Virginia Administrative Code › Title 9 - ENVIRONMENT › Agency 5 - STATE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD › Chapter 151 - Regulation for Transportation Conformity › Part I - General Definitions › Section 9VAC5-151-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
Part I
General Definitions
A. For the purpose of this chapter and
				  subsequent amendments or any orders issued by the board, the words or terms
				  shall have the meanings given them in this section.
B. Unless specifically defined in the
				  Virginia Air Pollution Control Law or in this chapter, terms used shall have
				  the meanings given them by the federal Clean Air Act, Titles 23 and 49 of the
				  United States Code, 40 CFR
				  93.101, other U.S. Environmental Protection
				  Agency regulations, other USDOT regulations,
				  9VAC5-170-20 (definitions,
				  Regulation for General Administration), or commonly ascribed to them by
				  recognized authorities, in that order of priority.
C. Terms defined.
"Ambient air" means that portion of the atmosphere,
					 external to buildings, to which the general public has access.
"Applicable implementation plan" or "implementation plan"
					 means, as defined in § 302(q) of the federal Clean Air Act, the portion
					 (or portions) of the implementation plan, or most recent revision thereof,
					 which has been approved under § 110, or promulgated under § 110(c),
					 or promulgated or approved pursuant to regulations promulgated under §
					 301(d) and which implements the relevant requirements of the federal Clean Air
					 Act.
"Board" means the State Air Pollution Control Board or its
					 designated representative.
"Control strategy implementation plan revision" means the
					 implementation plan that contains specific strategies for controlling the
					 emissions of and reducing ambient levels of pollutants in order to satisfy the
					 federal Clean Air Act requirements for demonstrations of reasonable further
					 progress and attainment (including implementation plan revisions submitted to
					 satisfy §§ 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),
					 for nitrogen dioxide; and any other applicable provision of the federal Clean
					 Air Act requiring a demonstration of reasonable further progress or
					 attainment).
"Criteria pollutant" means any pollutant for which a
					 national ambient air quality standard is established in 40 CFR Part 50.
"DEQ" means any employee or other representative of the
					 Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, as designated by the
					 director.
"DEQ Director" means the director of the Virginia
					 Department of Environmental Quality or a designated representative.
"Donut areas" means geographic areas outside a metropolitan
					 planning area boundary, but inside the boundary of a nonattainment or
					 maintenance area that contains any part of one or more metropolitan areas.
					 These areas are not isolated rural nonattainment and maintenance areas.
"Emergency" means a situation that immediately and
					 unreasonably affects, or has the potential to immediately and unreasonably
					 affect, public health, safety, or welfare; the health of animal or plant life;
					 or property, whether used for recreational, commercial, industrial,
					 agricultural or other reasonable use.
"EPA" means the U.S. Environmental Protection
					 Agency.
"Federal Clean Air Act" means. Chapter 85 (§ 7401 et
					 seq.) of Title 42 of the United States Code.
"FHWA" means the Federal Highway Administration of U.S.
					 Department of Transportation (USDOT).
"FHWA/FTA project" means any highway or transit project
					 that is proposed to receive funding assistance and approval through the
					 Federal-Aid Highway Program or the federal mass transit program, or requires
					 FHWA or 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.
"FTA" means the Federal Transit Administration of
					 USDOT.
"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:
1. Connect logical termini and be of
				  sufficient length to address environmental matters on a broad scope;
2. 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
3. Not restrict consideration of alternatives
				  for other reasonably foreseeable transportation improvements.
"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 improvements programs. These areas are not
					 donut areas.
"LPO" or "Lead Planning Organization" means the
					 organization certified by the state as being responsible for the preparation of
					 control strategy implementation plan revisions for nonattainment areas under
					 § 174 of the federal Clean Air Act. The organization includes elected
					 officials of local governments in the affected nonattainment area, and
					 representatives of DEQ, VDOT, the MPO(s) for the affected area, and other
					 agencies and organizations that have responsibilities for developing,
					 submitting or implementing any of the plan revisions. It is the forum for
					 cooperative air quality planning decisionmaking.
"Maintenance area" means any geographic region of the
					 United States previously designated nonattainment under § 107 of the
					 federal Clean Air Act and subsequently redesignated to attainment subject to
					 the requirement to develop a maintenance plan.
"Maintenance plan" means a revision to the applicable
					 implementation plan, meeting the requirements of § 175A of the federal
					 Clean Air Act.
"MPO" or "Metropolitan Planning Organization" means the
					 organization designated as being responsible, together with the state, for
					 conducting the continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive planning process
					 under 23 USC § 134 and created as a result of the designation process in
					 23 USC § 134(d). It is the forum for cooperative transportation
					 decision-making.
"NEPA" means the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
					 as amended ( 42 USC § 4321 et seq.)
"NEPA process completion" means, with respect to FHWA or
					 FTA, 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.
"Nonattainment area" means any geographic region of the
					 United States that has been designated as nonattainment under § 107 of the
					 federal Clean Air Act for any pollutant for which a national ambient air
					 quality standard exists.
"PM10" means particulate matter with
					 an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometers as
					 measured by the applicable reference method or an equivalent method.
"Project" means a highway project or transit
					 project.
"Recipient of funds designated under Title 23 USC or the
					 Federal Transit Laws" means any agency at any level of state, county, city, or
					 regional government that routinely receives Title 23 USC or Federal Transit
					 Laws funds to construct FHWA/FTA projects, operate FHWA/FTA projects or
					 equipment, purchase equipment, or undertake other services or operations via
					 contracts or agreements. This definition does not include private landowners or
					 developers, or contractors or entities that are only paid for services or
					 products created by their own employees.
"Regionally significant project" means a transportation
					 project (other than an exempt project) that is on a facility that 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.
"TCM" or "transportation control measure" 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 § 176(c)(8) of the federal Clean Air Act, that is either
					 one of the types listed in § 108 of the federal Clean Air Act, 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 that control the emissions from vehicles under fixed traffic
					 conditions are not TCMs for the purposes of this chapter.
"TIP" or "transportation improvement program" means a
					 transportation improvement program developed by a metropolitan planning
					 organization under 23 USC § 134(j).
"Transit" means mass transportation by bus, rail, or other
					 conveyance that 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.
"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 local transit
					 agencies, such as changes in routes, schedules, or fares. It may consist of
					 several phases. For analytical purposes, it must be defined inclusively enough
					 to:
1. Connect logical termini and be
				  of sufficient length to address environmental matters on a broad
				  scope;
2. Have independent utility
				  or independent significance, i.e., be a reasonable expenditure even if no
				  additional transportation improvements in the area are made; and
3. Not restrict consideration of alternatives
				  for other reasonably foreseeable transportation improvements.
"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
					 CFR Part 450.
"Transportation project" means a highway project or a
					 transit project.
"USDOT" means the U.S. Department of Transportation.
"VDOT" means the Virginia Department of
					 Transportation.
"VDRPT" means the Virginia Department of Rail and Public
					 Transportation.
"Welfare" means that language referring to effects on
					 welfare includes, but is not limited to, effects on soils, water, crops,
					 vegetation, manmade materials, animals, wildlife, weather, visibility and
					 climate, damage to and deterioration of property, and hazards to
					 transportation, as well as effects on economic values and on personal comfort
					 and well-being.