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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 70 (Friday, April 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 20198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-08248]

[[Page 20198]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9909-38-Region-3]

Adequacy Status of the Submitted Maintenance Plan for the West 
Virginia Portion of the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD 1997 Fine 
Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standard Nonattainment 
Area for Transportation Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 
notifying the public that EPA has found that the Motor Vehicle 
Emissions Budgets (MVEBs) in the West Virginia Portion of the 
Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD 1997 Fine Particulate Matter 
(PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) 
Nonattainment Area Maintenance Plan (Martinsburg Maintenance Plan), 
submitted as a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision by the West 
Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), are adequate 
for transportation conformity purposes. As a result of EPA's finding, 
the State of West Virginia must use the 2017 and 2025 MVEBs from the 
Martinsburg Maintenance Plan for future conformity determinations for 
the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS.

DATES: This notice is effective on April 28, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Asrah Khadr, Environmental Engineer, 
Office of Air Program Planning (3AP30), United States Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 
19103, (215) 814-2071; khadr.asrah@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 
WVDEP on March 6, 2014, stating that EPA has found that the MVEBs in 
the Martinsburg Maintenance Plan for budget years 2017 and 2025, 
submitted on August 5, 2013 by WVDEP, are adequate for transportation 
conformity purposes. As a result of EPA's finding, the State of West 
Virginia must use the 2017 and 2025 MVEBs from the August 5, 2013 
Martinsburg Maintenance Plan for future conformity determinations in 
the West Virginia Portion of the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD 1997 
PM2.5 NAAQS Nonattainment Area. 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. 
The adequate direct particulate matter (PM)X and nitrogen 
oxides (NOx) MVEBs are provided in Table 1.

    Table 1--Martinsburg Maintenance Plan MVEBs for direct PM and NOX
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Mobile vehicle     Mobile vehicle
                                     emissions budget   emissions budget
           Budget years               for direct PM-   for NOX-tons  per
                                      tons per year           year
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017..............................                 83              2,621
2025..............................                 50              1,660
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA's conformity rule requires that transportation 
plans, transportation improvement programs, and projects conform to 
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 MVEBs 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. 
West Virginia did not provide emission budgets for sulfur dioxide 
(SO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), or ammonia for the 
West Virginia Portion of the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD 1997 
PM2.5 NAAQS Nonattainment Area because it concluded that 
emissions of these precursors from motor vehicles are not significant 
contributors to the area's PM2.5 air quality problem. The 
transportation conformity rule provision at 40 CFR 93.102(b)(2)(v) 
indicates that conformity pdoes not apply for these precursors, due to 
the lack of MVEBs for these precursors and the State's conclusion that 
motor vehicle emissions of SO2, VOCs, and ammonia do not 
contribute significantly to the area's PM2.5 nonattainment 
problem. This provision of the transportation conformity rule predates 
and was not disturbed by the January 4, 2013 decision in the litigation 
on the PM2.5 implementation rule.\1\ EPA has preliminarily 
concluded that the State's decision to not include budgets for 
SO2, VOCs, and ammonia is consistent with the requirements 
of the transportation conformity rule. That decision does not affect 
EPA's adequacy finding for the submitted direct PM and NOX 
MVEBs for the West Virginia Portion of the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-
MD 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS Nonattainment Area.
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    \1\ EPA issued conformity regulations to implement the 1997 
PM2.5 NAAQS (69 FR 40004, July 1, 2004 and 70 FR 24280, 
May 6, 2005, respectively). Those actions were not part of the final 
rule recently remanded to EPA by the Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia in NRDC v. EPA, No. 08-1250 (January 4, 2013), 
in which the Court remanded to EPA the implementation rule for the 
PM2.5 NAAQS because it concluded that EPA must implement 
that NAAQS pursuant to the PM-specific implementation provisions of 
subpart 4 of Part D of Title I of the CAA, rather than solely under 
the general provisions of subpart 1.
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    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 the budgets for the 
Martinsburg Maintenance Plan 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.

W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2014-08248 Filed 4-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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