72880 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 233 / Wednesday, December 4, 2013 / Notices 

NOX, as part of future PM2.5 conformity 

determinations for the 1997 and 2006 

PM2.5 NAAQS. 

DATES: Effective on December 19, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gregory Becoat, Environmental 

Scientist, Office of Air Program 

Planning (3AP30), United States 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region III, 1650 Arch Street, 

Philadelphia, PA 19103, (215) 814– 

2036; becoat.gregory@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Today’s 

notice is simply an announcement of a 

finding that EPA has already made. EPA 

Region III sent a letter to the West 

Virginia Department of Environmental 

Protection on October 29, 2013 stating 

that EPA has made insignificance 

findings, through the adequacy process, 

for PM2.5 and NOX for the Charleston, 

WV 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS 

nonattainment area, as the State had 

requested in its redesignation requests 

and maintenance plans submittal. 

Receipt of the submittal was announced 

on EPA’s transportation conformity Web 

site. No comments were received. The 

findings letter 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 CAA. EPA’s 

conformity rule requires that 

transportation plans, transportation 

improvement 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 EPA determine 

whether a SIP’s motor vehicle emission 

budgets are adequate for conformity 

purposes are outlined in 40 CFR 

93.118(e)(4). EPA described the process 

for determining the adequacy of 

submitted SIP budgets in a July 1, 2004 

preamble starting at 69 FR 40038 and 

used the information in these resources 

in making this adequacy determination. 

Please note that an adequacy review is 

separate from EPA’s completeness 

review, and should not be used to 

prejudge EPA’s ultimate approval action 

for the SIP. Even if EPA finds a budget 

adequate, the SIP could later be 

disapproved. 

The finding and the response to 

comments are available at EPA’s 

conformity Web site: http://

www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/

transconf/adequacy.htm. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401–7671q. 

Dated: November 14, 2013. 

W.C. Early, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region III. 

[FR Doc. 2013–28967 Filed 12–3–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9903–81–Region–3] 

Adequacy Status of the West Virginia 

Portion of the Steubenville-Weirton, 

WV-OH Nonattainment Area Submitted 

for the 1997 Fine Particulate Matter 

Standard Redesignation Request and 

Maintenance Plan for Transportation 

Conformity Purposes 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of adequacy. 

SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is 

notifying the public that we have made 

insignificance findings through the 

transportation conformity adequacy 

process, under the Clean Air Act (CAA), 

for directly emitted fine particulate 

matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides 

(NOX) in the West Virginia portion of 

the Steubenville-Weirton, WV-OH 1997 

PM2.5 national ambient air quality 

standard (NAAQS) nonattainment area. 

West Virginia submitted the 

insignificance findings with the 

redesignation request and maintenance 

plan submittal on April 13, 2012. As a 

result of EPA’s findings, the West 

Virginia portion of the SteubenvilleWeirton, WV-OH nonattainment area is 

no longer required to perform a regional 

emissions analysis for directly emitted 

PM2.5, or NOx, as part of future PM2.5

conformity determinations for the 1997 

annual PM2.5 air quality standard. 

DATES: Effective on December 19, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gregory Becoat, Environmental 

Scientist, Office of Air Quality Planning, 

United States Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, 

Philadelphia, PA 19103, (215) 814– 

2036; becoat.gregory@epa.gov 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Today’s 

notice is simply an announcement of a 

finding that EPA has already made. EPA 

Region III sent a letter to the West 

Virginia Department of Environmental 

Protection on September 25, 2013 

stating that EPA has made 

insignificance findings, through the 

adequacy process, for PM2.5 and NOX for 

the West Virginia Portion of the 

Steubenville-Weirton, WV-OH 1997 

PM2.5 NAAQS nonattainment area, as 

the State had requested in its 

redesignation and maintenance plan 

submittal. Receipt of the submittal was 

announced on EPA’s transportation 

conformity Web site. No comments were 

received. The findings letter 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 CAA. EPA’s 

conformity rule requires that 

transportation plans, transportation 

improvement 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). EPA described the process 

for determining the adequacy of 

submitted SIP budgets in a July 1, 2004 

preamble starting at 69 FR 40038 and 

used the information in these resources 

in making this adequacy determination. 

Please note that an adequacy review is 

separate from EPA’s completeness 

review, and should not be used to 

prejudge EPA’s ultimate approval action 

for the SIP. Even if EPA finds a budget 

adequate, the SIP could later be 

disapproved. 

The finding and the response to 

comments are available at EPA’s 

conformity Web site: http://

www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/

transconf/adequacy.htm. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401–7671q. 

Dated: November 15, 2013. 

W.C. Early, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region III. 

[FR Doc. 2013–28981 Filed 12–3–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


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