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DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT
 

PUBLIC HEARING
 

RE: * 

Air Quality Regulations 

Amendments to Regulations 

.02 and .03 COMAR 26.11.26 

* 

Conformity * 

The above hearing was held on Wednesday, the 

2nd day of September, 1998, commencing at 10:40 a.m., at 

the State Office Building, 300 West Preston Street, 

Auditorium, Baltimore, Maryland, before Dianna C. 

Kilgalen, RPR, Notary Public. 

JIM WILKINSON, HEARING OFFICER. 

Reported by:
 

Dianna C. Kilgalen, RPR
 

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MR. WILKINSON: Good morning. On behalf 

of the Department of the Environment and the Air and 

Radiation Management Administration, I would like to 

welcome you to this public hearing. My name is Jim 

Wilkinson, and I'm a Planner for the Air and Radiation 

Management Administration. I will serve as Hearing 

Officer for today's hearing. 

I would like to ask all of you in attendance to 

please sign in if you haven't already done so. This 

will help to keep an accurate record of the people who 

participate in the hearing. Also, copies of the 

regulation proposal support documents and the 

Departmentrs statement are available on the table. 

The hearing concerns Air Quality Regulations 

found in the Code of Maryland Regulations, Title 26, 

Subtitle II, Air Quality. The Secretary of the 

Department proposes to amend Regulations .02 and .03 

under COMAR 26.11.26, Conformity. 

The purpose of this hearing lS to glve you t~e

opportunity to comment on the proposed action. The 

opportunity for public comment for this proposed act:icn 

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appeared in the Maryland Register, Volume 25, Issue 16, 

on July 31st, 1998. 

The opportunity for public comment reads as 

follows. The Department of the Environment will hold a 

public hearing on the proposed amendments on September 

2nd, 1998 at 10:30 a.m. at the Maryland State Office 

Building, 300 West Preston Street, First Floor 

Auditorium, Baltimore, Maryland, 21201. Interested 

persons are invited to attend and express their views. 

Written comments may be sent to Deborah Rabin, 

Regulations Coordinator, Air and Radiation Management 

Administration, Department of the Environment, 2500 

Broening Highway, Baltimore, Maryland, 21224. Written 

comments must be received no later than September 2nd, 

1998 or be submitted at the hearing. 

Copies of the proposed amendments and 

supporting documents are available for review at the 

following locations; the Air and Radiation Management 

Administration, 2500 Broening Highway, Baltimore, 

Maryland, 21224; regional offices of the Department in 

Cuwberland and Salisbury, all local air quality control 

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offices, and local health departments in those counties 

not having separate air quality control offices. 

The hearing will proceed in the following 

order; first, Ms. Diane Franks will make a statement on 

behalf of the Air and Radiation Management 

Administration. 

A hearing impaired person may request that an 

interpreter be present at the hearing by notifying the 

Department of the Environment, 5 working days in ad~ance

of the hearing date at (410) 631-3009. For more 

information, call Deborah Rabin, Air & Radiation 

Management Administration, (410) 631-3240. 

After Ms. Franks is finished, I will calIon 

anyone who has indicated on the sign-in sheet that they 

would like to make a statement. Seeing that no one is 

present at this hearing, I will ask Ms. Franks to enter 

the statement into the hearing record. 

(Statement of Diane Franks) 

MS. FRfu~KS: My name lS Diane Franks. 

am Division Chief of the Air Quality Policy and Planning 

Division of the Air and Radiation Management 

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Administration, Department of the Environment. 

This public hearing is being held pursuant to 

the requirements of 40 CFR Parts 51.102 and 251, and 

Sections 2-301 et.seq of the Environment Article, 

Annotated Code of Maryland. It is also being held in 

conformance with the State Administrative Procedures Act 

under the State Government Article, beginning at Section ' 

10-101. 

