Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 156 / Tuesday, August 13, 2013 / Notices 49265 

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. 

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 subarea 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 bistate 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 

Cabarrus-Rowan MPO 

VOC .............................. 10,849 6,510 

NOX .............................. 21,822 11,953 

Gaston Urban Area MPO/Lake Norman 

RPO 

VOC .............................. 11,610 7,047 

NOX .............................. 22,168 12,541 

Mecklenburg-Union MPO/Rocky River RPO 

VOC .............................. 28,252 17,378 

NOX .............................. 61,501 35,728 

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 bistate 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] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–SFUND–2013–0549; FRL–9846–1] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request; Notification of 

Episodic Releases of Oil and 

Hazardous Substances (Renewal); EPA 

ICR No. 1049.13 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document 

announces that EPA is planning to 

submit a request to renew an existing 

approved Information Collection 

Request (ICR) to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). This 


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