Title 08

DEPARTMENT OF

NATURAL RESOURCES

Sub tIe 18 BOATING—SPEED LIMIT AND

OPERATION OF VESSELS

08.18.1 Ocean City

— Back Bay Ar s

uthority: Natural Resources Article, §8-7 4,

— Annotated Code of Maryland

Notice of Final Action

199.137-Fl

U On July 20, 19 9, the Secretary of atural Resources adopted new Reg lation .06 under COMAR 08.18.18 Ocean City

— Bac Bay Areas.

T is action, which was

proposed for adoptio in 26:12 Md. . 936—937 (June 4,

1999), has been adopte as propos

Effective Date: Au st 9, 19

JOHN R. GRIFFIN

Se etaryofNatural Resources

Tie

0

DEP TME

T OF

HEALTH

A MENT

L HYGIENE

Subtitle 24

M YLAND HEAL RESOURCES

PL NNING COMMISS

N

10.24.08 Shte Health Plan: Lon Term Care

Services/

Au/’ority: Health-General Article, §19-101 et q.,

/ Annotated Code of Maryland

/ Notice of Final Action

/ [99-119-F-Il

On uly 13, 1999, the Maryland Health Resource Planning/Dommission adopted amendments to Regulati .01

undr COMAR 10.24.08 State Health Plan: Long rm

Ce Services. This action was considered by the Co is

si,6n at an open meeting on July 13, 1999, notice of whi

h

/as given through publication in the Maryland Registe

8jnt to State Government Article, §10-506, Ant

Code 6Maland. This action, which was csed foradoption in 26T6-M.. R. 800

— 801 (MT999), has been

adopted as

Effective Date:

Title 26

DEPARTMENT OF

THE ENVIRONMENT

Subtitle 11 AIR QUALITY

I

26.11.26 Conformity

Authority: Environment Article, HI-lOl, 1.404, 2.101

— 2-103,

2-30!

— 2-303, 10-102, and 10-103,

Annotated Code of Maryland

Notice of Final Action

198-262-Fl -

On July 12, 1999, the Secretary of the Environment

amended Regulations .02 and .03, adopted new Regulations

.04

— .08, and recodified Regulation .04 to be Regulation

.09 under COM.AR 26.11.26 Conformity. This action,

which was proposed for adoption in 25:16 Md. R. 1332

— 1335 (July 31, 1998), has been adopted with the nonsub

stantive changes shown below.

Effective Date: August 9, 1999.

Attorney General’s Certification

In accordance with State Government Article, § 10-113,

Annotated Code of Maryland, the Attorney General certifies

that the following changes do not differ substantively from

the proposed text. The nature of the changes and the basis

for this conclusion are as follows:

Regulation .04A: The text has been changed to clarify lan

guage in this section.

Regulation .04B: The text has been added at the request

of the Environmental Protection Agency to clarify who may

participate in the consultation process.

Regulation .07A(2)

— (3): The language in this section

was added to clarify the responsibility of the MPO in thepublic participation process.

text, and removing all symbols and obso

ete 

S

g

y 

p

p

y 

next generation of regulation amendments for publication in the Maryland Register For more information, call (410) 974-3500.

Health Resources Planning

a

MARYLAND REGISTER, VOL. 26, ISSUE 16 FRIDAY, JULY 30, 1999
.07 Transportation Conformity — Public Consulta

tion Procedures.

A. The MPOs shall:

(1) [[establish]] Establish a proactive public involve

ment process which provides reasonable opportunity for review and comment before taking formal action on a confor

mity determination for all transportation plans and TIPs,

consistent with the requirements of 23 CFR ç450.316(b)[[.]],

(2) Release information supporting conformity determi

nations at the beginning of the public comment period; and

(3) Assess reasonable charges in accordance with the

provisions of 49 CFR 7.95.

B. — C. (proposed text unchanged)

JANE T. NISHIDA

Secretary of the Environment

[[30.0 -- Designath

Noti 9(of:

7 198-251-F]

On July 12, 199’ new Regulations

MAR 30.08.07 f,ecialty ReferralCriteria weradopted by the StateServices (EIvS) Board. This action, whichadoption ip’25:15 Md. R. 1230 — 1231 (Julybeen ado ted as proposed.

Date: August 9, 1999.

