[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 185 (Monday, September 24, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58829-58830]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-23493]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R04-OAR-2010-0017; FRL-9732-3]


Adequacy Status: South Carolina: Portion of York County, SC 
Within Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC 1997 8-Hour Ozone 
Nonattainment Area; Maintenance Plan Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget for 
Transportation Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public of its finding 
that the volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides 
(NOX) motor vehicle emissions budget (MVEBs) for the portion 
of York County, South Carolina that is within the Charlotte-Gastonia-
Rock Hill, North Carolina-South Carolina Area (hereafter referred to as 
the ``bi-state Charlotte Area'' or ``Area'') are adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes. These MVEBs are included in South 
Carolina's maintenance plan for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient 
Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), submitted on June 1, 2011, by the South 
Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC). The 
South Carolina portion of the bi-state Charlotte Area is comprised of a 
portion of York County, South Carolina. 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 South Carolina portion of the bi-state 
Charlotte Area must use the VOC and NOX MVEBs from the 
submitted maintenance

[[Page 58830]]

plan for the Area for future conformity determinations.

DATES: This adequacy finding for VOC and NOX MVEBs is 
effective October 9, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Sheckler, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, Air Planning Branch, Air Quality Modeling 
and Transportation Section, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 
30303. Ms. Sheckler can also be reached by telephone at (404) 562-9222, 
or via electronic mail at [email protected]. The finding is 
available at EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/adequacy.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Today's notice is simply an announcement of 
findings that EPA has already made. EPA Region 4 sent a letter to SC 
DHEC on September 5, 2012, stating that the 2013 and 2022 VOC and 
NOX MVEBs in the 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for the 
South Carolina portion of the bi-state Charlotte Area (also known as 
York County), dated June 1, 2011, are adequate. EPA posted the 
availability of these MVEBs on EPA's Web site on October 28, 2011, as 
part of the adequacy process, for the purpose of soliciting comments. 
The comment period ran from October 28, 2011, through November 28, 
2011. EPA did not receive any comments in response to the adequacy 
posting. 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 VOC and NOX MVEBs for York County are defined in the 
following table:

                      York County VOC and NOX MVEBs
                           [Kilograms per day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       2013       2022
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX MVEBs.........................................     11,272     11,368
VOC MVEBs.........................................      3,699      3,236
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990. EPA's conformity rule, 40 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 
state implementation plan (SIP) means that transportation activities 
will not produce new air quality violations, worsen existing 
violations, or delay timely attainment of the NAAQS.
    The criteria by which the EPA determines whether a SIP's MVEB 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.'' See 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 MVEBs adequate, the Agency may later 
disapprove the SIP.
    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: September 11, 2012.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2012-23493 Filed 9-21-12; 8:45 am]
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