Adequacy Status of the Pima County Submitted CO Limited Maintenance Plan for Transportation Conformity Purposes

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[AZ-016-COLMP; FRL-6480-2]

Adequacy Status of the Pima County Submitted CO Limited

Maintenance Plan for Transportation Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Adequacy.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that we have found

that Pima County submitted CO Limited Maintenance Plan is adequate for

conformity purposes. On March 2, 1999, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled

that submitted SIPs cannot be used for conformity determinations until

EPA has affirmatively found them adequate. As a result of our finding,

Pima County is not required to use a motor vehicle emissions budget

from the submitted CO Limited Maintenance Plan for future conformity

determinations. This determination is effective December 8, 1999.

DATES: These budgets are effective December 8, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The finding and, if any comments are

received, the response to comments are available at EPA's conformity

website: http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq, (once there, click on the

``Conformity'' button, then look for ``Adequacy Review of SIP

Submissions for Conformity'').

Karina O'Connor, U.S. EPA, Region IX, Air Division AIR-2, 75

Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 744-1247 or

[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

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

already made. EPA Region IX sent a letter to the Arizona Department of

Environmental Quality on September 30, 1999 stating that the Pima

County submitted CO Limited Maintenance Plan is adequate for conformity

purposes. This finding has also been announced on EPA's conformity

website: http://www.epa.gov/oms/traq, (once there, click on the

``Conformity'' button, then look for ``Adequacy Review of SIP

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 state air quality

implementation plans (SIPs) and establishes the criteria and procedures

for determining whether or not they do. 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 motor vehicle

emission 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 it also should not be used to

prejudge EPA's ultimate approval of the SIP. Even if we find a budget

adequate, the SIP could later be disapproved.

We've described our process for determining the adequacy of

submitted SIP budgets in guidance (May 14, 1999 memo titled

``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 1999

[[Page 65697]]

Conformity Court Decision''). We followed this guidance in making our

adequacy determination.

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

Dated: November 15, 1999.

Felicia Marcus,

Regional Administrator, Region IX.

[FR Doc. 99-30514 Filed 11-22-99; 8:45 am]

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