[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 148 (Thursday, August 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51310-51311]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16587]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R03-OAR-2023-0302; FRL-11045-01-R3]


Adequacy Status of Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for the 
Baltimore 2015 8-Hour Ozone Moderate Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 
notifying the public that it has found that the 2023 motor vehicle 
emissions budgets (MVEBs) for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 
nitrogen oxides (NOX), submitted by the Maryland Department 
of the Environment (MDE) on March 7, 2023, for the 2015 8-hour ozone 
national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), are adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes for the Baltimore 2015 8-hour ozone 
moderate nonattainment area. As a result of EPA's finding, the State of 
Maryland must use the MVEBs from the March 7, 2023, attainment 
demonstration for future conformity determinations for the 2015 8-hour 
ozone standard.

[[Page 51311]]


DATES: The motor vehicle budgets are effective August 18, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Becoat, Planning & 
Implementation Branch (3AD30), Air & Radiation Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, Four Penn Center, 1600 
John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. The 
telephone number is (215) 814-2036. Mr. Becoat can also be reached via 
electronic mail at [email protected].

ADDRESSES: Publicly available docket materials, identified by EPA-R03-
OAR-2023-0302, 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. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday (except Federal Holidays). For further information on 
the EPA Docket Center services and the current status, see www.epa.gov/dockets. You may access this Federal Register document electronically 
from www.federalregister.gov/documents/current. This finding will also 
be available at the EPA's conformity website: www.epa.gov/state-and-local-transportation/conformity-adequacy-review-region-3.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is an announcement of a finding 
that EPA has already made. EPA Region 3 sent a letter to MDE on June 1, 
2023, stating that the 2023 MVEBs are adequate for transportation 
conformity purposes. The transportation conformity rule requires that 
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 (MPO) in transportation conformity 
determinations.
    As a result of this finding, upon the effective date of this notice 
of adequacy, the MPO must use the MVEBs associated with the attainment 
demonstration for future transportation conformity determinations. EPA 
announced availability of the attainment demonstration and related 
MVEBs on the EPA's transportation conformity website on April 3, 2023, 
requesting comments by May 3, 2023. EPA received no comments in 
response to the adequacy review posting. The MVEBs are provided in 
Table 1 in this document.

   Table 1--2023 Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets for the Baltimore Area
                        Attainment Demonstration
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Mobile source
                                                             emission
                        Pollutant                          budget (tons
                                                             per day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC.....................................................           17.47
NOX.....................................................           35.26
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    Transportation conformity is required by Clean Air Act section 
176(c), 42 U.S.C. 7506(c). 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 EPA uses to determine whether a SIP's MVEBs are 
adequate for 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 40 CFR 93.118(f). Under 40 CFR 93.104(e), within 2 years 
of the effective date of this notice, the MPO and the U.S. Department 
of Transportation will need to demonstrate conformity to the MVEBs. To 
do so, the on-road motor vehicle emissions from implementation of the 
long-range transportation plan should be projected consistently with 
the MVEBs. 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 determine that the SIP itself is not approvable.

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

Adam Ortiz,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2023-16587 Filed 8-2-23; 8:45 am]
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