# UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION 

# IX



# 75 Hawthorne Street

San Francisco, CA 94105·3901



# James Goldstene, Executive Officer

California Air Resources Board

1001 I Street, P .0. 

# Box 2815

Sacramento, CA 95812 

# JUL 16 2009

Re: Adequacy Status of Sacramento 8-Hour Ozone Reasonable Further Progress (RFP) and

Attainment Plan Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets

Dear Mr. Goldstene:

We have found adequate for transportation conformity purposes certain motor vehicle

emissions budgets (MVEBs) in the Sacramento Regional 8-Hour Ozone Attainment and

Reasonable Further Progress Plan (March 27, 2009), ("2009 Sacramento Ozone Plan") and

have found inadequate certain other MVEBs in this plan. As a result of our finding, Sacramento

Area Council of Governments (SACOG) and the U.S. Department ofTransportation must use the

adequate budgets and cannot use the inadequate budgets in future transportation conformity

analyses once the finding becomes effective.

On January 21, 2009, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) submitted a request to

EPA for parallel processing of the MVEBs in the final, but not yet adopted, 2009 Sacramento

Ozone Plan. Following adoption of the plan by the five applicable air pollution control districts

in the Sacramento region, CARB adopted the plan and submitted it to EPA on April 17, 2009 as

a revision to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). The plan includes new control

measures and demonstrations of RFP and attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone National

Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The plan identifies MVEBs for reactive organic gases

(ROG) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) for each RFP milestone year through 2017 and for the

attainment year 2018. Acting in response to CARB's request for parallel processing, we

announced availability of the plan and related MVEBs on the Internet on March 18, 2009, and

requested public comment by April 17, 2009. We received no comments on the budgets and plan

during that comment period.

This letter transmits our decision that the motor vehicle emissions budgets for 2011, 2014

and 2017 contained in the 2009 Sacramento Ozone Plan are adequate for transportation

conformity decisions. These budgets are consistent with the plan's RFP demonstrations for

milestone years 2011, 2014, and 2017, and these budgets are based on control measures, that

have already been adopted and implemented. The budgets also meet the other adequacy criteria,

therefore, these budgets meet the transportation conformity adequacy criteria found in 40 CFR

93 .118( e)( 4 ). The adequate budgets are as follows:**Print~d** 

# on**Recycl~d** 

# Paptr**---~-----**

# Adequate Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (Summer planning)

Budget Year Reactive Organic Gases 1 

# Nitrogen Oxides

(tons per day) (tons per day)

2011 38 78

2014 32 61

2017 29 48

1 

# Reactive Organic Gases (ROG) is the term used in the plan and is comparable to

the Federal term, volatile organic compounds (VOC).

This letter also transmits our finding that the motor vehicle emissions budgets for 2018

are inadequate for transportation conformity purposes. The 2018 budgets include estimated

emission reductions associated with a number of commitments for future rule adoption that lack

specificity. As such, the SACOG would not be able to accurately quantify future emission

reductions associated with the commitments. Without additional specificity, it is also unclear

how the 2018 budgets are precisely quantified or related to the overall emissions inventory and

other measures. Therefore, the 2018 budgets do not meet the adequacy criteria found in 40 CFR

93.118(e)(4)(iii), (iv), and (v).

Inadequate Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (Summer planning)

Budget Year Reactive Organic Gases 1 

# Nitrogen Oxides

(tons per day) (tons per day)

2018 24 34

1 

# Reactive Organic Gases (ROG) is the term used in the plan and is comparable to

the Federal term, volatile organic compounds (VOC).

We have detailed our adequacy findings in the enclosure. A copy of this letter and its

enclosure will soon be posted on the Internet at:

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconfi'adequacy.htm. We will also announce the

adequacy findings in the Federal Register. The findings will become effective 15 days after the

Federal Register announcement pursuant to 40 CFR 93.118(t).

If you have any questions regarding these adequacy findings or would like copies of the

comments received, please contact Kerry Drake at (415) 947-4157 or John Kelly at (415) 947-

4151.

