[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 5, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 31069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-10770]



[[Page 31069]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R01-OAR-2007-0373; A-1-FRL-8321-6]


Adequacy Status of the Submitted 2009 Early Progress Direct 
PM2.5 and NOX Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets for 
Transportation Conformity Purposes; Connecticut; New York-Northern New 
Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT PM2.5 Area

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 2009 motor vehicle emissions budgets in the April 17, 2007 
Connecticut State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision are adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes. The submittal included MOBILE6.2 
motor vehicle emissions budgets for 2009 for the Connecticut portion of 
the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT PM2.5 
Area. On March 2, 1999, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that budgets in 
submitted SIPs cannot be used for conformity determinations until EPA 
has affirmatively found them adequate. As a result of our finding, the 
State of Connecticut can use the MOBILE6.2 motor vehicle emissions 
budgets from the submitted plan for future conformity determinations 
for the Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long 
Island, NY-NJ-CT PM2.5 area.

DATES: These motor vehicle emissions budgets are effective June 20, 
2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donald O. Cooke, Environmental 
Scientist, Air Quality Planning Unit, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, One Congress Street, Suite 
1100 (CAQ), Boston, MA 02114-2023, (617) 918-1668, 
[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 New England sent a letter to Connecticut Department 
of Environmental Protection on May 24, 2007, stating that the 2009 
MOBILE6.2 motor vehicle emissions budgets in the April 17, 2007 State 
Implementation Plans (SIPs) are adequate for transportation conformity 
purposes. This finding will also be announced on EPA's conformity Web 
site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/adequacy.htm, 
(once there, click on ``What SIP submissions has EPA already found 
adequate or inadequate?''). The adequate motor vehicle emissions 
budgets (MVEBs) are provided in the following table:

                Adequate Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Direct PM2.5      NOX  (tons per
                                     (tons per year)         year)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year 2009 MVEBs for the                           360             18,279
 Connecticut portion of the New
 York-Northern New Jersey-Long
 Island, NY-NJ-CT PM2.5 Area......
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 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 we determine whether a SIP's motor vehicle 
emission budgets are adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in 
40 CFR 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 we find a budget 
adequate, the SIP could later be disapproved.
    We have described our process for determining the adequacy of 
submitted SIP budgets in a May 14, 1999 memorandum entitled 
``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 1999 Conformity 
Court Decision.'' Additional guidance on EPA's adequacy process was 
published in a July 1, 2004 Federal Register final rulemaking, 
``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'' (69 FR 40004). We followed this guidance in making our 
adequacy determination.

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

    Dated: May 29, 2007.
Robert W. Varney,
Regional Administrator, EPA New England.
 [FR Doc. E7-10770 Filed 6-4-07; 8:45 am]
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