# Revision to Maryland’s Transportation Conformity State Implementation Plan

SIP Revision 06-07

November 9, 2006

Prepared for:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Prepared by:

Maryl a n d Depart ment of t h e Envi ronment MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT
1800 W a shington Boulevard • Baltim ore MD 21230 410-537-3000 • 1-800-633-6101

Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Governor

M i chae l S

. S t ee l e Lt. Governor Ke ndl P. Philbric k S ecre t ar y

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## TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive S u mmary

.......................................................................................................... 4 Introduction and Background

......................................................................................... 6 W h at is a SIP?

................................................................................................................. 6 W h at is SAFETEA-LU?

................................................................................................. 6 W h at is Transportation Confor m ity?

.............................................................................. 7 Maryland Interagency Consultation

............................................................................... 8 Maryland Commitments: New SAFETEA-LU Requirements

..................................... 9 Substitu tion of Transportation Contro l Measu r es

........................................................... 9 PM2.5 and CO Hotspots

................................................................................................. 9

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### Executive Summary

This SIP rev i sion f o rm ally rev i ses th e Maryland Transportation Confor mity State Im ple m entation Plan (SIP 03-02) to reflect ch anges in the confor m ity process that have resulted from the enactm e nt of SAFETEA-L U (Safe, Accountable, F l exible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETE A-LU) a nd the designation of Washington County by the EPA as a nonattainm e nt area for fine particulate m a tter (PM2.5). Transportation confor m ity is a re quirem ent of the Clean Air Act (CAA) that helps control growth in mobile source em issi ons for areas that do not m eet federal air quality standards.

SAFETEA- LU Confor mity Process Changes

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) was enacted on August 10, 2005. Under this act, am end m ents

were m a de to the transportation confor m ity rules (Section 6011 of th e Act), which require states that have nonattainm ent areas to revi se their existing transportation confor m ity SIPs. The m a jor transportation confor m ity am e n dm ents brought about by the enactment of SAFETEA-LU consist of:

• The frequency of required confor m ity de term inations is now every four years (instead of every three y ears) un less the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) elects to update its transportation plan m o re frequently

• The act allo ws areas tw o years in stead of the previous 18 m o nths to determ ine confor m ity after EPA approves or finds an nonattainm ent area’s m obile budgets adequate

• Areas now have the option to shorten the horizon of transportation plan confor m ity determ inations

• The latest year of a tran s portation plan can now be the latest of the following: the 10th year of plan, the latest year in a SIP that con t ains a m o tor vehicle em ission budget, or the year after the com p letion date of a regionally significant project

• The act gives nonattainm ent areas an a dditional 6 m onths to re-determ i ne confor m ity after new motor vehicle em ission budget (MVE B) is found adequate, approved or prom ulgated

• The act gr an ts a stream lined ability f o r st a t es to s ubstitu te Tr a n sporta tion Control Measures (T CM’s) with out having T C M substitu tion languag e in their SIPs

• The act adds a one-year grace period to conform i ty laps es

• The act stream lines requirem e nts for confor m ity SIPs

• The act requires nonattainm en t areas to perform a quali tative analysis of PM2.5 hotspots for projects that EPA designate s of “air quality c oncern” such as highway and transit projects that involve sign ificant levels of diesel vehicle traffic

4Maryland Nonattainme nt Areas and SAFETEA-LU

On Dece m b er 17, 2004, EPA designated W a shi ngton County as being in nonattainm e nt of the federal PM2.5 standard, thus m a king a transportation confor m ity determ ination required for proposed transpor tation projects in this c ounty. Under the rules of transpo r ta tio n conf orm ity it is requ ir ed that a public interagency c onsultation process be

m a intained. The Maryland Department of the E nvironm ent (MDE) has revised (as seen in Appendix A of this SIP revision) the transportation conform ity regulations for Maryland th at addr ess th e in teragency consultation process to include W a shington County.

The local Metropolitan Planning Organizati on ( M PO) which is ca lled th e Hagerstow n / Eastern Panhandle Metropolitan Planning Orga nization (HE P MPO) is now charged with establishing a proactive public involvem e nt process which provides a reasonable opportunity for review and comment before ta king action on a conform ity determ ination f

o r all transp orta tion plan s consis tent with the req u ir em ents of 23 CFR section 450.316(b). The MDE will be an ac tive particip ant in this p r o cess. The addition of the HEPMPO interagency process will be codi f i ed in the rev i sed Maryland confor m ity regulations under COMA R 26.11.26 (Appendix A).

