[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 84 (Monday, May 2, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24474-24475]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10564]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R04-OAR-2009-1011; FRL-9301-3]


Adequacy Status of the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/Highpoint North 
Carolina 1997 Annual PM2.5 Maintenance Plan Motor Vehicle 
Emissions Budgets for Transportation Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Adequacy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public of its finding 
that the direct fine particulate (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides 
(NOX) motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) in the 
Greensboro/Winston-Salem/Highpoint, North Carolina area (hereafter 
referred to as ``the Triad Area'') maintenance plan for the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 standard, submitted on December 18, 2009, and 
supplemented on December 22, 2010, by the North Carolina Department of 
Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) are adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes. The Triad Area is comprised of 
Guilford and Davidson Counties in their entirety. On March 2, 1999, the 
District of Columbia Circuit Court ruled that submitted state 
implementation plans (SIPs) cannot be used for transportation 
conformity determinations until EPA has affirmatively found them 
adequate. As a result of EPA's finding, the Triad Area must use the 
PM2.5 and NOX MVEBs from the submitted 
maintenance plan for the Area for future conformity determinations.

DATES: The adequacy finding for the PM2.5 and NOX 
MVEBs are effective May 17, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dianna B. Smith, Environmental 
Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, Air Planning 
Branch, Air Quality Modeling and Transportation Section, 61 Forsyth 
Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Ms. Smith can also be reached by 
telephone at (404) 562-9207, or via electronic mail at 
[email protected]. The finding is available at EPA's conformity Web 
site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp.htm (once there, click on the 
``Transportation Conformity'' text icon, then look for ``Adequacy 
Review of SIP Submissions'').

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Today's notice is simply an announcement of 
findings that EPA has already made. EPA Region 4 sent a letter to 
NCDENR on February 2, 2011, stating that the 2011 and 2021 sub-area 
PM2.5 and NOx MVEBs in the 1997 PM2.5 
maintenance plan for the Triad Area, dated December 18, 2009, and 
supplemented on December 22, 2010, are adequate. EPA posted the 
availability of the Triad MVEBs on EPA's Web site on November 23, 2010, 
as part of the adequacy process, for the purpose of soliciting 
comments. The comment period ran from November 23 through December 23, 
2010. EPA's findings have also been announced on EPA's conformity Web 
site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/index.htm, (once there, 
click ``Transportation Conformity'' text icon, then look for ``Adequacy 
Review of SIP Submissions''). The adequate PM2.5 and 
NOX MVEBs are provided in the following table:

                Triad, North Carolina Annual PM2.5 MVEBS
                            [Kilograms/year]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               2011            2021
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Guilford County Sub-area MVEB
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX.....................................      11,133,605       6,309,650
PM2.5...................................         421,841         421,841
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Davidson County Sub-area MVEB
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX.....................................       4,086,413       2,148,938
PM2.5...................................         153,313         153,313
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990. 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. 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 (NAAQS).
    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). EPA has described the 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.'' EPA has followed this guidance in making 
this adequacy determination. This guidance is incorporated into EPA's 
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 
also should not be used to prejudge EPA's ultimate approval of the SIP. 
Even if EPA finds the MVEB adequate, the Agency may later disapprove 
the SIP.
    Within 24 months from the effective date of this notice, the 
transportation

[[Page 24475]]

partners will need to demonstrate conformity to the new MVEB 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 18, 2011.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2011-10564 Filed 4-29-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P