Errata

COMAR 08.15.01

At :14 Md. R. 1099 (July 2, 1999), col. 1, line 1 m

the botto

For w river, form a public right-of- ay, or from

adjoin

Read: wild river, m a public t-of-way, or from

adjoining

COMA 22

At 26:15 Md. R. 1148 (J 16, 19 col. 2, line 33 from

the bottom:

For: CO 022.03 General Sa tions and

App s,

Read: 10.22.03 Procedures for Lic se

enials and Disciplinary Sanctions,

199-16-341

[B.] (2) — [F.] (6) (proposed text unchanged)

B. A party is not allowed to be a participating agency in

the consultation process unless that party is identified as a

participating agency in this regulation. Authorit.

Referral Centers

n Article, * 13-509,

rMaryland

ction

• — .11 under CO.

Designation

Medical

for

has

ROBERT R. BASS,’!4.D.

Executive Direcbqr

MIEMS

C

MARYLAND REGISTER, VOL 28, ISSUE 16 FRIDAY, JULY 30, 1999
Authority: Enviro entArticle, 1

101, 1

404, 2.101

2

103, a

d

2.301 2-303; Transpo tioa Article, §23- 207;

Annotated Code o aryland

Editor’s ote: The text of this tion appears under CO.

M_AR 11. .08 on Page 1321 of thi sue. This action is a

joint p ulgation of the Departme of Transportation

and Environment, and appears in MAR only underthe epartment of Transportation as

C 11.14.08.

Subtitle 11 AIR QUALITY

26.11.26 Conformity

Authority: EnvironmentArticle, [‘TItle 2] .1-101, 1.404, 2-101

— 2-103,

2- 301 —2-303, 10-102, 10-103,

Annotated Code of Maryland

Notice of Proposed Action

[98-262-P]

The Secretary of the Environment proposes to amend

Regulations .02 and .03, to adopt new Regulations .04

—

( .08, and to recodify Regulation .04 to be Regulation .09 un s’-.- der COMAR 26.11.26 Conformity.

Statement of Purpose

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 (MDE), Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), Metropolitan Washington Air Quality

Committee (MWAQC), and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). Some definitions have also been revised. Ingeneral, the transportation conformity rule ensures that thecontinuous transportation planning process and the air

quality planning process are consistent with each other sothat federal air quality standards can be met as quickly aspossible. Recent revisions to the administrative complexityof the rule allows many decisions to be made through the

interagency consultation process. The revisions to COM.AR26.11.26 give state and local governments increased flexibil

ity to set performance measures used to determine conformity, develop the State Implementation Plan (SIP), and

handle unique planning situations in a manner beneficial tothe erwironment and economic development. This regula

tion will be consistent with the Memoranda of Understand

ing (MOU) that have been established with the Metropoli

tan Planning Organizations (MPOs).

Comparison to Federal Standards

There is a corresponding federal standard to this pro

posed regulation, but the proposed regulation is not more

restrictive or stringent.

Estimate of Economic Impact

The proposed action has no economic impact.

views. Written comments may be sent to Deborah Rabin,Regulations Coordinator, Air and Radiation ManagementAdministration, Department of the Environment, 2500

Broening Highway, Baltimore, Maryland 21224. Writtencomments must be received not later than september 2,

1998, or be submitted at the hearing.

Copies of the proposed amendments and supporting docu

ments 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 Cumberland and Salisbury; alllocal air quality control offices; and local health departments in those counties not having separate air quality con

trol offices.

A hearing impaired person may request that an inter

preter be present at the hearing by notifying the Department of the Environment 5 working days in advance of thehearing date at (410) 631-3009. For more information call

Deborah Rabin, Air and Radiation Management Administration, (410) 631-3240.

.02 Definitions.

A. (text unchanged)

B. Terms Defined.

(1) “Adopt or approve of” a regionally significant project

means the first time any of the following actions are neces

sary to authorize a project to occur:

(a) Any policy board action necessary for the project

to proceec4

(b) The issuance of administrative permits for the

project;

(c) The execution of a contract to construct the project;(d) Any final action of a board, commission, or ad

ministrator authorizing or directing employees to proceedwith construction of the project; or

(e) Any written decision or authorization from the

metropolitan planning organization (MPO) that the projectmay be adopted or approved.

[(1)) (2) (text unchanged)

(3) “Cooperation” means that the ‘parties involved in

carrying out the planning, programming, and managementsystems processes work together to achieve a common goal or

objective.

(4) “Department” means the Department of the Environ

rnent.

[(2)) (5) (text unchanged)

(6) “MDOT” means the Maryland Department of Trans

portation.

(7) “Metropolitan planning organization” (MPO) means

the:

(a) Organization responsible, together with the State,

for conducting the ContinuLng, cooperative, and comprehen

sive planning process under 23 U.S.C. 134 and 49 U.S.C.5303; and

(b) Forum for cooperative transportation decisionmaking.

