Air Pollution Control; Proposed Actions on Clean Air Act Grants to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6238-2]

Air Pollution Control; Proposed Actions on Clean Air Act Grants

to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice; 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 under section

105(c) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) that a reduction in expenditures of

non-Federal funds for the San Diego County Air Pollution Control

District (SDAPCD, or ``District'') in San Diego County, California is

the result of a non-selective reduction in expenditures. This

determination, when final, will permit the SDAPCD to keep the financial

assistance awarded to it by EPA for FY-98 under section 105(c) of the

CAA.

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

by EPA at the address stated below by April 7, 1999.

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

mailed to: Sara Bartholomew, Grants and Program Integration Office

(AIR-8), Air Division, U.S. EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sara Bartholomew, Grants and Program

Integration Office (AIR-8), Air Division, U.S. EPA Region 9, 75

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

1250.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of Section 105 of the

CAA, EPA provides financial assistance (grants) to the SDAPCD to aid in

the operation of its air pollution control programs. In FY-97 EPA

awarded the SDAPCD $1,354,056, which represented approximately 11% of

the District's budget. In FY-98, EPA awarded the SDAPCD $1,201,811,

which represented approximately 9% of the District's budget.

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

``[n]o

[[Page 11005]]

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 section 105 application, which EPA reviewed in the

fall of 1997, the SDAPCD projected expenditures of non-Federal funds

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

$12,361,507. This MOE at the time of the grant award was sufficient to

meet the requirements of the CAA because it was higher than the actual

FY97 MOE of $12,356,625. Based on this information, EPA awarded SDAPCD

its FY98 grant in February, 1998. In December of 1998, SDAPCD reported

an actual FY98 MOE of $12,050,625. This MOE level is not sufficient to

meet the MOE requirements of the CAA because it is lower than the

actual FY97 MOE, with a shortfall of $306,000 between the MOE for FY97

and FY98. In order for the District to be eligible to keep its FY98

grant and to receive the additional EPA funding which has become

available to SDAPCD for FY99, EPA must make a determination under

section 105(c)(2).

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

funding is permit fee revenue. Fees associated with permits issued by

the SDAPCD go directly to the district to fund its operations. It is

the ``unit of Government'' for section 105(c)(2) purposes. The reason

for the lower MOE level in FY98 is a series of efficiencies that SDAPCD

has implemented over the past three years, resulting in decreased

district costs while maintaining service levels. The SDAPCD submitted

documentation to EPA which states that the district MOE reductions

resulted from agency process streamlining and automation improvements.

As a result, the SDAPCD's overall budget and its MOE decreased. The

District shows that it has been able to reduce its administrative

expenditures in its programs through cost saving measures which do not

affect the performance of its air programs or reduce its expenditures

for substantive environmental program activities. For example, San

Diego has reduced its expenditures by $630,600 through streamlining

measures including elimination of positions not required to perform

these jobs. These cost saving measures were taken not because fee

revenues had declined, but because San Diego wanted to operate more

efficiently. This budget reduction has been non-selective in that all

programs within SDAPCD have been impacted.

In summary, the SDAPCD's MOE reductions resulted from agency

process streamlining, automation improvements, and position reductions,

leading to decreased district costs while maintaining service levels.

EPA proposes to determine that the SDAPCD's lower FY-98 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 SDAPCD to keep the funds received from EPA

for FY-98.

This document constitutes a request for public comment and an

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

written comments received by April 7, 1999 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

April 7, 1999.

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 Sara

Bartholomew at the above address.

Dated: February 25, 1999.

Matthew Haber,

Acting Director, Air Division, Region 9.

[FR Doc. 99-5666 Filed 3-5-99; 8:45 am]

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