Under this S I P revision Maryland also comm its m eeting EPA requirem e nts to com p lete carbon m o noxide (CO) and fine particulate (PM 2.5) hotspot analyses for applicable transportation projects. Ma ryland also comm its through th e nonattainm e nt areas MPOs to iden tif y m itigation m easures not spec if ically addressed in a Transpo r ta tion Im prove m e nt Program (TIP) or Plan in acco rdan ce with 40 C F R Part 93.122, 842.

References and Guidance

This document references Maryland SIP #03-02, and uses guidance issued by EPA, FHWA, FTA, and USDOT on hotspot anal yses and SAFETEA-LU conform ity provisions. Additional guidance was found in Section 7 of EPA’s February 2006 docum ent, Interim Guid ance for Imp l ementing th e Transportation Conformity Provisions in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, E fficient Tran sportation E quity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) , and Section 6011 of the SAFETEA-LU Act itself, which deals with transportation conf orm ity.

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### Introduction and Back ground

The purpose of this docu m ent is to revise th e Maryland conform ity SIP in accordan ce with the new requirem e nts of SAFE TEA-LU, an updated federal law.

What is a S I P?

The State Implem entation Plan (SIP ) is a p l an for each State which identifies how that State will attain and/or maintain the prim ar y and secondary National Am bi ent Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set forth in section 109 of the Clean Air Act ("the Act") and 40Code of Federal Regulations 50.4 through 50.12 and which includes federallyenforceable requirem e nts. Each State is requ ired to have a SIP which contains contro l

m easures and strategies which dem o nstrate how each area will attain and m a intain the NAAQS. These plans are developed through a public process, form ally adopted by the State, and su bm itted by the Governor ' s design ee to EPA. The Clean Air Act requ ire s EPA to review each plan and any plan revisions a nd to approve the plan or plan revisions if consistent w ith th e Clean Air Act.

SIP requirem e nts applicable to all areas are provided in sectio n 110 of the Act. Part D of Title I of the Act specifies additional requi rem e nts applicable to nonattain m ent areas. Section 110 and part D describe the elem ents of a SIP and include, am ong other things,

em ission inventories, a monitoring network, an air quality analysis , m odeling, attainm e nt dem onstrations, enforcem ent m echa n ism s , and regulations w h ich have been adopted by the State to attain or m a intain NAAQS. EPA ha s adopted regulatory requirem ents which spell ou t the procedur es f o r prepar in g, adopting and subm itting SIPs and SIP revis i on s that are cod i fied in 40 CFR part 51. EPA' s actio n on each State' s SIP is p r om ulgated in 40 CFR part 52.

The contents of a typical SIP fall into se veral categories: (1) State-adopted control

m easures which consists of e ither rules/regulations or s ource-specific requirem ents (e.g., orders and c onsent dec r e e s); (2) Sta t e

- subm itte d c o m p rehensive air qu ality plans, suc h as atta inm e nt plans, m a inte nan ce plans rate of progress plan s, and transportation control plans dem onstrating how these state regul atory and source-specific controls, in conjunction with f e deral program s, will b r ing an d / or keep air quality in co mpliance with federal air q u ality stand a rds; (3 ) State- s ubm itted "non-regu latory" requirem e nts, such as

em ission inventories, sm all business co m p liance assis t ance p r ogram s; statutes dem onstrating legal authority, m onitoring networ ks, etc. ); an d (4) a dditio nal requ irem ents prom ulgated by EPA (in the absence of a co mm e n surate S t ate provision) to satisfy a

m a ndatory section 110 or part D (Clean Air Act) requirem e nt.

What is SAFETEA-LU?
On August 10, 2005, President Bush signed into law the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Ef f i cient Tr ansporta tion Equity Act: A Legacy f o r Users (SAFETEA-LU). The act guarantees funding for highways, highway safe ty, and public trans portation. SAFETEALU builds on two prior transportatio n b ills - th e Interm odal Surface Trans porta tion

6Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21 st Century (TEA-21). The act also revises several ru les reg a rding trans portation confor m ity.
What is Transportation Conformity?
Transportation confor m ity ("conform ity") is a p r ovision of the Clean Air Act that ens u res that Federal funding and approval goes to those transportation activities that are consistent w ith air quality goals. Confor m ity applies to tran sp orta ti on plans and projects funded or approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in areas that do not m eet or previously have not m e t air quality standards for ozone, carbon monoxide, particulate m a tter, or nitrogen dioxide.

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### Maryland Interagency Consultation

The transportation conform ity rule, 40 CFR Section 93.105, requires that the State Im ple m entation Plan (SIP) address how th e principle agencies involved in the developm ent of state implem entation plans a nd the principle agencies inv o lved in the continu i ng transportatio n planning p r oce ss will consult with each other to reach consensus on im portant issues.