Enclosure Sincerely,

# /)Jw~ Deborah Jordan

Director, Air Division

2

# cc: Larry Greene, Executive Director, Sacramento Metropolitan AQMD

Mike McKeever, Executive Director, Sacramento Area COG

Steve Luxenberg, Federal Highway Administration

Ted Madey, Federal Transit Administration

3Sec.93.118(e)(4)(i)Enclosure1:TransportationConformityAdequacyReviewTheplanwasendorsedbytheGovernor(ordesignee)andwassubjecttoapublichearing.y4DateofSIPRevisionReceiptbyEPA:April17,2009TheApril17,2009transmittallettersubmittingthe2009SacramentoOzonePlanwassentbyCARB'sExecutiveOfficer,JamesGoldstene,theGovernor'sdesignee.ThetransmittalletterindicatesthattheCARBformallyadoptedtheplanonMarch26,2009throughaBoardResolution(09-19).Localairdistricts(SacramentoMetroAQMD,Yolo-SolanoAQMD,FeatherRiverAQMD,PlacerCountyAPCD,ElDoradoCountyAQMD)releasedtheirdraftplanonSeptember10,2008andheldpublicworkshopsSeptember22-25,2008,requestingthatpubliccommentsbereceivedpriortoorattheirBoardadoptionhearings.DistrictBoardhearingswereheldbetweenJanuary22andFebruary19,2009.CARBissuedthepublicnoticeonFebruary24,2009andrequestedpubliccommentsatorbeforethepublichearingheldonMarch26,2009.Hereisalinktothenotice:Sec.93.118(e)(4)(ii)TheplanwasdevelopedthroughyConsultationwithfederal,stateandlocalagencieswasundertaken.Section2.6ofconsultationwithfederal,stateandthe2009SacramentoOzonePlandescribestheparticipationamongthevariouslocalagencies;fullimplementationagenciesindevelopmentoftheplan.TheconsultationprocessforconformityplandocumentationwasprovidedbudgetsoccursinSacramentoviatheSacramentoAreaCouncilofGovernmentsandEPA'sstatedconcerns,ifany,hostedRegionalPlanningPartnership.TheRegionalPlanningPartnershipwereaddressed.membershipincludesSACOGstaff,localtransportationagencies,FederalHighwayAdministration,EPA,CARB,CaliforniaDept.ofTransportation,thelocalairqualitymanagementdistricts,andlocalenvironmentalgroupsincludingEnvironmentalCouncilofSacramento.Themeetingsareopentothepublic.MeetingnoticesarepostedontheSACOGwebsite.ConsultationontheDraft2009SacramentoOzonePlan,includingtheconformitybudgets,occurredonSeptember17,2008.Thematerialsforthatmeetingcanbefoundatthefollowinglink:httQ://www.sacog.orgcalendar200S/09i241£QQ/Qdf!04-SIP.gdfEPAreceivedacopyofthedraft2009SacramentoOzonePlanandEPA'scommentswereaddressed.Sec.93.118(e)(4)(iii)Themotorvehicleemissionbudget(s)YINThemotorvehicleemissionsbudgetsfor2011,2014,and2017areclearlyisclearlyidentifiedandpreciselyidentifiedandpreciselyquantifiedinappendixFofthe2009SacramentoOzonequantified.Plan.Thebudgetfor2018isnotpreciselyquantifiedbecausethenewemissionreductionsfromthe2007StateStrategy,asadoptedbyCARBforattainmentoftheozoneNAAQSintheSacramentoregion,donotresultfromadequatelyspecifiedcontrolmeasures.Morespecifically,theemissionsreductioncommitmentbyCARBfortheSacramentoregionisanaggregatereductioncommitmentthatmaybesatisfiedbyvariousmeasures,someofwhichrelatetoon-roadsourcesandothersofwhichrelatetononroadsourcesandconsumerproducts.SincethepreciseemissionsreductioncommitmentbyCARBfromtheon-roadsourcecategoryisindefinite,theportionoftheState'semissionsreductioncommitmentthatisincludedinthebudgetcannotbepreciselyquantified.Thebudgetfor2018liststheon-roadportionoftheState'scommitmentas3.4tonsperdayofROGand11.2tonsperdayofNOx(seetableF-4in AppendixF),butsuchestimatesaremerelyassumptionsanddonotreflectspecificcommitmentsbytheState.Incontrast,thebudgetsfortheyears2011,2014and2017reflectcontrolmeasuresthatarealreadyadoptedorfromaspecificon-roadmobilesourceincentiveprogram.SeetablesF-1, F-2,andF-3inappendixFofthe2009SacramentoOzonePlan,andseeresolutionofplanadoptionbytheSacramentoMetropolitanAQMD(ResolutionNo.2009-001).5Sec.93.118(e)(4)(iv)ThemotorvehicleemissionsYINEPAhaspreliminarilyconcludedthatthebudgetsfortheyears20II,2014andbudget(s),whenconsideredtogether2017,whenconsideredtogetherwithallotheremissionsources,areconsistentwithallotheremissionsources,iswiththerequirementtodemonstratereasonablefurtherprogressforthe19978-consistentwithapplicablehourozonestandard.Thisfindingisbasedonreviewoftheplan'sozoneRFPrequirementsforreasonablefurtherdemonstration(chapter13oftheplan,specificallytable13-1,andalsotableG-1progress,attainment,ormaintenanceofappendixG)thatreasonablydemonstratestherequired3%annualrateof(whicheverisrelevanttothegivenprogress(averagedovereachthree-yearperiod)withoutrelianceonnewmeasuresplan).