[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 11751]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05406]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R08-OAR-2018-0027; FRL-9975-08--Region 8]


Adequacy Determination for the Denver-North Front Range 2008 
Ozone Attainment Plan's Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for 
Transportation Conformity Purposes; State of Colorado

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy determination.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 
notifying the public that the EPA has found the Metro-Denver/North 
Front Range (Metro-Denver/NFR) Moderate 2008 8-hour ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) attainment plan and its motor 
vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) adequate for transportation 
conformity purposes. As more fully explained in the Supplementary 
Information section of this notice, this finding will affect future 
transportation conformity determinations.

DATES: This finding is effective on April 2, 2018.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Transportation conformity is required by 
section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act to ensure that federally funded 
highway and transit projects are consistent with the air quality goals 
established by the state implementation plan (SIP). The EPA's 
conformity rule provisions at 40 CFR part 93, subpart A, establish the 
criteria and procedures for determining whether transportation plans, 
programs and projects conform to the SIP. Conformity to a SIP means 
that transportation activities will not produce new air quality 
violations, worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of 
the applicable NAAQS.
    The criteria by which the EPA determines whether a SIP revision's 
MVEBs are adequate for transportation conformity purposes are outlined 
at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4), and the adequacy review process is described at 
40 CFR 93.118(f)(1). We applied these criteria and followed this 
process in making the determinations announced in this notice.
    This notice is simply an announcement of findings that the EPA has 
already made, as described below.
    The State of Colorado submitted the Metro-Denver/NFR Moderate 2008 
8-hour ozone NAAQS attainment plan, and its associated MVEBs, on May 
16, 2017. As part of our adequacy review, we posted the Metro-Denver/
NFR Moderate 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS attainment plan, with its 
identified nitrogen oxides (NOX) and volatile organic 
compounds (VOC) MVEBs, for adequacy review on the EPA Office of 
Transportation and Air Quality's transportation conformity website 
(https://www.epa.gov/state-and-local-transportation/adequacy-review-state-implementation-plan-sip-submissions-conformity) on December 8, 
2017. The EPA requested public comments by January 8, 2018; we did not 
receive any comments. We sent a letter to the Colorado Department of 
Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) on January 30, 2018, stating that 
the submitted Metro-Denver/NFR Moderate 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS 
attainment plan and its MVEBs were adequate for transportation 
conformity purposes.
    For the Metro-Denver/NFR Moderate 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS 
attainment plan, the MVEBs we found adequate were as identified and 
described in Chapter 11 of the ozone attainment plan. We find that the 
Total Nonattainment Area Budgets of 73 tons per day (tpd) of 
NOX and 55 tpd of VOC for 2017 are adequate, in accordance 
with 40 CFR 93.118. We also find the nonattainment area's Northern 
Subarea Budgets of 12 tpd of NOX and 8 tpd of VOCs and the 
Southern Subarea Budgets of 61 tpd of NOX and 47 tpd of 
VOCs, all for 2017, are adequate.
    In addition, and as described in Chapter 11 of the Metro-Denver/NFR 
Moderate 2008 8-hour NAAQS ozone attainment plan, the Denver Regional 
Council of Governments (DRCOG) Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) 
and the North Front Range MPO (NFRMPO) may switch from using the 
combined nonattainment-area-wide MVEBs to using the sub-area MVEBs for 
determining transportation conformity. To switch to use of the sub-area 
MVEBs (or to subsequently switch back to use of the combined 
nonattainment-area-wide MVEBs), the DRCOG and the NFRMPO must use the 
process described in Chapter 11 of the Metro-Denver/NFR ozone Moderate 
2008 8-hour NAAQS ozone attainment plan on pages 11-5 through 11-6.
    Following the effective date listed in the DATES section of this 
notice, the DRCOG, the NFRMPO, the Colorado Department of 
Transportation, and the U.S. Department of Transportation are required 
to use the MVEBs discussed above for future transportation conformity 
determinations for projects in the Metro-Denver/NFR Moderate 2008 8-
hour NAAQS ozone nonattainment area. Please refer to 40 CFR 81.306 for 
a description of the nonattainment area boundary. On the effective date 
of this notice of adequacy, the previously-approved NOX and 
VOC MVEBs (76 FR 47443; August 5, 2011) for the Metro-Denver/NFR 1997 
8-hour ozone NAAQS nonattainment area will no longer be applicable for 
transportation conformity purposes.
    Please note that our adequacy review of the MVEBs is separate from 
our future rulemaking action on the Metro-Denver/NFR Moderate 2008 8-
hour NAAQS ozone attainment plan SIP revision and should not be used to 
prejudge our ultimate approval or disapproval of that SIP revision. 
Even if we find the Metro-Denver/NFR Moderate 2008 8-hour NAAQS ozone 
attainment plan and its MVEBs adequate for transportation conformity 
purposes now, we may later find it necessary to disapprove the SIP 
revision. Should this situation arise, we would revisit our adequacy 
finding.

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

    Dated: March 13, 2018.
Douglas H. Benevento,
Regional Administrator, Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2018-05406 Filed 3-15-18; 8:45 am]
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