Wyoming Administrative Code › Agency 020 - Environmental Quality, Dept. of › Sub-Agency 0002 - Air Quality › Chapter 8 - Nonattainment Area Regulations › Section 8-4 - Transportation Conformity

Current through July 13, 2024
(a) Definitions.
				Terms used but not defined in this subpart shall have the meaning given them by
				the CAA, titles 23 and 49 U.S.C., other Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
				regulations, or other DOT regulations, in that order of priority.
"Applicable implementation
				  plan"
is defined in §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 §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
				  CAA.
"CAA"
means the Clean Air Act,
				  as amended.
"Cause or contribute to a new
				  violation"
for a project means:
(A) To cause or contribute to a new violation
				of a standard in the area substantially affected by the project or over a
				region which would otherwise not be in violation of the standard during the
				future period in question, if the project were not implemented, or
(B) To contribute to a new violation in a
				manner that would increase the frequency or severity of a new violation of a
				standard in such area.
"Control strategy implementation plan
				  revision"
is the applicable 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 (CAA §§182(b)(1),
				  182(c)(2)(A), 182(c)(2)(B), 187(a)(7), 189(a)(1)(B), and 189(b)(1)(A); and
				  §§192(a) and 192(b), for nitrogen dioxide).
"Control strategy period"
with
				  respect to particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter
				  (PM10), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide
				  (NO2), and/or ozone precursors (volatile organic
				  compounds and oxides of nitrogen), means that period of time after EPA approves
				  control strategy implementation plan revisions containing strategies for
				  controlling PM10, NO2, CO, and/or
				  ozone, as appropriate. This period ends when a State submits and EPA approves a
				  request under §107(d) of the CAA for redesignation to an attainment
				  area.
"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.
"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.
"Division"
means the Air
				  Quality Division of the Department of Environmental Quality.
"DOT"
means the United States
				  Department of Transportation.
"EPA"
means the Environmental
				  Protection Agency.
"FHWA"
means the Federal
				  Highway Administration of DOT.
"FHWA/FTA project"
for the
				  purpose of this subpart, is 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.
"FTA"
means the Federal Transit
				  Administration of DOT.
"Forecast period"
with respect
				  to a transportation plan is the period covered by the transportation plan
				  pursuant to  23 CFR Part 450.
"Highway project"
is 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.
"Horizon year"
is a year for
				  which the transportation plan describes the envisioned transportation system
				  according to Chapter 8, Section  4(f).
"Hot-spot analysis"
is an
				  estimation of likely future localized CO and PM10
				  pollutant concentrations and a comparison of those concentrations to the
				  national ambient air quality standards. Pollutant concentrations to be
				  estimated should be based on the total emissions burden which may result from
				  the implementation of a single, specific project, summed together with future
				  background concentrations (which can be estimated using the ratio of future to
				  current traffic multiplied by the ratio of future to current emission factors)
				  expected in the area. The total concentration must be estimated and analyzed at
				  appropriate receptor locations in the area substantially affected by the
				  project. 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.
"Incomplete data area"
means
				  any ozone nonattainment area which EPA has classified, in  40 CFR Part 81, as an
				  incomplete data area.
"Increase the frequency or
				  severity"
means to cause a location or region to exceed a
				  standard more often or to cause a violation at a greater concentration than
				  previously existed and/or would otherwise exist during the future period in
				  question, if the project were not implemented.
"ISTEA"
means the Intermodal
				  Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991.
"Maintenance area"
means any
				  geographic region of the United States previously designated nonattainment
				  pursuant to the CAA Amendments of 1990 and subsequently redesignated to
				  attainment subject to the requirement to develop a maintenance plan under
				  §175A of the CAA, as amended.
"Maintenance period"
with
				  respect to a pollutant or pollutant precursor means that period of time
				  beginning when a State submits and EPA approves a request under §107(d) of
				  the CAA for redesignation to an attainment area, and lasting for 20 years,
				  unless the applicable implementation plan specifies that the maintenance period
				  shall last for more than 20 years.
"Metropolitan planning organization
				  (MPO)"
is that organization designated as being responsible,
				  together with the State, for conducting the continuing, cooperative, and
				  comprehensive planning process under  23 U.S.C. 134  and  49 U.S.C. 1607 . It is
				  the forum for cooperative transportation decision-making.
"Milestone"
has the meaning
				  given in §182(g)(1) and §189(c) of the CAA. A milestone consists of
				  an emissions level and the date on which it is required to be achieved.
