[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 87 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21356-21357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10654]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

 [EPA-R06-OAR-2009-0202; FRL-8902-2]


Adequacy Status of the Crittenden County, AR Maintenance Plan 8-
Hour Ozone Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets for Transportation Conformity 
Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy.

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SUMMARY: EPA is notifying the public that it has found that the motor 
vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) in the Crittenden County, Arkansas 
Redesignation Request/Maintenance Plan State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
revision, submitted on February 24, 2009 and supplemented on March 6, 
2009, by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) are 
adequate for transportation conformity purposes. As a result of EPA's 
finding, Crittenden County must use these MVEBs for future conformity 
determinations for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard.

DATES: These MVEBs are effective May 22, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Riley, Air Planning Section, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, 
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733. Mr. Riley can also be reached by telephone at 
(214) 665-8542, or via electronic mail at [email protected]. The 
finding is available at EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/currsips.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is simply an announcement of a 
finding that EPA has already made. EPA Region 6 sent a letter to ADEQ 
on April 20, 2009, stating that the MVEBs in the Crittenden County 
Redesignation Request/Maintenance Plan SIP, submitted on February 24, 
2009 and supplemented on March 6, 2009, are adequate for the Crittenden 
County, Arkansas portion of the Memphis, Tennessee 1997 8-hour ozone 
nonattainment area and must be used for transportation conformity 
determinations in Crittenden County. The bi-state Memphis, Tennessee 8-
hour ozone nonattainment area (Area) is comprised of the following 
counties: Crittenden in Arkansas, and Shelby in Tennessee. Arkansas' 
Redesignation Request/Maintenance Plan submittal addresses only MVEBs 
for the Arkansas portion of this Area. The MVEBs for the Tennessee 
portion of this Area are addressed in a separate submittal provided by 
Tennessee. EPA is addressing the adequacy of the Tennessee MVEBs 
through a separate notice. EPA posted the availability of the 
Crittenden County budgets on EPA's Web site on March 11, 2009, as part 
of the adequacy process, for the purpose of soliciting comments. The 
comment period for the Arkansas submittal ran from March 11, 2009, 
through April 10, 2009. During EPA's adequacy comment period, no 
adverse comments were received on the Crittenden County on-road MVEBs. 
This finding has also been announced on EPA's conformity Web site: 
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/pastsips.htm.
    The adequate MVEBs are provided in the following table:

[[Page 21357]]



                Crittenden County, AR 8-Hour Ozone MVEBs
                             [Tons per day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Year                            NOX        VOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2006..............................................       6.27       2.95
2021..............................................       1.84       1.39
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act. EPA's conformity rule, 40 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) part 93, 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 so. 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 MVEBs are 
adequate for transportation conformity purposes are outlined in 40 CFR 
93.118(e)(4). We have also described the process for determining the 
adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in our 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'' (69 FR 40004). Please note that an adequacy review is 
separate from EPA's completeness review, and it should not be used to 
prejudge EPA's ultimate approval of the Crittenden County Maintenance 
Plan SIP revision submittal. Even if EPA finds a budget adequate, the 
Maintenance Plan SIP revision submittal could later be disapproved.
    Within 24 months from the effective date of this notice, the 
transportation partners will need to demonstrate conformity to the new 
MVEBs if the demonstration has not already been made, pursuant to 40 
CFR 93.104(e). See, 73 FR 4419 (January 24, 2008).

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

    Dated: April 29, 2009.
Lawrence E. Starfield,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. E9-10654 Filed 5-6-09; 8:45 am]
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