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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6009-5]

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

the South Coast Air Quality Management District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed determination with request for comments and notice of

opportunity for public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. EPA has made a proposed determination that reductions

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

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

non-selective reductions in expenditures. This determination, when

final, will permit the SCAQMD to be awarded financial assistance for

FY-98 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 June 5, 1998.

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

mailed to: R. Michael Stenburg, Grants and Program Integration Office

(Air-8), Air Division, U.S. EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R. Michael Stenburg, Grants and

Program Integration Office (Air-8), Air Division, U.S. EPA Region IX,

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

1182.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of Section 105 of the

CAA, EPA provides financial assistance (grants) 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-97, EPA awarded the SCAQMD $4,844,967, which

represented approximately 5.1% 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-98 Sec. 105 grant application the SCAQMD projected MOE of

$63,763,496. This amount represents a shortfall of $11,450,587 from the

actual FY-97 MOE of $75,214,083. In order for the SCAQMD to be eligible

to be awarded its FY-98 grant, EPA must make a determination under

Sec. 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

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

which shows that over the last six years emission reductions brought on

by a combination of regulated and voluntary emission reductions and

actions to minimize fee increases on businesses have reduced fee

revenues from stationary sources from a high of $66,914,362 in 1991-

1992 to approximately $50,724,900 in 1997-1998. As a result, 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.

Therefore, the SCAQMD's MOE reduction resulted from a loss of fee

revenues due to circumstances beyond its control. EPA proposes to

determine that the SCAQMD's lower FY-98 MOE level meets the

Sec. 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 be awarded financial assistance for FY-98.

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 June 5, 1998 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

June 5, 1998.

If no written request for a hearing is received, EPA will proceed

to the final determination. While notice of the final determination

will not be published in the Federal Register, copies of the

determination can be obtained by sending a written request to R.

Michael Stenburg at the above address.

Dated: April 20, 1998.

Steven Frey,

Acting Director, Air Division, U.S. EPA, Region 9.

[FR Doc. 98-12031 Filed 5-5-98; 8:45 am]

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