"Motor vehicle emissions
				  budget"
is that portion of the total allowable emissions
				  defined in a revision to the applicable implementation plan (or in an
				  implementation plan revision which was endorsed by the Governor or his or her
				  designee, subject to a public hearing, and submitted to EPA, but not yet
				  approved by EPA) for a certain date for the purpose of meeting reasonable
				  further progress milestones or attainment or maintenance demonstrations, for
				  any criteria pollutant or its precursors, allocated by the applicable
				  implementation plan to highway and transit vehicles. The applicable
				  implementation plan for an ozone nonattainment area may also designate a motor
				  vehicle emissions budget for oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
				  for a reasonable further progress milestone year if the applicable
				  implementation plan demonstrates that this NOx budget
				  will be achieved with measures in the implementation plan (as an implementation
				  plan must do for VOC milestone requirements). The applicable implementation
				  plan for an ozone nonattainment area includes a NOx
				  budget if NOx reductions are being substituted for
				  reductions in volatile organic compounds in milestone years required for
				  reasonable further progress.
"National ambient air quality standards
				  (NAAQS)"
are those standards established pursuant to §109
				  of the CAA.
"NEPA"
means the National
				  Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321  et seq.).
"NEPA process completion"
, for
				  the purposes of this subpart, with respect to FHWA or FTA, 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.
"Nonattainment area"
means any
				  geographic region of the United States which has been designated as
				  nonattainment under §107 of the CAA for any pollutant for which a national
				  ambient air quality standard exists.
"Not classified area"
means any
				  carbon monoxide nonattainment area which EPA has not classified as either
				  moderate or serious.
"Phase II of the interim
				  period"
with respect to a pollutant or pollutant precursor,
				  means that period of time after the effective date of this rule, lasting until
				  the earlier of the following:
(A) Submission to EPA of the relevant control
				strategy implementation plan revisions which have been endorsed by the Governor
				(or his or her designee) and have been subject to a public hearing,
				or
(B) The date that the Clean Air
				Act requires relevant control strategy implementation plans to be submitted to
				EPA, provided EPA has made a finding of the State's failure to submit any such
				plans and the State, MPO, and DOT have received notice of such finding of the
				State's failure to submit any such plans. The precise end of Phase II of the
				interim period is defined in Chapter 8, Section  4(bb).
"Project"
means a highway
				  project or transit project.
"Recipient of funds designated under Title 23
				  U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Act"
means any agency at any
				  level of State, county, city, or regional government that routinely receives
				  Title 23 U.S.C. or Federal Transit Act 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 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, all fixed guideway transit facilities that offer an alternative to
				  regional highway travel and any project that the Division identifies as having
				  the potential to affect air quality on a regional basis, after consultation in
				  accordance with Chapter 8, Section  4(e).
"Rural transport ozone nonattainment
				  area"
means an ozone nonattainment area that does not include,
				  and is not adjacent to, any part of a Metropolitan Statistical Area, or, where
				  one exists, a Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (as defined by the
				  United States Bureau of the Census) and is classified under Clean Air Act
				  §182(h) as a rural transport area.
"Standard"
means a national
				  ambient air quality standard.
"Submarginal area"
means any
				  ozone nonattainment area which EPA has classified as submarginal in 40 CFR Part
				  81.
"Title 23 U.S.C."
means Title
				  23 of the United States Code.
"Transit"
is 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.
"Transit project"
is 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:
(A) Connect logical termini and be of
				sufficient length to address environmental matters on a broad 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.
"Transitional area"
means any
				  ozone nonattainment area which EPA has classified as transitional in  40 CFR
				  Part 81.
"Transitional period"
with
				  respect to a pollutant or pollutant precursor means that period of time which
				  begins after submission to EPA of the relevant control strategy implementation
				  plan which has been endorsed by the Governor (or his or her designee) and has
				  been subject to a public hearing. The transitional period lasts until EPA takes
				  final approval or disapproval action on the control strategy implementation
				  plan submission or finds it to be incomplete. The precise beginning and end of
				  the transitional period is defined in Chapter 8, Section  4(bb).
"Transportation control measure
				  (TCM)"
is any measure that is specifically identified and
				  committed to in the applicable implementation plan that is either one of the
				  types listed in §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 above, 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.
"Transportation improvement program
				  (TIP)"
means a staged, multiyear, intermodal program of
				  transportation projects covering a metropolitan planning area which is
				  consistent with the metropolitan transportation plan, and developed pursuant to
				     23 CFR Part 450  .
"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"
is a
				  highway project or a transit project.
"WYDOT"
means the Wyoming
				  Department of Transportation.