Adequacy Status of the Santa Barbara County, California Submitted Ozone Attainment Plan for Transportation Conformity Purposes

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[CA021-NOA; FRL-6517-6]

Adequacy Status of the Santa Barbara County, California Submitted

Ozone Attainment 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 the 1999 on-road mobile source emissions budgets specified in the

submitted Santa Barbara County, California Ozone Attainment Plan (1998

Clean Air Plan) are adequate for conformity purposes. As a result of

our finding, the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments and

the Federal Highway Administration are required to use the 1999 motor

vehicle emissions budgets specified in the submitted 1998 Ozone

Attainment Plan for future conformity determinations.

DATES: This budget finding is effective January 14, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The finding and 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''). You may

also contact Sam Agpawa, U.S. EPA, Region IX, Air Division AIR-2, 75

Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 744-1228 or

A[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Today's notice is simply an announcement of

a finding that we have already made. EPA Region IX sent a letter to the

California Air Quality Board on December 3, 1999 stating that the 1999

on-road mobile source emissions budgets specified in the submitted 1998

Santa Barbara County Ozone Attainment Plan are adequate for conformity

purposes. This finding has also been announced on our 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. Our 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

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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

emissions budgets are adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in

40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). Please note that an adequacy review is separate

from our completeness review which is required by section 110(k)(1) of

the Clean Air Act, 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 Conformity

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

determination.

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

Dated: December 17, 1999.

Felicia Marcus,

Regional Administrator, Region IX.

[FR Doc. 99-33956 Filed 12-29-99; 8:45 am]

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