MARYLAND REGISTER, VOL. 25, ISSUE 16 FRIDAY, JULY 31, 1998
elected officials of State and local governments in the af

fected nonattainment area, or representatives of the MDE,

MDOT and MPOs for the affected area.

(c) “Regional planning organization” is the forum for

a cooperative decision-making process for air quality plan

ning in the RPO’s specific nonattainment area.

[(3)) (10)

— [(4)] (11) (text unchanged)

(12) “Statewide transportation improvement program

(STIP)” means a staged, multiyear, intermodal program oftransportation projects covering the State, which is consistent with the Statewide transportation plan and metropoli

tan transportation plans, and developed under 23 CFR 450.

(13) “Statewide transportation plan” means the official

intermodal Statewide transportation plan that is developed

through the Statewide planning process for the State, under

23 CFR 450.

(14) Transportation Control Measure (TCM).

(a) Transportation Control Measure” means:

(i)

A measure that is specifically identified and

committed to in the applicable implementation plan that iseither one of the types listed in section 108 of the Clean Air

Act; or

(ii) Any other measure for the purpose of reducing

emissions or concentrations of air pollutants from transpor

tation sources by reducing vehicle use or changing traffic

flow or congestion conditions.

(b) “Transportation control measure” does not include

vehicle technology-based, fuel-based, and maintenancebased measures which control the emissions from vehicles

under fixed traffic conditions.

(15) “Transportation Steering Committee of Baltimore

(TSCY’ means the MPQ for the Baltimore region, which includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, andHoward counties and the cities ofBaltimore and Annapolis.

(16) “Wilmington Area Planning Council (WIL

MAPCOY’ means the MPO for New Castle County, Delaware

and Cecil County, Maryland.

M3 Transportation Conformity

— In General.

A.

— B. (text unchanged)

[C. Consultation. The consultation requirements of 40

CFR §93.105 are addressed and replaced by specific consul

tation agreements (memoranda of understanding) mutuallyestablished by and among the Maryland Department of the

Environment, the Maryland Department of Transportation,and the appropriate Metropolitan Planning Organizations

(MPOs). Following notice and public hearings, these agree

ments shall be submitted to EPA for approval by EPA as revisions to the Maryland State Implementation Plan.)

.04 Transportation Conformity

— Consultation in

General.

The MPOs, RPOs, the Department, and iWDOT shall corn

. ply with the procedures in this regulation governing inter

agency consultation, conflict resolution, and public consulta

tion with each other and with divisional or regional offices of

.05 Transportation Conformity

— Interagency Consul

tation Requirements.

A. Cohsultation Process.

(1) Representatives of the MPOs, RPOs, the Depart.

rnent, and MDQT shall undertake an interagency consultation process with the FHWA, FTA, and EPA, in accordance

with this regulation and Regulations .06

— .08 of this chap

ter on the development of:

(a) UPWP. transportation plans, TIPs, any revisions

to them, and associated conformity determinations; and

(b) The SIP and revisions to the SIP.

(2) The MPOs are the lead agencies responsible for pre paring an amendment, or revision of the UPWP, the trans

portation plan, or the TIP and for making conformity deter

minations.

(3) In nonmetropolitan, or rural nonattainment and

maintenance areas, the MDOT is the lead agency responsible

for preparing amendments or revisions to the Statewide

transportation plan, or the Statewide TIP, and making con

formity determinations.

(4) The Department is the lead agency responsible for

preparing revisions to the SIP and incorporating TCMs rec

ommended by the MPOs and MDOT.

(5) In the case of metropolitan nonattainment and

maintenance areas that have a certified RPO, the RPO is the

agency responsible for preparing an air quality plan and forassuring the adequacy of the interagency consultation pro.

cess with respect to the development ofthe proposed air qual

ity plan, and any amendments or revisions to the plan.