COMAR 26.11.26, which has been included as Appendix A in this S I P docum ent, has been rev i sed to inco rpora t e the chang e s in th e f e deral conf orm ity rule which were published in the SAFETEA-LU act on A ugust 10, 2005. The prim ary purpose of the federal am endm ent is to stream line the adm i nistrative p r oced ures and pro v ide greater f l exibility in the existing transpo r ta tion conf orm ity regu lation

.

COMAR 26.11.26 has also been am ended to provide a legal platform for the various consultation procedures that have been de veloped between the Maryland Departm e nt of the Environ m ent (MDE), Mary land Depart m e nt of Transportation (MDOT), and Metropo litan Planning Organizatio ns (MPOs). Th e recen t revisions to the federal ru le to reduce the a d m i nistr a tiv e com p lexity of th e rule allow m a ny decisions to be m a de through the interagency consultation proce ss. The revisions to COMAR 26.11.26 give state and local governm e nts increased flexibil ity to set perform a nce m eas ures used to determ ine confor m ity, develop the SIP, a nd handle unique planning situations in a

m a nner beneficial to the environm ent and ec onom i c developm ent. The general regulatory platform of COMAR 26.11.26.03 allows consul tation to occur through a variety of processes. These process e s are tailored to f it the resources an d pla nning style of the area.

In 2004 EPA designated W a shington County as nonattainm e nt for PM2.5, thus m a king a transportation confor m ity determ ination required for this po llutant in that nonattainm e nt area. The lo cal Metropo litan Plannin g Organization (MPO) wh ich is calle d the Hagerstown/ Eastern Pan h andle Me tr opolitan Pla nning Organ i zation (HE P MPO) will establish a proactive public involvem e nt proc ess which provides a re asonable opportunity for review and comment before taking ac tion on a conform ity determ ination for all transportation plans and TIPs consistent with the requirem e nts of 23 CFR section 450.316(b). MDE will be very invo lved in this process and MDE commits to work in g with the HE PMPO on all PM2.5 confor m ity issues. MDE has for m ally added the HEPMPO interagency consultation process to Maryland’s Confor m ity regulation (see appendix A).

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### Maryland Commitments: New SAFETEA-LU Requirements

Upon the passage of SAFETEA-LU, changes were m a de to the transportation conform ity process. The m a jor chan ges ref l ec ted in this S I P revision are comm it m e nts to identify and support em ission control m easures that are not specifically identified in a TIP or plan and a requirem e nt to m a ke an analysis of poten tial P M 2.5 hotspots at tr ansportation projects.

Substitution of Transportation Control Measures

The SAFETEA-LU Act provides for substitu tion of transportation control m easures (TCMs) as an am endm e n t to Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7506 (c)). 40 CFR, Sec tion 93.122(a)(4)(ii) which require s comm it m e nts for control m easures not included in a TIP or Plan.

An exa m ple of a comm itm ent not included in a T I P or Plan w ould be a school bus retrofit project not being funded by FHWA or FTA, but is still being used for em i ssion reduction credit in a c onf orm ity determ ination

. Eviden ce needs to be identified that such a m easure has adequate funding, personnel and authority for im ple m entation, m onitoring and enforcem ent.

Maryland, in accordan ce with the requirem e nts of 40 CFR Part 93.122, 8 42 comm its to

m eeting this specific req u irem ent of SAFETEA-LU.

PM2.5 and CO Hotspots

This provision applies to fine particulate (PM 2.5) hot spots and Carbon Monoxide (C O) and to pro j ect lev e l conf orm ity determ ina tions only (in accordance with 4 0 CFR Part 93.125(a)), not to regional confor m ity determ inations. EPA’s Transportation Conformity Guidance fo r Qualitative Hot-spot A nalys is in P M 2.5 and PM 10 Nonattainment and Maintenance Areas describes how to conduct PM 2.5 hot -spot analyses for “projects of air quality concern”, as defi ned in 40 CFR 93.123(b)(1).

The f i nal rule estab lish i n g transpo r ta tion conformity criteria and procedures for determ ining which trans porta ti on projects m u st be analyzed f o r local a i r quality im pacts in Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 nonattainm e nt and m a intenance areas was published by EPA on March 10, 2006 (40 CFR 93.123(b)(1)). The EPA recommends under this final rule that an analysis be perform e d on poten tial P M 2.5 hotspots for “projects of air quality concern” defined as projects which have a va lue of 8% or m o re pr ojected annual average daily traf f i c com p rised of diesel trucks.

Maryland commits to m e eting the requirem ents of the EPA hotspot rule(s) for PM2.5 and CO.

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## Appendix A

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