[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 20, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 17197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06404]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R09-OAR-2013-0168; FRL-9792-5]


Adequacy Status of Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in Submitted 
Ozone Maintenance Plan for San Diego County; California

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 (MVEBs) for ozone 
for the years 2020 and 2025 in the Redesignation Request and 
Maintenance Plan for the 1997 National Ozone Standard for San Diego 
County (December 2012) (``San Diego Ozone Redesignation Request and 
Maintenance Plan'') are adequate for transportation conformity 
purposes. The San Diego Redesignation Request and Ozone Maintenance 
Plan was submitted to EPA on December 28, 2012 by the California Air 
Resources Board (CARB) as a revision to the California State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) and includes a maintenance plan for the 1997 
8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard. As a result of our 
adequacy findings, the San Diego Association of Governments and the 
U.S. Department of Transportation must use the MVEBs for future 
conformity determinations.

DATES: This finding is effective April 4, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Ungvarsky, U.S. EPA, Region IX, 
Air Division AIR-2, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901, 
(415) 972-3963 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 March 11, 2013 
stating that the MVEBs in the submitted San Diego Ozone Redesignation 
Request and Maintenance Plan for the years of 2020 and 2025 are 
adequate. The adequate MVEBs are provided in the following table:

              MVEBs in the San Diego Ozone Maintenance Plan
                   [Average summer day, tons per day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Volatile
               Budget year                    organic        Oxides of
                                             compounds       nitrogen
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020....................................              23              38
2025....................................              21              30
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Receipt of the MVEBs in the San Diego Ozone Redesignation Request 
and Maintenance Plan was announced on EPA's transportation conformity 
Web site on December 20, 2012. We received no comments in response to 
the adequacy review posting. The finding is available at EPA's 
transportation 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 SIPs and 
establishes the criteria and procedures for determining whether or not 
they do conform. 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 MVEBs 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, 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: March 12, 2013.
Jared Blumenfeld,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2013-06404 Filed 3-19-13; 8:45 am]
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