[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 28, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37210-37211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-17926]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R09-OAR-2009-0374; FRL-8936-5]
Adequacy Status of Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in Submitted
Attainment and Reasonable Further Progress Plan for Sacramento 8-hour
Ozone for Transportation Conformity Purposes; California
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of adequacy and inadequacy.
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SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that the Agency
has found that the motor vehicle emissions budgets for the years 2011,
2014 and 2017 from the Sacramento Regional 8-Hour Ozone Attainment and
Reasonable Further Progress Plan (``2009 Sacramento Ozone Plan''), are
adequate for transportation conformity purposes. In this notice, EPA is
also notifying the public that the Agency has found that the motor
vehicle emissions budgets for the year 2018 from the 2009 Sacramento
Ozone Plan are inadequate for transportation conformity purposes. The
2009 Sacramento Ozone Plan was submitted to EPA on April 17, 2009 by
the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as a revision to the
California State Implementation Plan (SIP). As a result of our adequacy
findings, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) and the
U.S. Department of Transportation must use the adequate budgets and
cannot use the inadequate budget in future transportation conformity
analyses once the finding becomes effective.
DATES: This finding is effective August 12, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kelly, U.S. EPA, Region IX, Air
Division AIR-2, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901;
(415) 947-4151 or [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 CARB on July 16, 2009
stating that the motor vehicle emissions budgets in the submitted 2009
Sacramento Ozone Plan for the reasonable further progress (RFP)
milestone years of 2011, 2014 and 2017 are adequate. The finding is
available at EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/adequacy.htm. The adequate motor vehicle
emissions budgets are provided in the following table:
Adequate Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets
[summer planning]
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Reactive organic
Budget year gases \1\ (tons Nitrogen oxides
per day) (tons per day)
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2011............................ 38 78
2014............................ 32 61
[[Page 37211]]
2017............................ 29 48
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\1\ Reactive organic gases (ROG) is the term used in the plan and is
comparable to the Federal term, volatile organic compounds (VOC).
Our letter dated July 16, 2009 also states that budgets for 2018
are inadequate for transportation conformity purposes. The 2018 budgets
include estimated emission reductions associated with a number of
commitments for future rule adoption that lack specificity. As such,
the SACOG would not be able to accurately quantify future emission
reductions associated with the commitments. Without additional
specificity, it is also unclear how the 2018 budgets are precisely
quantified or related to the overall emissions inventory and other
measures. Therefore, the 2018 budgets do not meet the adequacy criteria
found in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4)(iii), (iv), and (v). The inadequate motor
vehicle emissions budgets are provided in the following table:
Inadequate Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets
[summer planning]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reactive organic
Budget year gases \1\ (tons Nitrogen oxides
per day) (tons per day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018............................ 24 34
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Reactive organic gases (ROG) is the term used in the plan is
comparable to the Federal term, volatile organic compounds (VOC).
Acting in response to a request by CARB for parallel processing of
the final, but not yet adopted, 2009 Sacramento Ozone Plan and related
budgets, we announced availability of the plan and related budgets on
EPA's transportation conformity Web site on March 18, 2009. We received
no comments in response to the adequacy review posting. The finding is
available at EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/adequacy.htm.
Transportation conformity is required by Clean Air Act section
176(c). EPA's conformity rule requires that transportation plans,
transportation improvement programs, and projects conform to state air
quality implementation plans (SIPs) 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) which was promulgated in our August 15, 1997 final
rule (62 FR 43780, 43781-43783). We have further described our process
for determining the adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in our July 1,
2004 final rule (69 FR 40004, at 40038), and we used the information in
these resources in making our adequacy determination. Please note that
an adequacy review is separate from EPA's completeness review, and
should not be used to prejudge EPA's ultimate approval action for the
SIP. Even if we find a budget adequate, the SIP could later be
disapproved.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: July 16, 2009.
Laura Yoshii,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. E9-17926 Filed 7-27-09; 8:45 am]
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