(i.e.,RFPisdemonstratedbasedonemissionsreductionsfromexistingmeasurespluscertainemissionsreductionscredits(ERC).EPAcannotdeterminethatthe2018motorvehicleemissionsbudgets,whenconsideredtogetherwithallotheremissionsources,areconsistentwiththerequirementtodemonstrateattainmentbecausethecontrolstrategydoesnotincludesufficientStateandlocalmeasuresandcommitmentstoachievethefullemissionsreductionsneededtobeimplementedby2018butreliestoalimitedextentonfutureEPAactiontoreducelocomotiveemissions.ThisconclusionisbasedonacomparisonofthenewStateandFederalSIPMeasuresexpectedtobeimplementedin2018intheSacramentoregion(page7-4oftheplan)withCARB'srelatedaggregateemissionsreductioncommitmenttoachieve13tonsperdayofNOxandIItonsperdayofROGby2018intheSacramentoregion(seepage4ofCARBResolutionNo.09-19).Sec.93.118(e)(4)(v)TheplanshowsaclearrelationshipYINTheplanshowsaclearrelationshipamongthebudgetsforyears20II,2014andamongtheemissionsbudget(s),2017,thecontrolmeasuresandthetotalemissionsinventoriesinthoseRFPcontrolmeasuresandthetotalmilestoneyears.Theplanningemissionsinventoriesforallstationary,area,onemissionsinventory.roadmobile,andnonroadmobilesourcesareshownintables5-2and5-3oftheplan.TheMVEBsthatareshownonpage11-8,andthataredocumentedinAppendixF,areconsistentwiththeon-roademissionsestimatesintable5-2and5-3.Theinventories(including thebudgets)arethencombinedwithemissionsreductioncredits(ERCs)intables5-4and5-5toprovidethebasisfordemonstratingRFPinyears2011,2014,and2017asshownintable13-1oftheplanwithoutrelianceonemissionsreductionsfromnewmeasures.Asstatedelsewhere,the2018budgetincorporatesnewemissionreductionsfromtheState'sstrategythatdonotresultfromspecifiedon-roadcontrolmeasures,andthus,theplandoesnotshowaclearrelationshipamongthe2018budgets,thecontrolmeasures,andthetotalemissionsinventory.6Sec.93.118(e)(4)(vi)RevisionstopreviouslysubmittedyChapter11ofthe2009SacramentoOzonePlanaddressespriorplans.ThemostcontrolstrategyormaintenanceplansrecentconformitybudgetsfoundadequatebyEPAonMarch14,2006(71FRexplainanddocumentanychangesto13124)wereestablishedaspartoftheReasonableFurtherProgressPlanfortheanyprevioussubmittedbudgetsand2008milestoneyear("SacramentoRegionalNonattainmentArea8-hourOzonecontrolmeasures;impactsonpointRate-of-ProgressPlan-FinalReport",February2006).TheReasonableFurtherandareasourceemissions;anyProgressPlanforthe2011milestoneyear("SacramentoRegional8-HourOzonechangestoestablishedsafetymargins2011ReasonableFurtherProgressPlan",May2008)wassubmittedinMay2008,(see§93.101fordefmition),andbuthasnotyetbeenactedonbyEPA.The2011RFPwaspreparedbeforefinalreasonsforthechanges(includingtheapprovalofSACOG'srecent"MetropolitanTransportationPlanfor2035",whichbasisforanychangestoemissioncontainedupdatedmotorvehicleactivityandusedapriorversionofCARB'sfactorsorestimatesofvehiclemilesmotorvehicleemissionfactormodel(EMFAC2002).The2009Sacramento8-traveled).HourOzoneAttainmentandRFPPlanusestheupdatedmotorvehicleactivitydataandCARB'scurrentmodel(EMFAC2007).Thebudgetsunderconsiderationreplacethebudgetsproposedintheprevious2011RFPsubmittal.AdiscussionofthechangesintheEMFACmodelisdiscussedinSection5.3.3ofthePlanandchangesinthebudgetsisdiscussedinSection11.7ofthePlan.EMFAC2007wasapprovedbyEPAinJanuary2008(73FR3464,January18,2008),andEPA'sJanuary2008noticeofavailabilityforEMFAC2007detailsthebasisforthechangestotheemissionfactors.Sec.93.118(e)(5)EPAhasreviewedtheState'syPubliccommentsweresupportiveoftheDistricts'andState'sadoptions.PubliccompilationofpubliccommentsandcommentsareeitherincludedorparaphrasedandareaddressedbyeachDistrict.responsetocommentsthatareEachDistrictprovidedthesecommentsandresponsesasanattachmenttotheirrequiredtobesubmittedwithanytransmittaloftheirBoardresolutionswhichtheyadoptedinJanuaryandFebruaryimplementationplan.2009.Specifically,commentsandresponseswereincludedintransmittallettersfromeachDistrict'sAPCOtoJamesGoldstene,CARB'sExecutiveOfficer(SMAQMDletterdated2/9/09,YSAQMD3/4/09,FRAQMD2/17/09,PCAPCD2/20/09,EDCAQMD2/17/09)..Wehavereviewedthecompilationofcommentsandresponsesandfindtheresponsestobeacceptable.Noissuesthatmighthaveaffectedouradequacyfindingrema_inunanswered.-------7