[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 93 (Monday, May 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28375-28376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11648]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R01-OAR-2012-0290; A-1-FRL-9672-6]


Adequacy Status of the Submitted 2008 and 2022 VOC and NOX Motor 
Vehicle Emissions Budgets for Transportation Conformity Purposes; New 
Hampshire; Boston-Manchester-Portsmouth (SE), New Hampshire, 8-Hour 
Ozone Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy.

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SUMMARY: EPA is notifying the public that EPA has found that the 2008 
and 2022 motor vehicle emissions budgets in the March 2, 2012 New 
Hampshire State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision are adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes. The submittal includes MOVES2010 
motor vehicle emissions budgets for 2008 and 2022 for the Boston-
Manchester-Portsmouth (Southeast), New Hampshire 8-hour ozone area. As 
a result of our finding, the State of New Hampshire must use these 
motor vehicle emissions budgets for future conformity determinations 
for the Boston-Manchester-Portsmouth

[[Page 28376]]

(Southeast), New Hampshire 8-hour ozone area.

DATES: These motor vehicle emissions budgets are effective May 29, 
2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donald O. Cooke, Air Quality Planning 
Unit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional 
Office, Office of Ecosystem Protection, Air Quality Planning Unit, 5 
Post Office Square--Suite 100, (Mail code OEP05-2), Boston, MA 02109-
3912, telephone number (617) 918-1668, fax number (617) 918-0668, email 
[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 New England sent a letter to the New Hampshire 
Department of Environmental Services on April 25, 2012, stating that 
the 2008 and 2022 MOVES2010 motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) in 
the March 2, 2012 SIP are adequate for transportation conformity 
purposes. This submittal will also be announced on EPA's conformity Web 
site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/adequacy.htm, 
(once there, click on ``What SIP submissions has EPA already found 
adequate or inadequate?''). The adequate 2008 and 2022 MVEBs are 
provided in the following table:

                Adequate Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets
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                                         VOC (tons per    NOX (tons per
                                          summer day)      summer day)
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Year 2008 MVEBs for the Boston-                    17.8             37.2
 Manchester-Portsmouth (Southeast),
 New Hampshire 8-Hour Ozone Area......
Year 2022 MVEBs for the Boston-                     8.9             11.8
 Manchester-Portsmouth (Southeast),
 New Hampshire 8-Hour Ozone Area......
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    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act. EPA's conformity rule 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.
    The criteria by which we determine whether a SIP's motor vehicle 
emissions budgets are adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in 
40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). We have described our process for determining the 
adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in our July 1, 2004, preamble 
starting at 69 FR 40038, and we used the information in these resources 
while making our adequacy determination. 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 we 
find a budget adequate, the SIP could later be disapproved.

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

    Dated: May 2, 2012.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA New England.
[FR Doc. 2012-11648 Filed 5-11-12; 8:45 am]
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