B. When serving as lead agency, the MPOs, RPOs, MDOT,

and MDE have the following responsibilities:

(1) Initiating the applicable consultation process by no

tifying other participants, convening meetings, preparing

summaries, assuring that all relevant documents and infor

mation are supplied to all participants. in the consultation

process in a timely manner, maintaining a written record of

the consultation process, and providing final documents and

supporting information to each partkipating agency after

approval or adoption;

(2) Enabling regular consultation on major activities

(such as the development of a transportation plan, the devel.opment of a TIP, any determination of conformity on trans

portation plans or TIPs, or the development of a SIP) includ

ing meetings beginning on a date determined by the lead

agency to be adequate to meet the date a final decision is

required and continuing at a frequency mutually agreed

upon by the affected agencies;

(3) Convening meetings of technical staff as necessary;(4) Conferring with all other agencies identified in §A of

this regulation with an interest in the planning process, pro

viding all information to those agencies needed for meaning

ful input, soliciting early and continuing input from those

agencies, before taking any action, considering the views of

(

MARYLAND REGISTER, VOL. 25, ISSUE 16 FRIDAY, JULY 31. 1998
C. In addition to serving as lead agency pursuant to §A(2)

ofthis regulation, the MPOs are responsible for:

(1) Developing or approving transportation and related

socioeconomic data and local planning assumptions, or

both, and providing data and assumptions for use in air

quality analysis for SIP tracking and conformity of trans

portation plans, TIPs, and projects;

(2) Providing transportation demand forecasting for de

velopment of onroad mobile source emissions inventories by

the Department and MDOT;

(3) In cooperation with MDOT, evaluating potential

TCM projects and impacts;

(4) In cooperation with MDOT, monitor regionally sig

nificant projects to determine a need for emissions modeling;

(5) In cooperation with MDOT, providing technical and

policy input into the development of emissions budgets;

(6) In cooperation with MDQT, consulting with other

MPOs on emissions analysis for transportation activities

which cross the borders of the MPOs or nonattainment ar

eas;

(7) In cooperation with MDOT, determining which

( partation projects should be considered “regionally sig

\ ant” for the purpose ofregional emission analysis (in ad

aition to those functionally classified as principal arterial

roadway or higher classifications, fixed guidewoy systems,

or extensions that offer an alternative to regional highway

travel), and which projects should be considered to have asignificant change in design concept and scope from the

transportation plan or TIP;

(8) In cooperation with MDOT assuring that plans for

construction of regionally significant projects which are not

FHWA or FTA funded or approved projects (including

projects for which alternative locations, design concept and

scope, or the no-build options are still being considered), including all plans by recipients offunds designated under 23

USC or the Federal Transit Act, are disclosed by the MPO

members on a regular basis, and assuring that any changes

to those plans are immediately disclosed and the interagency

consultation process undertaken involving the MPO andMDOT and the recipients of funds designated under 23

U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Act;

(9) In cooperation with MDOT designing, scheduling,

and funding research and data collection efforts and model

developments in regional transportation, such as householdor travel transportation surveys;

(10) In cooperation with MDOT and the Department,

evaluating and choosing each model or models and associ

ated methods and assumptions to be used in regional trans

portation demand analysis, including vehicle miles traveled

(VMT) forecasting;

(11) In cooperation with the Department and MDQT,

errzluating whether projects otherwise exempted from meetthe requirements of 40 CFR 127 should be treated as - exempt in cases where potential adverse emissions im

pacts may exist for any reason;

tion measures;

(13) In cooperation with MDOT and the Department, determining what forecast of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to

use in establishing or tracking emissions budgets, develop ing transportation plans, TIPs, or control strategy imple mentation plan revisions, or making conformity determina tions;

(14) Iii cooperation with MDOT the Department, evalu ating events which may trigger new conformity determina tions in addition to those triggering events established by 40 CFR §93.104;

(15) In cooperation with MDOT azid the Department, developing assumptions regarding the location and design

concept and scope ofprojects which are disclosed to the MPOas required by this regulation, but whose sponsors have not

yet decided these features in sufficient detail to perform the regional emissions analysis according to the requirements of 40 CFR §93.122;

(16) In cooperation with MDOT and the Department, consulting with the FRWA and FTA on timely action on fi nal findings of conforinity; and

(17) In cooperation with MDOT and the Department, obtaining guidance on conformity and the transportation planning process for agencies involved in the interagency consultation process.

D. In addition to serving as lead agency pursuant to §A(3)

ofthis regulation, MDOT is responsible for:

(1) Circulating draft and final environmental impact or

assessment documents to appropriate agencies;

(2) Convening air quality technical review meetings on specific projects as needed or when requested by other agen cies;(3) In rural nonattainment areas and areas not in

cluded iii an MPO, assuring the proper completion of trans

portation modeling and regional emissions analyses and the

documentation oftimely implementation of TCMs needed forconformity assessments; and

(4) Representing jurisdictions outside th metropolitan planning area within the nonattainment or maintenance

area on the MPO when determining conformity on all

projects in those areas.

