[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 113 (Wednesday, June 13, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32646-32647]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-11413]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[R08-CO-2007-0002; FRL-8326-9]


Adequacy Determination for the Denver and Longmont, CO, Carbon 
Monoxide and Denver PM10 Maintenance Plans' Motor Vehicle 
Emissions Budgets for Transportation Conformity Purposes; State of 
Colorado

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy.

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SUMMARY: With a letter signed September 25, 2006, the State of Colorado 
submitted revised maintenance plans for carbon monoxide for Denver and 
Longmont, Colorado, and a revised maintenance plan for PM10 
for Denver, Colorado (the ``maintenance plans''). In this document, EPA 
is notifying the public that we have found adequate for transportation 
conformity purposes the following motor vehicle emissions budgets from 
the maintenance plans: The 2021 carbon monoxide motor vehicle emissions 
budget from the Denver carbon monoxide maintenance plan, the 2020 
carbon monoxide motor vehicle emissions budget from the Longmont carbon 
monoxide maintenance plan, and the 2022 PM10 and 
NOX motor vehicle emissions budgets from the Denver 
PM10 maintenance plan. 40 CFR 93.118(e)(2) requires that EPA 
declare an implementation plan submission's motor vehicle emissions 
budgets adequate for conformity purposes prior to the budgets being 
used to satisfy the conformity requirements of 40 CFR part 93. As a 
result of our finding, the Denver Regional Council of Governments as 
the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Colorado Department of 
Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation are required 
to use the motor vehicle emissions budgets identified above for future 
transportation conformity determinations.

DATES: This finding is effective June 28, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Kimes, Air & Radiation Program 
(8P-AR), United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, 1595 
Wynkoop, Denver, Colorado 80202, (303) 312-6445, [email protected].
    The letters documenting our finding are available at EPA's 
conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/reg8sips.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document we, us, or our, are 
used to mean EPA.
    This action is simply an announcement of a finding that we have 
already made. We sent letters to the State of Colorado, Department of 
Public Health and Environment on May 3, 2007, stating that the 2021, 
2020, and 2022 motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEB) in the submitted 
Denver and Longmont carbon monoxide maintenance plans and the Denver 
PM10 maintenance plan are adequate. These findings will also 
be announced on our conformity Web site at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/reg8sips.htm.
    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act. The conformity rules at 40 CFR part 93 require that 
transportation plans, programs, and projects conform to SIPs and 
establish 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 MVEBs are 
adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). 
Please note that an adequacy review is separate from our completeness 
review, and it also should not be used to prejudge our ultimate 
approval of the SIP. Even if we find a budget adequate, the SIP could 
later be disapproved, and vice versa.
    The process for determining the adequacy of a transportation 
conformity budget is described at 40 CFR 93.118(f).
    The 2021, 2020, and 2022 MVEBs from the Denver and Longmont, 
Colorado carbon monoxide and PM10 maintenance plans are as 
follows:

[[Page 32647]]



                                                 Carbon Monoxide
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                                                                                                Emission budget
                  Year                        Maintenance area              Pollutant            (tons per day)
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2021...................................  Denver...................  Carbon Monoxide..........               1600
2020...................................  Longmont.................  Carbon Monoxide..........                 43
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                                                      PM10
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                                                                                                Emission budget
                  Year                        Maintenance area              Pollutant            (tons per day)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022...................................  Denver...................  PM10.....................                 55
2022...................................  Denver...................  Nitrogen Oxides (NOX)....                 56
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    40 CFR 93.118(e)(1) requires that upon a finding of adequacy these 
budgets must be used in transportation conformity determinations unless 
the maintenance plan is later disapproved by EPA.
    We note that the submitted Denver, Colorado, carbon monoxide 
maintenance plan proposes revisions to the previously approved 2013 
carbon monoxide MVEB for Denver. The submitted Longmont, Colorado, 
carbon monoxide maintenance plan proposes changes to the previously 
approved 2010 and 2015 carbon monoxide MVEBs for Longmont. The 
submitted Denver, Colorado, PM10 maintenance plan proposes 
changes to the previously approved 2015 PM10 and 
NOX MVEBs for Denver. However, 40 CFR 93.118 (e)(1) does not 
allow budgets in submitted plans to supersede MVEBs in approved 
implementation plans for the same Clean Air Act requirement and the 
same years addressed by a previously approved implementation plan 
unless EPA specifies otherwise in its approval of a SIP, a circumstance 
that does not apply here. Thus, this adequacy finding does not make any 
changes to these previously approved budgets. These budgets will be 
addressed in EPA's action regarding the approval or disapproval of the 
maintenance plans.
    The submitted Denver PM10 maintenance plan includes a 
budget trading protocol for calculating the PM10 and 
NOX budgets for each conformity determination. That protocol 
will be addressed in EPA's action to approve or disapprove the 
maintenance plan; this adequacy finding has no bearing on that action 
and does not authorize the use of the budget trading protocol.

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

    Dated: June 1, 2007.
Kerrigan G. Clough,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 8.
 [FR Doc. E7-11413 Filed 6-12-07; 8:45 am]
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