[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 23, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71632-71633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25605]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R02-OAR-2022-0715; FRL-10145-01-R2]
Adequacy Status of Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for the New
York Portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT
2008 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of adequacy.
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SUMMARY: In this notice, the EPA is notifying the public that it has
found that the 2020 motor vehicle emissions budgets for volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOX),
submitted by the New York State Department of Environmental
[[Page 71633]]
Conservation on November 29, 2021, for the 2008 national ambient air
quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone (the Budgets), are adequate for
transportation conformity purposes for the New York portion of the New
York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT 8-hour ozone
nonattainment area. This revision to the SIP included 2020 summer day
VOC and NOX Budgets associated with the SIP's reasonable
further progress demonstration.
DATES: This finding is effective December 8, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Publicly available docket materials, identified by Docket ID
Number EPA-R02-OAR-2022-0715, are available either electronically
through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the EPA Docket Center,
WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington,
DC. The Docket Center's hours of operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.,
Monday-Friday (except Federal holidays). For further information on the
EPA Docket Center services and the current status, see: https://www.epa.gov/dockets. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically from https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/current.
This finding will also be available at the EPA's conformity website:
https://www.epa.gov/state-and-local-transportation/state-implementation-plans-sip-submissions-currently-under-epa#newyork-ny-nj-ct.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lily Black, Environmental Protection
Agency Region 2, Air and Radiation Division, 290 Broadway, 25th Floor,
New York, New York 10007-1866; (212) 637-3884, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.
Today's notice is an announcement of a finding that we have already
made. EPA Region 2 sent a letter to the New York Department of
Environmental Conservation on July 26, 2022, stating that the 2020
motor vehicle emissions budgets (``Budgets'') are adequate for
transportation conformity purposes.
The transportation conformity rule requires that the EPA conduct a
public process and make an affirmative decision on the adequacy of
these budgets before they can be used by metropolitan planning
organizations in transportation conformity determinations.
As a result of this finding, upon the effective date of this notice
of adequacy, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC)
must use the Budgets in future transportation conformity
determinations. The Budgets are associated with the reasonable further
progress milestone demonstration.
We announced availability of the plan and related Budgets on the
EPA's transportation conformity website on March 8, 2022, requesting
comments by April 8, 2022. We received no comments in response to the
adequacy review posting.
The Budgets are provided in Table 1.
Table 1--Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for NYMTC
[tons per day]
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Year NOX VOC
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2020................................................... 89.07 54.51
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Transportation conformity is required by Clean Air Act section
176(c), 42 U.S.C. 7506(c). The EPA's conformity rule requires that
long-range 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. See id. at section
7506(c)(1)(B).
The criteria the EPA uses to determine whether a SIP's motor
vehicle emission budgets are adequate for conformity purposes are
outlined in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4).\1\ And we have described our process
for determining the adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in 40 CFR
93.118(f). Under 40 CFR 93.104(e), within 2 years of the effective date
of this notice, NYMTC and the U.S. Department of Transportation will
need to demonstrate conformity to the Budgets. To do so, the on-road
motor vehicle emissions from implementation of the long-range
transportation plan should be projected consistently with the Budgets.
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\1\ 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. Even if we find a budget adequate, the SIP could later
be disapproved.
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Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
Lisa Garcia,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 2022-25605 Filed 11-22-22; 8:45 am]
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