Adequacy Status of the North Carolina Portion of the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill Bi-State Area Maintenance Plan 8-Hour Ozone Sub-Area Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets for Transportation Conformity Purposes |
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Beverly H. Banister
Environmental Protection Agency
August 13, 2013
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 49265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19629]
[[Page 49265]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R04-OAR-2013-0129; FRL-9900-02--Region4]
Adequacy Status of the North Carolina Portion of the Charlotte-
Gastonia-Rock Hill Bi-State Area Maintenance Plan 8-Hour Ozone Sub-Area
Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets for Transportation Conformity Purposes
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of adequacy.
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SUMMARY: EPA is notifying the public that the Agency has determined
that the sub-area motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for the North
Carolina portion of the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill bi-state area
(hereafter referred to as the bi-state Charlotte Area) are adequate for
transportation conformity purposes. These MVEBs were submitted by the
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC
DENR) as part of the state's 1997 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance plan on
November 2, 2011, and later supplemented on February 8, 2013. The bi-
state Charlotte moderate 1997 8-hour ozone area is comprised of
Charlotte-Gastonia in North Carolina, and Rock Hill (a portion of York
County), South Carolina. The North Carolina portion of the bi-state
Charlotte Area is comprised of the following sub-areas or counties:
Cabarrus, Gaston, partial of Iredell (Davidson and Coddle Creek
Townships), Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, and Union. North Carolina's
maintenance plan includes the required MVEBs for volatile organic
compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX). This action
relates only to the North Carolina portion of the bi-state Charlotte
Area. EPA approved MVEBs for South Carolina's portion of York County in
a separate action. As a result of EPA's finding, which is being
announced in this notice, the North Carolina portion of the bi-state
Charlotte Area must use the sub-area MVEBs for future conformity
determinations for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard.
DATES: These sub-area MVEBs are effective August 28, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dianna Smith, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, Air Planning Branch, 61 Forsyth Street
SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Ms. Smith can also be reached by telephone
at (404) 562-9207, or via electronic mail at smith.dianna@epa.gov. The
finding is available at EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/currsips.htm.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is simply an announcement of a
finding that EPA has already made. EPA Region 4 sent a letter to NC
DENR on July 25, 2013, stating that the sub-area MVEBs identified for
the North Carolina portion of the bi-state Charlotte area in the 1997
8-hour ozone maintenance plan, submitted on November 2, 2011, and later
supplemented on February 8, 2013, are adequate and must be used for
transportation conformity determinations in the North Carolina portion
of the bi-state Charlotte Area.
EPA posted the availability of the sub-area MVEBs contained in the
North Carolina maintenance plan on EPA's Web site on February 21, 2013,
as part of the adequacy process, for the purpose of soliciting
comments. During EPA's adequacy comment period from February 21, 2013,
through March 25, 2013, no comments, adverse or otherwise, were
received on the MVEBs for the North Carolina portion of the bi-state
Charlotte Area. Through this notice, EPA is informing the public that
these sub-area MVEBs are adequate for transportation conformity. This
finding has also been announced on EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/pastsips.htm. The adequate
sub-area MVEBs are provided in the following table:
Charlotte (North Carolina Portion) 8-Hour Ozone Sub-Area MVEB
[Kilograms/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013 2025
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Cabarrus-Rowan MPO
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VOC................................................. 10,849 6,510
NOX................................................. 21,822 11,953
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Gaston Urban Area MPO/Lake Norman RPO
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VOC................................................. 11,610 7,047
NOX................................................. 22,168 12,541
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Mecklenburg-Union MPO/Rocky River RPO
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VOC................................................. 28,252 17,378
NOX................................................. 61,501 35,728
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Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the
Clean Air Act. EPA's conformity rule, 40 CFR Part 93, 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 so. Conformity to a
state implementation plan (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 EPA determines whether a SIP's MVEBs are
adequate for transportation conformity purposes are outlined in 40 CFR
93.118(e)(4). EPA has also described the process for determining the
adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in a 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). Please note that an adequacy review is
separate from EPA's completeness review, and it should not be used to
prejudge EPA's ultimate approval of the maintenance plan for the North
Carolina portion of the bi-state Charlotte Area. Even if EPA finds a
budget adequate, the maintenance plan submittal could later be
disapproved.
Within 24 months from the effective date of this notice, the
transportation partners will need to demonstrate conformity to the new
MVEBs, if the demonstration has not already been made, pursuant to 40
CFR 93.104(e). See 73 FR 4419 (January 24, 2008).
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: August 5, 2013.
Beverly H. Banister,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2013-19629 Filed 8-12-13; 8:45 am]
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