Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 250 - Department of Environmental Management › Chapter 120 - Air Resources › Subchapter 05 - Air Pollution Control › Part 49 - Transportation Conformity › Section 250-RICR-120-05-49.5 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Unless otherwise expressly defined in this
				  section, the terms used in this regulation shall be defined by reference to
				  Part 0 of this Subchapter (General Definitions). Terms used but not defined in
				  this regulation or Part 0 of this Subchapter (General Definitions) shall have
				  the meaning given them by the CAA, 49 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq ., R.I. Gen.
				  Laws Chapter 23-23, other Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, or
				  other DOT regulations, in that order of priority.
B. As used in this regulation, the following
				  terms shall, where the context permits, be construed as follows:
1. "Applicable implementation plan" is
				  defined in 42 U.S.C. §
												7602(q) (section 302(q) of
				  the CAA) and means the portion (or portions) of the implementation plan, or
				  most recent revision thereof, which has been approved under section 110, or
				  promulgated under 42 U.S.C.
				  §
												7410(c) (section
				  110(c) of the CAA), or promulgated or approved pursuant to regulations
				  promulgated under 42 U.S.C.
				  §
												7601(d) (section
				  301(d) of the CAA) and which implements the relevant requirements of the
				  CAA.
2. "CAA" means the Clean Air
				  Act, 42 U.S.C. §
												7401 et seq.
3. "Control strategy implementation plan
				  revision" means the implementation plan which contains specific strategies for
				  controlling the emissions of and reducing ambient levels of pollutants in order
				  to satisfy CAA requirements for demonstrations of reasonable further progress
				  and attainment (including implementation plan revisions submitted to satisfy
				  42 U.S.C. §§
												7502(c),
				  7511a(b)(1),
				  7511a(c)(2)(A),
				  7511a(c)(2)(b),
				  7512a(a)(7),
				  7512a(g),
				  7513a(a)(1)(B),
				  7513a(b)(1)(A),
				  7513a(d),
				  7514a(a),
				  7514a(b)
				  (sections 172(c), 182(b)(1), 182(c)(2)(A), 182(c)(2)(B), 187(a)(7), 187(g),
				  189(a)(1)(B), 189(b)(1)(A), and 189(d); §§192(a) and 192(b) of the
				  CAA), for nitrogen dioxide; and any other applicable CAA provision requiring a
				  demonstration of reasonable further progress or attainment).
4. "Design concept" means the type of
				  facility identified by the project, e.g., freeway, expressway, arterial
				  highway, grade-separated highway, reserved right-of-way rail transit,
				  mixed-traffic rail transit, exclusive busway, etc.
5. "Design scope" means the design aspects
				  which will affect the proposed facility's impact on regional emissions, usually
				  as they relate to vehicle or person carrying capacity and control, e.g., number
				  of lanes or tracks to be constructed or added, length of project,
				  signalization, access control including approximate number and location of
				  interchanges, preferential treatment for high-occupancy vehicles,
				  etc.
6. "DOT" means the United
				  States Department of Transportation.
7. "Donut areas" mean geographic areas
				  outside a metropolitan planning area boundary, but inside the boundary of a
				  nonattainment or maintenance area that contains any part of a metropolitan
				  area(s). These areas are not isolated rural nonattainment and maintenance
				  areas.
8. "Exempt projects" means
				  projects of the type listed in
				  40 C.F.R. §
												93.126, Table 2, "Exempt Projects" or
				  40 C.F.R. §
												93.127 Table 3, "Projects Exempt from
				  Regional Emissions Analyses," incorporated in §
											49.4 of this
				  Part.
9. "FHWA" means the Federal
				  Highway Administration of DOT.
10.
				  "FHWA/FTA project" means any highway or transit project which is proposed to
				  receive funding assistance and approval through the Federal-Aid Highway program
				  or the Federal mass transit program, or requires Federal Highway Administration
				  (FHWA) or Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approval for some aspect of the
				  project, such as connection to an interstate highway or deviation from
				  applicable design standards on the interstate system.
11. "FTA" means the Federal Transit
				  Administration of DOT.
12. "Final
				  document or decision" means the document or decision prepared after
				  consideration of and responding to comments received, if any, during the
				  interagency consultation process and, if applicable, the public comment
				  process.
13. "Highway project"
				  means an undertaking to implement or modify a highway facility or
				  highway-related program. Such an undertaking consists of all required phases
				  necessary for implementation. For analytical purposes, it must be defined
				  sufficiently to:
a. Connect logical termini
				  and be of sufficient length to address environmental matters on a broad
				  scope;
b. Have independent utility
				  or significance, i.e., be usable and be a reasonable expenditure even if no
				  additional transportation improvements in the area are made; and
c. Not restrict consideration of alternatives
				  for other reasonably foreseeable transportation improvements.
14. "Hot-spot analysis" means an
				  estimation of likely future localized CO, PM10, and/or
				  PM2.5 pollutant concentrations and a comparison of those
				  concentrations to the national ambient air quality standards. Hot-spot analysis
				  assesses impacts on a scale smaller than the entire nonattainment or
				  maintenance area, including, for example, congested roadway intersections and
				  highways or transit terminals, and uses an air quality dispersion model to
				  determine the effects of emissions on air quality.
15. "Isolated rural nonattainment and
				  maintenance areas" means areas that do not contain or are not part of any
				  metropolitan planning area as designated under the transportation planning
				  regulations. Isolated rural areas do not have federally required metropolitan
				  transportation plans or TIPs and do not have projects that are part of the
				  emissions analysis of any MPO's metropolitan transportation plan or TIP.