Notice of this hearing appeared in the 

Maryland Register on July 31, 1998, the Annapolis 

Capital on July 31, 1998, the Baltimore Sun on July 31, 

1998, the Bel Air Aegis on July 29, 1998, the Cecil Whig 

on July 31, 1998, the Federick News-Post on July 31, 

1998, the Montgomery Journal on July 31, 1998, the 

Prince George's Journal on July 31, 1998, and the Queen 

Anne's Record Observer on July 31, 1998. Copies of the 

notices are being submitted for the record. 

Copies of the proposed amendments and 

supporting documents were submitted for review to the 

State Clearinghouse and are also submitted at this time 

into the hearing record. Copies of the proposed 

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r 

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amendments and supporting documents were made available 

for public inspection at the Air and Radiation 

Management Administration Offices in Baltimore, 

Cumberland, and Salisbury, and at all local health 

departments or local air quality control offices. 

The purpose of today's hearing is to give the 

public an opportunity to comment on proposed amendments 

to the COMAR 26.11.26.02 and 26.11.26.03 Transportation 

Conformity. 

The purpose of amending COMAR 26.11.26 is to 

provide a legal platform for the various consultation 

procedures that have been developed between the Maryland 

Department of the Environment, Maryland Department of 

Transportation, Metropolitan Washington Air Quality 

Committee, and Metropolitan Planning organizations. 

Some definitions have also been revised. 

In general, the transportation conformity rule 

ensures that the continuous transportation planning 

process and the air quality planning process are 

consistent with each other so that Federal air quality 

standards can be met as quickly as possible. Recent 

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revisions to the Federal rule to reduce the 

administrative complexity of the rule allow many 

decisions to be made through the interagency 

consultation process. 

The revisions to the COMAR 26.11.26 give state 

and local governments increased flexibility to set 

performance measures used to determine confo~mity,

develop the State Implementation Plan, and handle unique 

planning situations in a manner beneficial to the 

environment and economic development. 

The Transportation Conformity Rule, 40 CFR 

Section 93.105, requires that the State Implementation 

Plan address how the principal agencies involved in the 

continuing transportation planning process and air 

quality planning process will involve each other in 

their respective process so that all goals are met. 

On April 20, 1995, the Maryland Department of 

the Environment submitted Maryland's Transportation 

Conformity State Implementation Plan Revision. At that 

time, a separate Memoranda of Understanding for each MFO 

was submitted for the consultation procedu~es. The SIP 

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must be supported through a legally enforceable fc~ma~.

This rule provides a reg~la~ory framework for the 

consultation procedures, developed through the MODs. 

The rule is very general defining the roles a~j

responsibilities of the affected parties and does not 

replace the MODs. The MODs describe the process in 

greater detail and specifically apply to how the 

organizations conduct their planning process. Many of 

the involved planning organizations are 

multi-jurisdictional and multi-state. A greater de~!~ee

of flexibility is needed for a smooth p:anning process. 

The regulation provides the legal underpinning for the 

process. 

The department will consider all comments 

before making a decision to adopt these amendments. 

MR. WILKINSON: Let the record show that 

no comments have been made regarding this proposed 

action. This is the CO~R 26.11.26. Let the record 

reflect that it is now :0:45 a.m. and this hearing is 

officially concluded. 

(Hearing concluded at 10:45 a.m.) 

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CERTIFICATE OF NOT.~Y PUBLIC/REPORTER 

STATE OF MARYLAND 

COUNTY OF BALTIMORE 

I certify that on the 2nd day of September, 

1998, the above-captioned hearing was stenographically 

recorded by me, and that the said proceedings were 

reduced to writing under my direction, and the foregoing 

is a true record of the aforementioned proceedings. 

I further certify that I am not attorney, . 

relative nor employee of any party hereto, nor otherwise 

interested in the event of this case. 

In Witness Whereof, I hereunto set my hand and 

affix my Notarial Seal this 9th day of September, 1998. 

-

hl("}})I.f.( (- ;; t' ,'//(,/ 

j l, I; I ,Lt'_ ' -' 1\.- C - "r_'_'- f:-: r_", 

Dlanna C. Kllgalen

Notary Public in and for the State of Maryland.

My commission expires June I, 2001. 

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LAWYER'S NOTES
 

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