[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 189 (Monday, October 4, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54692-54693]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21557]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0135; FRL-8835-01-R9]
Adequacy Status of Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in Submitted
8-Hour Ozone Attainment Plan for San Diego; California
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of adequacy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or ``Agency'') is
notifying the public that the Agency has found motor vehicle emissions
budgets (``budgets'') adequate in a California state implementation
plan (SIP) submittal for San Diego County. Specifically, our finding
relates to budgets in the area's ``2020 Plan for Attaining the National
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone in San Diego County (October
2020)'' (``2020 San Diego Ozone Plan'' or ``plan''). We find that these
budgets are adequate for transportation conformity purposes for the
2008 and 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS).
Upon the effective date of this notice of adequacy, prior budgets for
the 2008 ozone NAAQS previously found adequate by the EPA will no
longer be applicable for transportation conformity purposes, and the
San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and the U.S. Department
of Transportation must use these adequate budgets in future
transportation conformity determinations.
DATES: This finding is effective October 19, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kelly, EPA, Region IX, Air
Division AIR-2, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901;
(415) 947-4151 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.
Today's notice is simply an announcement of a finding that we have
already made. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) submitted the
plan to the EPA on January 12, 2021, as a revision to the California
SIP. The plan contains budgets for both the 2008 and the 2015 ozone
NAAQS. These budgets are used for the 2008 ozone NAAQS reasonable
further progress (RFP) milestone years 2020 and 2023 and for the
attainment year 2026. For the 2015 ozone NAAQS, these budgets are used
for RFP milestone years 2023, 2026, and 2029, and for the attainment
year 2032.
The EPA sent a letter to CARB dated September 21, 2021 stating that
the motor vehicle emissions budgets in the submitted 2020 San Diego
Ozone Plan are adequate for transportation conformity purposes.\1\ The
finding is available at the EPA's conformity website.\2\ We announced
availability of the plan and related budgets on the EPA's
transportation conformity website on June 4, 2021, requesting comments
by July 6, 2021. We received no comments in response to the adequacy
review posting. The adequate budgets are provided in the following
tables:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See letter dated September 21, 2021 from Elizabeth J. Adams,
Director, Air and Radiation Division, EPA Region IX, to Richard
Corey, Executive Officer, CARB.
\2\ https://www.epa.gov/state-and-local-transportation/state-implementation-plans-sip-submissions-epa-has-found-adequate-or.
San Diego County Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for 2008 Ozone NAAQS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volatile
organic Nitrogen
compounds oxides (tons
Budget year (tons per per average
average summer summer day)
day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020.................................... 16.3 28.1
2023.................................... 13.6 19.3
2026.................................... 12.1 17.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
San Diego County Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for 2015 Ozone NAAQS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volatile
organic Nitrogen
compounds oxides (tons
Budget year (tons per per average
average summer summer day)
day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023.................................... 13.6 19.3
2026.................................... 12.1 17.3
2029.................................... 11.0 15.9
2032.................................... 10.0 15.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transportation conformity is required by Clean Air Act section
176(c). The EPA's conformity rule requires that transportation plans,
transportation improvement programs, and transportation projects
conform to a state's air quality SIP and establishes the criteria and
procedures for determining whether or not they 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 NAAQS.
The criteria we use to determine whether a SIP's motor vehicle
emissions budgets are adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in
40 CFR 93.118(e)(4), promulgated on August 15, 1997.\3\ We have further
described our process for determining the adequacy of submitted SIP
budgets in our final rule dated July 1, 2004, and we used the
information in these resources in making our adequacy determination.\4\
Please note that an adequacy review is separate from the EPA's
completeness review and should not be used to prejudge the EPA's
ultimate action on the SIP submittal. Even if we find a budget
adequate, the SIP submittal could later be disapproved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See 62 FR 43780, 43781-43783 (August 15, 1997).
\4\ See 69 FR 40004, 40038-40047 (July 1, 2004).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pursuant to 40 CFR 93.104(e), within two years of the effective
date of this notice, SANDAG and the U.S. Department of Transportation
will need to demonstrate conformity to the new budgets if the
demonstration has not already been made.\5\ For demonstrating
conformity to the budgets in this plan, the on-road motor vehicle
emissions from implementation of the transportation plan or program
should be projected consistently with the budgets in this plan, i.e.,
by taking the county's emissions results derived from CARB's EMFAC
model (short for EMission FACtor) and then rounding
[[Page 54693]]
the emissions up to the nearest tenth of a ton per day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See 73 FR 4420 (January 24, 2008).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: September 28, 2021.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2021-21557 Filed 10-1-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P