E. In addition to serving as lead agency pursuant to §A(4)

of this regulation, the Department is responsible for:

(1) Developing emissions inventories and budgets;(2) Tracking attainment of air quality standards and

emission factor model updates;

(3) Gaining final approval at State level for control

strategy implementation plan revisions and maintenance

plans;

(4) Identifying, as required by 40 CFR §93.123, projects located at sites in PM1O nonattainment areas which will

have vehicle and roadway emission and dispersion charac

teristics which are essentially identical to those sites whichhave violations verified by monitoring and, therefore, require quantitative PMIO hot-spot analysis;

.

MARYLAND REGISTER, VOL. 25, ISSUE 16 FRIDAY JULY 31, 1998
(9) In nonattainment areas where an RPO has been cer

tified, cooperating with the RPQ in the develppment of emis sions inventories and budgets, and in the development ofre gional air quality plans.

.06 Transportation Conformity

— Conflict Resolution

Associated with Conformity Determinations.

A. Unresolved conflicts among State agencies, or between

State agencies and the MPOs, or among the MPO member

jurisdictions, shall be identified by an MPO or agency in writing to the other MPO, the Department, or MDOT, with

copies to the FHWA, FTA, and EPA. The MPOs or agency’s written notice shall:

(1) Explain the nature ofthe conflict;

(2) Review options for resolving the conflict;

(3) Describe the MPO’s or agency’s proposal to resolve

the conflict;

(4) Explain the consequences of not reaching a resolu tion, and

(5) Request that comments on the matter be received

within 2 weeks.

B. lithe action in §A ofthis regulation does not result in a

resolution of the conflict, one of the following applies:

(1) If the conflict is between the MPOs or between the

MPOs and MDOT then the parties shall follow the coordina

tion procedures of 23 CFR §450.210;

(2) If the conflict is between the MPOs or MDOT and

the Department and the conflict cannot be resolved by the affected agency heads:

(a) The Secretary of the Environment may elevate the conflict to the Governor in accordance with the procedures of

§C of this regulation, or

(b) If the MDE Secretary does not appeal to the Gov

ernor within 14 days as provided in §C ofthis regulation, the MPO or MDOT may proceed with its final conformity deter rrLination,

(3) In the case of interstate nonattainment areas, if the

conflict involves agencies outside of Maryland, and the con flict cannot be resolved by the affected agency heads, the con

flict may be resolved in a manner mutually agreed to by the parties involved.

C. Appeals to the Governor by the Secretary of the Envi

ronment under the provisions of §B(2) of this regulation shall be in accordance with the following procedures:

(1) The Secretary of the Environment has 14 calendar

days to appeal to the Governor after the MPQ or MDOT has

notified Secretary of the MPO’s or MDOT’s resolution of the

Department’s comments;

(2) The notification to the Secretary shall be in writing and shall be hand-deliuered

(3) The 14-day appeal commences when MDOT or MPO

. has confirmed receipt by the Secretary of the agency’s or MPO’s resolution of the Department’s comments;

(4) The appeal to the Governor shall contain:

p

p

program ofprojects, revision ofthe conformity analysis, or any combi nation of these;

(7) Ifthe Governor concurs with the conformity determi nation made by the MPO and MDOT the MPO and MDOT

may proceed with the final conformity determination, and (8) The Governor may delegate the Governor’s role in this process, but not to the agency head or staff of the MDE orMDOT

D. This regulation does not prevent the State agencies and MPOs from making efforts on their own initiative to obtain mutual conflict resolution through conferences or other ap propriate means.

.07 Transportation Conformity

— Public Consulta

tion Procedures.

A. The MPOs shall establish a proactive public involve ment process which provides reasonable opportunity for re view and comment before taking formal action on a confor mity determination fcr all transportation plans and TIPs, consistent with the requirements of 23 CFR §450.316(b). B. If the public disagrees with the MPO’s decision about whether a project is regionally significant and whether it

was modeled properly in the emission analysis supporting a proposed conformity finding for a transportation plan or TIP, a written explanation shall be provided by the MPOupon request by the public.

C. The MPOs shall also provide an opportunity for public involvement in conformity determinations for projects when otherwise required by law.

.08 Transportation Conformity

— Interagency Consultation Procedures.

The MPOs, RPOs, MDOT, and the Department may enter into agreements to set forth specific consultation procedures in more detail that are not in conflict with this regulation.

[.04] .09 (text unchanged)

JANE T. NISHIDA

Secretai of the Environment

(

MARYLAND REGISTER, VOL. 25, ISSUE 16 FRIDAY, JULY 31, 1998