[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 42 (Thursday, March 4, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9893-9894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-4551]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[R08-CO-2010-0001; FRL-9121-8]


Adequacy Determination for the Denver Metro Area and North Front 
Range 8-Hour Ozone Attainment Plan's 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: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that the Agency 
has found that the motor vehicle emissions budgets for nitrogen oxides 
(NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) contained in the 
Denver Metro Area and North Front Range 8-Hour Ozone Attainment Plan 
(hereafter ``Denver/NFR Ozone Attainment Plan'') are adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes. The Denver/NFR Ozone Attainment 
Plan was submitted to EPA as a revision to the State Implementation 
Plan (SIP) on June 18, 2009, by James B. Martin, Director, Colorado 
Department of Public Health and Environment. As a result of our 
finding, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), the North 
Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization (NFR MPO), the Colorado 
Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation 
are required to use these motor vehicle emissions budgets for future 
transportation conformity determinations once this finding becomes 
effective.

DATES: This finding is effective March 19, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Russ, Air Program (8P-AR), United 
States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop Street, 
Denver, Colorado 80202-1129, (303) 312-6479, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our,'' are used, we mean EPA.
    This notice is simply an announcement of a finding that we have 
already made. EPA sent a letter to the Colorado Department of Public 
Health and Environment (CDPHE) on January 21, 2010, stating that the 
motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEB) in the submitted Denver/NFR 
Ozone Attainment Plan are adequate. The MVEBs in the Denver/NFR Ozone 
Attainment Plan were posted for adequacy review on EPA's transportation 
conformity Web site on October 15, 2009. The public comment period 
closed on November 16, 2009 and we did not receive any comments in 
response to the adequacy review posting (see http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/currsips.htm#denver-me).
    The MVEBs we found adequate are presented in the following table:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             2010 NOX        2010 VOC
          Area of applicability              emissions       emissions
                                          (tons per day)  (tons per day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern Subarea \1\....................            20.5            19.5
Southern Subarea \1\....................           102.4            89.7
                                         -------------------------------
    Total Nonattainment Area............           122.9           109.2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Subareas are defined in section VI of the Denver/NFR Ozone
  Attainment Plan.

    As we stated in our January 21, 2010 letter to CDPHE, the initial 
conformity determination must be done using the total nonattainment 
area MVEBs for NOX and VOCs. After the initial conformity 
determination, DRCOG and the NFR MPO may switch from using the total 
nonattainment area MVEBs to using the sub-area MVEBs for determining 
conformity. To switch to use of the sub-area MVEBs (or to subsequently 
switch back to use of the total nonattainment area MVEBs), DRCOG and 
the NFR MPO must use the process as described in the Denver/NFR Ozone 
Attainment Plan on pages VI-4 through VI-6.
    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act. The conformity rule provisions 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 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 Standard 
(NAAQS).
    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) 
which was promulgated August 15, 1997 (see 62 FR 43780). We described 
our process for determining the adequacy of submitted SIP MVEBs in our 
July 1, 2004 Transportation Conformity Rule Amendments (see 69 FR 
40004). We used these resources in making our adequacy determination. 
Please note that our adequacy review is separate from our rulemaking 
action on the Denver/NFR Ozone Attainment Plan and should not be used 
to prejudge our ultimate approval or disapproval of the SIP revision. 
Even if we find a budget adequate, we may later disapprove the SIP.

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


[[Page 9894]]


    Dated: February 19, 2010.
Carol Rushin,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2010-4551 Filed 3-3-10; 8:45 am]
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