[Federal Register: March 1, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 39)]
[Notices]
[Page 9204-9205]
[DOCID:fr01mr10-72]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R04-OAR-2009-0561-201006; FRL-9119-9]

Adequacy Status of the Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, North Carolina
1997 PM2.5 Attainment Demonstration Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget 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 of its finding
that the nitrogen oxides (NOx) motor vehicle emissions budget (MVEB) in
the Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, North Carolina (hereafter referred to as
the Hickory Area) attainment demonstration for the 1997
PM2.5 standard, submitted on August 21, 2009, by the North
Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), is
adequate for transportation conformity purposes. EPA is also making an
insignificance finding for direct particulate matter (PM) through the
transportation conformity adequacy process for the Hickory Area. The
Hickory Area is comprised of the entire county of Catawba in North
Carolina. On March 2, 1999, the District of Columbia Circuit Court
ruled that submitted state implementation plans (SIPs) cannot be used
for transportation conformity determinations until EPA has
affirmatively found them adequate. As a result of EPA's finding, the
Hickory Area must use the NOX MVEB from the submitted
Hickory, North Carolina 1997 PM2.5 attainment demonstration
for future conformity determinations, and the Hickory Area is not
required to perform a regional emissions analysis for direct
PM2.5 in future PM2.5 transportation conformity
determinations for the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard.

DATES: The adequacy finding for the NOX MVEB and the
insignificance finding for direct PM2.5 are effective March
16, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amanetta Somerville, Environmental
Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, Air Planning
Branch, Air Quality Modeling and Transportation Section, 61 Forsyth
Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Ms. Somerville can also be reached
by telephone at<PHONE_NUMBER>, or via electronic mail at
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>The finding is available at EPA's
conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp.htm (once there,
click on the ``Transportation Conformity'' text icon, then look for
``Adequacy Review of SIP Submissions'').

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Today's notice is simply an announcement of findings that EPA has
already made. EPA Region 4 sent a letter to NCDENR on January 20, 2010,
stating that the 2009 NOX MVEB in the 1997 PM2.5
attainment demonstration for Hickory, dated August 21, 2009, is
adequate. The letter also states that direct PM2.5 is
insignificant for the Hickory Area, therefore no regional emissions
analysis is required. EPA posted the availability of the Hickory Area
MVEB and insignificance demonstration on EPA's Web site on September 8,
2009, as part of the adequacy process, for the purpose of soliciting
comments. The comment period ran from September 8, 2009, through
October 8, 2009. EPA's findings have also been announced on EPA's
conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/index.htm
(once there, click ``Transportation Conformity'' text icon, then look
for ``Adequacy Review of SIP

Submissions''). The adequate NOX MVEB is provided in the
following table:

                          Hickory Area NOX MVEB
                           [kilograms per day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 2009
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catawba County.............................................    2,887,955
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    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the
Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990. EPA's conformity rule requires that
transportation plans, programs and projects conform to state air
quality implementation plans 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 (NAAQS).
    The criteria by which EPA determines whether a SIP's MVEB is
adequate for transportation conformity purposes are outlined in 40 Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR) 93.118(e)(4). Additionally, the criteria
by which EPA determines whether a particular pollutant/precursor is an
insignificant contributor to the air quality problem in an area can be
found at 40 CFR 93.109(k). Insignificance findings are based on a
number of factors, including the percentage of motor vehicle emissions
in context of the total SIP inventory, the current state of air quality
as determined by monitoring data for that NAAQS, the absence of SIP
motor vehicle control measures, and historical trends and future
projections of the growth of motor vehicle emissions. EPA's rationale
for the allowance of insignificance findings can be found in the July
1, 2004, revision to the transportation conformity rule at 69 Federal
Register (FR) 40004. Specifically, the rationale is explained on page
40061 under the subsection entitled ``B. Areas With Insignificant Motor
Vehicle Emissions.'' 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 EPA finds the MVEB
adequate or makes an insignificance finding through the adequacy
process, the Agency may later disapprove the SIP.
    EPA has described the process for determining the adequacy of
submitted SIP budgets in a May 14, 1999, memorandum entitled
``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 1999 Conformity
Court Decision.'' EPA has followed this guidance in making this
adequacy determination. This guidance is incorporated into EPA's July
1, 2004, final rulemaking entitled ``Transportation Conformity Rule
Amendments for the New 8-hour Ozone and PM2.5 National
Ambient Air Quality Standards and Miscellaneous Revisions for Existing
Areas; Transportation Conformity Rule Amendments: Response to Court
Decision and Additional Rule Changes'' (69 FR 40004).
    Within 24 months from the effective date of this notice, the
transportation partners will need to demonstrate conformity to the new
MVEB if the demonstration has not already been made, pursuant to 40 CFR
93.104(e). (See 73 FR 4419 (January 24, 2008).)
    Additionally, the Transportation Conformity Rule at 40 CFR
93.109(k) states that a regional emissions analysis is no longer
necessary for direct PM2.5 if EPA finds, through the
adequacy or approval process, that regional motor vehicle emissions are
an insignificant contributor to the air quality problem for that
pollutant/precursor as demonstrated in the SIP. The insignificance
finding should be noted in all future conformity determinations, and
does not relieve the area of meeting all other transportation
conformity requirements.

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: February 17, 2010.
Beverly H. Banister,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2010-4146 Filed 2-26-10; 8:45 am]
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