	ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

	40 CFR Part 52

	[EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0320; FRL-       ] 

	Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;

	District of Columbia; Transportation Conformity Regulations 

AGENCY:  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:  Direct final rule.

SUMMARY:  EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the
District of Columbia State Implementation Plan (SIP).  The revisions
establish general and transportation conformity regulations for the
District of Columbia.  EPA is approving these revisions in accordance
with the requirements of the Clean Air Act.

   

DATES:  This rule is effective on [Insert date 60 days after publication
in the Federal Register]  without further notice, unless EPA receives
adverse written comment by [Insert date 30 days after publication in the
Federal Register].  If EPA receives such comments, it will publish a
timely withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and
inform the public that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES:  Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number
EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0320 by one of the following methods:

     A.      HYPERLINK "http://www.regulations.gov"  www.regulations.gov
, Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

     B.    E-mail:  fernandez.cristina@epa.gov

     C.    Mail:   EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0320, Cristina Fernandez, Associate
Director, Office of Air Planning Programs, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

     D.   Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III
address.  Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket’s normal
hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for
deliveries of boxed information.

Instructions:  Direct your comments to Docket ID No.
EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0320.  EPA's policy is that all comments received will
be included in the public docket without change, and may be made
available online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to
be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute.  Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or
e-mail.  The www.regulations.gov website is an anonymous access system,
which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information
unless you provide it in the body of your comment.  If you send an
e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through
www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket
and made available on the Internet.  If you submit an electronic
comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact
information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you
submit.  If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties
and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to
consider your comment.  Electronic files should avoid the use of special
characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or
viruses.

Docket:  All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute.  Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be
publicly available only in hard copy form.  Publicly available docket
materials are available either electronically in www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.  Copies of the State submittal
are available at the District of Columbia District Department of the
Environment, Air Quality Division, 51 N Street NE, Fifth Floor,
Washington, DC 20002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Kotsch, (215) 814-3335, or by
e-mail at   HYPERLINK "mailto:kotsch.martin@epa.gov" 
kotsch.martin@epa.gov . 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Throughout this document whenever “we,”
“us,” or  

“our'' is used, we mean EPA.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  

I.   What Is Transportation Conformity?

Transportation conformity is required under Section 176(c) of the Clean
Air Act to ensure that Federally supported highway, transit projects,
and other activities are consistent with (conform to) the purpose of the
SIP. Conformity currently applies to areas that are designated
nonattainment, and those redesignated to attainment after 1990
(maintenance areas), with plans developed under section 175A of the
Clean Air Act for the following transportation related criteria
pollutants: ozone, particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), carbon monoxide
(CO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).  Conformity to the purpose of the SIP
means that transportation activities will not cause new air quality
violations, worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of
the relevant national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS).  The
transportation conformity regulation is found in 40 CFR part 93 and
provisions related to conformity SIPs are found in 40 CFR 51.390.

II.   What Is the Background for This Action?

On August 10, 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) was signed
into law.  SAFETEA-LU revised certain provisions of section 176(c) of
the Clean Air Act, related to transportation conformity.  Prior to
SAFETEA-LU, states were required to address all of the Federal
conformity rule's provisions in their conformity SIPs.  After
SAFETEA-LU, state’s SIPs were required to contain all or portions of
only the following three sections of the Federal rule, modified as
appropriate to each state's circumstances: 40 CFR 93.105 (consultation
procedures); 40 CFR 93.122(a)(4)(ii) (written commitments to implement
certain kind of control measures); and 40 CFR 93.125(c) (written
commitments to implement certain kinds of mitigation measures).  States
are no longer required to submit conformity SIP revisions that address
the other sections of the Federal conformity rule. 

III.   What Did the State Submit and How Did We Evaluate It?

On January 26, 2010, the District of Columbia Department of the
Environment submitted a revision to its SIP for general and
transportation conformity regulations adopted on January 8, 2010.  The
portion of the SIP dealing with general conformity is strictly a
recodification of its previously approved general conformity regulation
from Chapter 4 of the District of Columbia Regulations (DCMR) to Chapter
15 and contains no substantial changes from its previous approval.  The
SIP revision section for transportation conformity addresses the three
provisions of the EPA Conformity Rule required under SAFETEA-LU:  40 CFR
93.105 (consultation procedures); 40 CFR 93.122(a)(4)(ii) (control
measures), and 40 CFR 93.125(c) (mitigation measures). 

