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Adequacy Status of the Maricopa County, Arizona Submitted PM-10 Attainment Plan for Transportation Conformity Purposes

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[Federal Register: December 10, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 237)]
[Notices]
[Page 69266]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10de99-58]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[AZ-020-NOA; FRL-6506-8]


Adequacy Status of the Maricopa County, Arizona Submitted PM-10
Attainment Plan for Transportation Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Inadequacy Determination.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that we have found
that the submitted Maricopa County (Phoenix, Arizona) serious area
particulate matter (PM-10) attainment plan is inadequate for
transportation conformity purposes. As a result of our finding, the
Maricopa Association of Governments and the Federal Highway
Administration cannot use the PM-10 motor vehicle emissions budget from
the submitted plan for future conformity determinations.

DATES: This determination is effective December 27, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The finding is 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 Karina O'Connor,
U.S. EPA, Region IX, Air Division AIR-2, 75 Hawthorne Street, San
Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 744-1247 or oconnor.karina@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background:

    This notice announces our finding that the MAG 1999 Serious Area
Particulate Plan for PM-10 for the Maricopa County Nonattainment Area,
submitted by the Arizona on July 8, 1999, is inadequate for
transportation conformity purposes. EPA Region IX made this finding in
a letter to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the
Maricopa Association of Governments on December 1, 1999. We are also
announcing this finding 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 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). One of these criterion is that the plan provide
for attainment of the relevant ambient air quality standard by the
applicable Clean Air Act attainment date. We have preliminarily
determined that the Maricopa County PM-10 plan does not provide for
attainment of the PM-10 standards and therefore, cannot be found
adequate.
    This inadequacy finding is separate from and does not affect our
August 4, 1999 finding that the plan is complete under section
110(k)(1) of the Clean Air Act.
    We have 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 inadequacy
determination on the Maricopa County PM-10 plan.

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

    Date December 1, 1999.
Alexis Strauss,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 99-32077 Filed 12-9-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-U

 
 

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