended on July 1, 
2004 (69 FR 40004) and July 20, 2004 (69 FR 43325). We followed this 
process in making our adequacy determination on the emissions budgets 
contained in the Sacramento 8-hour ozone reasonable further progress 
plan.
    The budgets for the Sacramento area for the year 2008 are as 
follows: 41 tons per day of volatile organic compounds and 75 tons per 
day of nitrogen oxides.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: March 1, 2006.
Laura Yoshii,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region IX.
 [FR Doc. E6-3588 Filed 3-13-06; 8:45 am]
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