Air Pollution Control; Proposed Action on Clean Air Act Grant to the South Coast Air Quality Management District

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5154-2]

Air Pollution Control; Proposed Action on Clean Air Act Grant to

the South Coast Air Quality Management District

AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)

ACTION: Proposed determination with request for comments and notice of

opportunity for public hearing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The USEPA has made a proposed determination that a reduction

in expenditures of non-Federal funds for the South Coast Air Quality

Management District (SCAQMD) in Diamond Bar, California is a result of

a non-selective reduction in expenditures. This determination, when

final, will permit the SCAQMD to keep the financial assistance awarded

to it for FY-94 by EPA under section 105(c) of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be received

by EPA at the address stated below by March 16, 1995.

ADDRESSES: All comments and/or requests for a public hearing should be

mailed to: Douglas K. McDaniel, Air Grants Section (A-2-3), Air and

Toxics Division, USEPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco,

California 94105-3901; FAX (415)744-1076.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas K. McDaniel, Air Grants

Section (A-2-3), Air and Toxics Division, U.S. EPA Region IX, 75

Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California 94105-3901 at (415) 744-

1246.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of Section 105 of the

CAA, EPA provides financial assistance to the SCAQMD, whose

jurisdiction includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in southern

California, to aid in the operation of its air pollution control

programs. In FY-94, EPA awarded the [[Page 8377]] SCAQMD $6,670,831,

which represented approximately 6% of the SCAQMD's budget.

Section 105(c)(1) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1), provides that

``[n]o agency shall receive any grant under this section during any

fiscal year when its expenditures of non-Federal funds for recurrent

expenditures for air pollution control programs will be less than its

expenditures were for such programs during the preceding fiscal year.

In order for [EPA] to award grants under this section in a timely

manner each fiscal year, [EPA] shall compare an agency's prospective

expenditure level to that of its second preceding year.'' EPA may still

award financial assistance to an agency not meeting this requirement,

however, if EPA, ``after notice and opportunity for public hearing,

determines that a reduction in expenditures is attributable to a non-

selective reduction in the expenditures in the programs of all

Executive branch agencies of the applicable unit of Government.'' CAA

section 105(c)(2). These statutory requirements are repeated in EPA's

implementing regulations at 40 CFR 35.210(a).

In its FY-94 section 105 application, which EPA reviewed in early

1994, the SCAQMD projected expenditures of non-Federal funds for

recurrent expenditures (or its maintenance of effort (MOE)) of

$92,365,069. This MOE would have been sufficient to meet the MOE

requirements of the CAA. In January of 1995, however, the SCAQMD

submitted to EPA documentation which shows that its actual FY-94 MOE

was $80,505,495. This amount represents a shortfall of $11,228,569 from

the MOE of $91,734,064 for the preceding fiscal year (FY-93). In order

for the SCAQMD to be eligible to keep its FY-94 grant, EPA must make a

determination under section 105(c)(2).

The SCAQMD is a single-purpose agency whose primary source of

funding is emission fee revenue. It is the ``unit of Government'' for

section 105(c)(2) purposes. The SCAQMD submitted documentation to EPA

which shows that over the last three years emission reductions brought

on by a combination of economic recession and more restrictive emission

rules have reduced fee revenues from stationary sources from a high of

$74,433,331 in 1990-1991 to $64,923,181 in 1993-1994. As a result of

this revenue loss, the SCAQMD has instituted hiring/salary freezes,

furloughs, and layoffs, has reduced its equipment purchases and

contract expenditures, and has instituted new programs to reduce costs

such as permit streamlining, computer-assisted permit processing, and

privatization efforts.

The SCAQMD's MOE reductions resulted from a loss of fee revenues

due to circumstances beyond its control. The SCAQMD did not, on its own

authority, reduce its operating budget. EPA proposes to determine that

the SCAQMD's lower FY-94 MOE level meets the section 105(c)(2) criteria

as resulting from a non-selective reduction of expenditures. Pursuant

to 40 CFR 35.210, this determination will allow the SCAQMD to keep the

funds received from EPA for FY-94.

This notice constitutes a request for public comment and an

opportunity for public hearing as required by the Clean Air Act. All

written comments received by March 16, 1995 on this proposal will be

considered. EPA will conduct a public hearing on this proposal only if

a written request for such is received by EPA at the address above by

March 16, 1995. If no written request for a hearing is received, EPA

will proceed to a final determination.

Dated: February 6, 1995.

Felicia Marcus,

Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 95-3610 Filed 2-13-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-0-P