Adequacy Determination for the St. Louis Area Ozone Early Progress State Implementation Plan Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for Transportation Conformity Purposes; State of Missouri

Karl Brooks
Environmental Protection Agency
March 5, 2014

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 5, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 12504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04888]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R07-OAR-2013-0800; FRL-9907-52-Region-7]


Adequacy Determination for the St. Louis Area Ozone Early 
Progress State Implementation Plan Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for 
Transportation Conformity Purposes; State of Missouri

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy determination.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is notifying the 
public that we have found that the motor vehicle emissions budgets 
(MVEB) contained in the 8-hour Ozone Early Progress Plan submitted as a 
State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision on August 16, 2013, by the 
Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), are adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes. Emissions estimates for 2015 were 
included in the 8-hour Ozone Early Progress plan based on projected 
emission inventories for that year which established the MVEBs. This 
notice formalizes the 2015 mobile emissions estimates as adequate MVEBs 
for future conformity determinations related to the ozone NAAQS.

DATES: This notice is effective on March 19, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Brown at (913) 551-7718, by 
email at brown.steven@epa.gov, or by mail at US Environmental 
Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 11201 Renner 
Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document ``we,'' ``us,'' or 
``our'' refer to EPA. The word ``budget(s)'' refers to the motor 
vehicle emission budgets for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 
nitrogen oxides (NOX). The word ``SIP'' in this document 
refers to the Early Progress Plan for the St. Louis 8-Hour Ozone 
Nonattainment Area submitted by MDNR to EPA as a SIP revision on August 
16, 2013.
    Today's notice is simply an announcement of a finding that EPA has 
already made. EPA Region 7 sent a letter to MDNR on October 28, 2013, 
stating that the MVEBs contained in the Early Progress Plan were 
adequate for transportation conformity purposes. As a result of EPA's 
finding, the State of Missouri must use the MVEBs from the August 16, 
2013, 8-hour Ozone Early Progress Plan for future transportation 
conformity determinations for the St. Louis area for the ozone NAAQS. 
The finding is available at EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/adequacy.htm.
    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 procedure 
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). 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 SIP. EPA plans to take action on the SIP 
at a later date. We have described our process for determining the 
adequacy of submitted SIP budgets in 40 CFR 93.118(f), and have 
followed this rule in making our adequacy determination.

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

    Dated: February 25, 2014.
Karl Brooks,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.
[FR Doc. 2014-04888 Filed 3-4-14; 8:45 am]
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