				  Projects in such areas are instead included in statewide transportation
				  improvement programs. These areas are not donut areas.
16. "Maintenance area" means any geographic
				  region of the United States previously designated nonattainment pursuant to the
				  CAA Amendments of 1990 and subsequently re-designated to attainment subject to
				  the requirement to develop a maintenance plan under
				  42 U.S.C. §
												7505a (section 175A of the CAA).
17. "Maintenance plan" means an
				  implementation plan under 42
				  U.S.C. §
												7505a (section 175A of the
				  CAA).
18. "Metropolitan planning
				  organization" or "MPO" means the State Planning Council and its staff in the
				  Department of Administration, Division of Planning.
19. "Milestone" means the meaning given in
				  42 U.S.C. §§
												7511a(g)(1) and
				  42 U.S.C. §
												7513 a(c)(sections 182(g)(1) and 189(c) of
				  the CAA) for serious and above ozone nonattainment areas and
				  PM10 nonattainment areas, respectively. For all other
				  nonattainment areas, a milestone consists of an emissions level and the date on
				  which that level is to be achieved as required by the applicable CAA provision
				  for reasonable further progress towards attainment.
20. "Motor vehicle emissions budget" means
				  that portion of the total allowable emissions defined in the submitted or
				  approved control strategy implementation plan revision or maintenance plan for
				  a certain date for the purpose of meeting reasonable further progress
				  milestones or demonstrating attainment or maintenance of the NAAQS, for any
				  criteria pollutant or its precursors, allocated to highway and transit vehicle
				  use and emissions.
21. "National
				  ambient air quality standards" or "NAAQS" means those standards established
				  pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §
												7409 (section 109 of the CAA).
22. "NEPA" means the National Environmental
				  Policy Act of 1969, as amended,
				  42 U.S.C. §
												4321 et seq.
23. "NEPA process completion" means the point
				  at which there is a specific action to make a determination that a project is
				  categorically excluded, to make a Finding of No Significant Impact, or to issue
				  a record of decision on a Final Environmental Impact Statement under
				  NEPA.
24. "Nonattainment area"
				  means any geographic region of the United States which has been designated as
				  nonattainment under 42
				  U.S.C. §
												7407 (section 107 of the CAA)
				  for any pollutant for which a national ambient air quality standard
				  exists.
25. "Project" means a
				  highway project or transit project.
26. "Regionally significant project" means a
				  transportation project (other than an exempt project) that is on a facility
				  which serves regional transportation needs (such as access to and from the area
				  outside of the region, major activity centers in the region, major planned
				  developments such as new retail malls, sports complexes, etc., or
				  transportation terminals as well as most terminals themselves) and would
				  normally be included in the modeling of a metropolitan area's transportation
				  network, including at a minimum all principal arterial highways and all fixed
				  guideway transit facilities that offer an alternative to regional highway
				  travel.
27. "RIDOT" means the Rhode
				  Island Department of Transportation.
28. "RIPTA" means the Rhode Island Public
				  Transit Authority.
29. "Transit"
				  means mass transportation by bus, rail, or other conveyance which provides
				  general or special service to the public on a regular and continuing basis. It
				  does not include school buses or charter or sightseeing services.
30. "Transit project" means an undertaking to
				  implement or modify a transit facility or transit-related program; purchase
				  transit vehicles or equipment; or provide financial assistance for transit
				  operations. It does not include actions that are solely within the jurisdiction
				  of RIPTA, such as changes in routes, schedules, or fares. It may consist of
				  several phases. For analytical purposes, it must be defined inclusively enough
				  to:
a. Connect logical termini and be of
				  sufficient length to address environmental matters on a regional
				  scope;
b. Have independent utility
				  or independent significance, i.e., be a reasonable expenditure even if no
				  additional transportation improvements in the area are made; and
c. Not restrict consideration of alternatives
				  for other reasonably foreseeable transportation
				  improvements.
31.
				  "Transportation control measure" or "TCM" means any measure that is
				  specifically identified and committed to in the applicable implementation plan,
				  including a substitute or additional TCM that is incorporated into the
				  applicable implementation plan through the process established in
				  42 U.S.C. §
												7506(c)(8) (section
				  176(c)(8) of the CAA), that is either one of the types listed in
				  42 U.S.C. §
												7408 (section 108 of the CAA), or any other
				  measure for the purpose of reducing emissions or concentrations of air
				  pollutants from transportation sources by reducing vehicle use or changing
				  traffic flow or congestion conditions. Notwithstanding the first sentence of
				  this definition, vehicle technology-based, fuel-based, and maintenance-based
				  measures which control the emissions from vehicles under fixed traffic
				  conditions are not TCMs for the purposes of this subpart.
32. "Transportation improvement program" or
				  "TIP" means a transportation improvement program developed by a metropolitan
				  planning organization under 23 U.S.C. §
												134(j).
33. "Transportation plan" means the official
				  intermodal metropolitan transportation plan that is developed through the
				  metropolitan planning process for the metropolitan planning area, developed
				  pursuant to 23 C.F.R. §
												450.
34. "Transportation project" means a highway
				  project or a transit project.
35.
				  "Written commitment" means a written commitment that includes a description of
				  the action to be taken; a schedule for the completion of the action; a
				  demonstration that funding necessary to implement the action has been
				  authorized by the appropriating or authorizing body; and an acknowledgment that
				  the commitment is an enforceable obligation under the applicable implementation
				  plan.