[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 153 (Friday, August 8, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 46436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18819]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R09-OAR-2014-0485; FRL-9914-85-Region 9]
Adequacy Status of Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in Submitted
8-Hour Ozone Attainment Plan for Sacramento Metro; California
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of adequacy.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is notifying the
public that the Agency has found that the motor vehicle emissions
budgets (MVEBs) for ozone for the years 2014, 2017, and 2018 in the
Sacramento Regional 8-Hour Ozone Attainment Plan and Reasonable Further
Progress Plan, 2013 SIP Revisions (``2013 Sacramento Ozone Plan'') are
adequate for transportation conformity purposes. The 2013 Sacramento
Ozone Plan was submitted to EPA on December 31, 2013 by the California
Air Resources Board (CARB) as a revision to the California State
Implementation Plan (SIP) and includes an attainment demonstration for
the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard. Upon the
effective date of this notice of adequacy, the Sacramento Area Council
of Governments and the U.S. Department of Transportation must use the
MVEBs for future conformity determinations.
DATES: This finding is effective August 25, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Ungvarsky, U.S. EPA, Region IX,
Air Division AIR-2, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901,
(415) 972-3963 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
Today's notice is simply an announcement of a finding that we have
already made. EPA sent a letter to CARB on July 25, 2014 stating that
the MVEBs for oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) in the submitted 2013 Sacramento Ozone Plan for the
years of 2014, 2017, and 2018 are adequate. The adequate MVEBs are
provided in the following table:
Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in the 2013 Sacramento Ozone Plan
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NOX VOC
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Budget year 2014 2017 2018 2014 2017 2018
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Tons per average summer weekday... 49 39 37 23 18 17
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Receipt of the MVEBs in the 2013 Sacramento Ozone Plan was
announced on EPA's transportation conformity Web site on May 20, 2014.
We received no comments in response to the adequacy review posting. The
finding is available at EPA's transportation conformity Web site:
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/adequacy.htm.
Transportation conformity is required by Clean Air Act section
176(c). EPA's conformity rule requires that transportation plans,
transportation improvement programs, and projects conform to SIPs and
establishes the criteria and procedures for determining whether or not
they do conform. 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 MVEBs are
adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4)
which was promulgated in our August 15, 1997 final rule (62 FR 43780,
43781-43783). We have further described our process for determining the
adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in our July 1, 2004 final rule (69 FR
40004, 40038), and we used the information in these resources in making
our adequacy determination. Please note that an adequacy review is
separate from EPA's completeness review, and should not be used to
prejudge EPA's ultimate approval action for the SIP. Even if we find a
budget adequate, the SIP could later be disapproved.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: July 25, 2014.
Jared Blumenfeld,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2014-18819 Filed 8-7-14; 8:45 am]
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