Adequacy Status of Submitted State Implementation Plans for Transportation Conformity Purposes: The Phase II Attainment Demonstration for the Delaware Portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington- Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6475-4]

Adequacy Status of Submitted State Implementation Plans for

Transportation Conformity Purposes: The Phase II Attainment

Demonstration for the Delaware Portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-

Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy status.

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SUMMARY: In this document EPA is announcing that the motor vehicle

emissions budgets (hereafter referred to as ``budgets'') contained in

the Phase II Attainment Demonstration for the Delaware portion of the

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area are not

adequate for transportation conformity purposes. This State

Implemenation Plan (SIP) revision was submitted by the Delaware

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). As a

result of our finding, these budgets may not be used for future

conformity determinations in Kent and New Castle Counties, Delaware.

DATES: This document is effective on November 16, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Budney, U.S. EPA, Region III,

1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA. 19103 at (215) 814-2184 or by e-

mail at: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,''

``us,'' or ``our'' are used we mean EPA. The word ``budgets'' refers to

the mobile source emission budget for volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

and the mobile source emissions budget for nitrogen oxides (NOx). The

word SIP in this document refers to the Phase II State Implementation

Plan submitted by DNREC to demonstrate attainment of the 1-hour

National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone.

On May 28, 1998, DNREC submitted the Phase II Attainment

Demonstration SIP for its portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-

Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area, namely for Kent and New Castle

Counties, as a SIP revision. The motor vehicle emission budgets were

not clearly identified and quantified as required as required in 40 CFR

part 93, section 93.118(e)(4)(iii) of the federal conformity rule.

Therefore, these budgets cannot be found adequate and cannot be used

for conformity determinations.

On March 2, 1999, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that budgets

contained in submitted SIPs cannot be used for conformity

determinations until EPA has affirmatively found them adequate. In

accordance with that ruling, on August 2, 1999, we posted a notice on

our web site at: http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq stating that we were

taking comments on the adequacy of motor vehicle emissions budget found

in the Phase II Attainment Demonstration for the Delaware Portion of

the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area. The

comment period closed on August 31, 1999. We received no comments.

Today's document is simply an announcement of a finding that we

have already made. On October 26, 1999 EPA Region III sent a letter to

DNREC stating that the motor vehicle emissions budgets found in the

Phase II Attainment Demonstration for the Delaware Portion of the

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area are not

adequate. The essential information in this document will also be

posted on EPA's conformity website: http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq (once

there, click on the ``Conformity'' button, then look for ``Adequacy

Review of Submissions for Conformity'').

Transportation conformity is required by section 176 (c) of the

Clean Air Act. EPA's conformity rule requires that transportation

plans, programs, and projects conform to SIPs and establishes the

criteria and procedures for determining whether or not they do so.

Conformity to a SIP means that transportation activities will not

produce new air quality violations, worsen existing violations, or

delay timely attainment of the national ambient air quality standards.

The criteria by which we determine whether a SIP's budgets are

adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in 40 CFR 93.118 (e) (4).

Please note that an adequacy review is separate from EPA's completeness

review, and EPA's review to determine if the SIP is approvable. Even if

we find a budget adequate, the SIP could later be disapproved.

We have described our process for determining the adequacy of

submitted SIP budgets in guidance memorandum dated May 14, 1999 and

titled ``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 1999

Conformity Court Decision.'' We have followed this guidance in making

this determination for the budgets contained in the Phase II Attainment

Demonstration for the Delaware Portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-

Trenton Ozone Nonattainment Area submitted

[[Page 62196]]

on May 28, 1998 for Kent and New Castle Counties. You may obtain a copy

of this guidance from EPA's conformity web site: http://www.epa.gov/

oms/traq (once there, click on the ``Conformity'' button) or by calling

the contact name listed in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of

this document.

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

Dated: November 4, 1999.

W. Michael McCabe,

Regional Administrator, Region III.

[FR Doc. 99-29891 Filed 11-15-99; 8:45 am]

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