We reviewed the submittals to assure consistency with the February 14,
2006 “Interim Guidance for Implementing the Transportation Conformity
provisions in the SAFETEA-LU.” The guidance document can be found at 
HYPERLINK " http://epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/policy.htm"  
http://epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/policy.htm .  The guidance
document states that each state is only required to address and tailor
the afore-mentioned three sections of the Federal Conformity Rule to be
included in their state conformity SIPs. 

EPA's review of the District of Columbia’s proposed SIP revision
indicates that it is consistent with EPA’s guidance in that it
includes the three elements specified by SAFETEA-LU.  Consistent with
the EPA Conformity Rule at 40 CFR 93.105 (consultation procedures),
Title 20, DCRM Chapter 15, Sections 1503, 1504, and 1505 identifies the
appropriate agencies, procedures and allocation of responsibilities.  In
addition, Title 20, DCMR Chapter 15, Section 1506 provides for
appropriate, public consultation/public involvement consistent with 40
CFR 93.105.  With respect to the requirements of 40 CFR 93.122(a)(4)(ii)
and 40 CFR 93.125(c), the Title 20, DCRM Chapter 15, Section 1509 of the
regulation specifies that written commitments for control measures and
mitigation measures for meeting these requirements will be provided as
needed.

IV.   Final Action

EPA is approving the District of Columbia SIP revisions for general and
transportation conformity, without prior proposal because the Agency
views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse
comment.  However, in the Proposed Rules section of today’s Federal
Register, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve as the
proposal to approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are filed. 
This rule will be effective on [Insert date 60 days from date of
publication in the Federal Register] without further notice unless EPA
receives adverse comment by [Insert date 30 days from date of
publication in the Federal Register].  If EPA receives adverse comment,
EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing
the public that the rule will not take effect.  EPA will address all
public comments in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. 
EPA will not institute a second comment period on this action.  Any
parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.  Please note
that if EPA receives adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or
section of this rule and if that provision may be severed from the
remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions of the
rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.  

V.   Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

A.   General Requirements 

Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable
Federal regulations 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a).  Thus, in
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA’s role is to approve state choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act.  Accordingly,
this action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements
and does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by
state law.  For that reason, this action:

is not a "significant regulatory action” subject to review by the
Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR
51735, October 4, 1993);  

does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of
the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);

is certified as not having a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);  

does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely
affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-4);

does not have Federalism implications as specified in Executive Order
13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);

is not an economically significant regulatory action based on health or
safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23,
1997); 

is not a significant regulatory action subject to Executive Order 13211
(66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); 

is not subject to requirements of section 12(d) of the National
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note)
because application of those requirements would be inconsistent with the
Clean Air Act; and 

does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to address, as
appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental effects,
using practicable and legally permissible methods, under Executive Order
12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).

In addition, this rule does not have tribal implications as specified by
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because the SIP
is not approved to apply in Indian country located in the state, and EPA
notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on tribal
governments or preempt tribal law.

B.   Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating the
rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, to
each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United
States.  EPA will submit a report containing this action and other
required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register.  A major rule cannot
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register.
 This action is not a “major rule” as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

C.  Petitions for Judicial Review

Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review of
this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the
appropriate circuit by [insert date 60 days from date of publication of
this document in the Federal Register].  Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this final rule for the purposes of judicial review nor
does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may
be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or
action.  This action to approve the District of Columbia transportation
conformity regulations may not be challenged later in proceedings to
enforce its requirements.  (See, section 307(b)(2)).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic
compounds.

__May 17, 2010 _____                   		         
________\\s\\_____________

Dated:                                				William C. Early,

                                      				Acting Regional Administrator,

                                      	                                 
  Region III. 

	

40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows: 

PART 52 - [AMENDED] 

1.  The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows: 

               Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart  J District of Columbia

2. In §52.470, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by removing the
existing entry for Chapter 4, Section 403 and adding a new entry for
Chapter 15.  The amendments read as follows: 

§ 52.470  		Identification of plan.

*		*		*		*		*

(c)* * *

EPA-APPROVED DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA REGULATIONS 

State citation	Title/subject	State effective date	EPA approval date
Additional explanation



          *            *               *              *              *  
              *             * 



Chapter 15	

General and Transportation Conformity  

Section 1500	General Conformity-Purpose	1/8/10	[Insert Federal Register
publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

Section 1501	General Conformity- Requirements	1/8/10	[Insert Federal
Register publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

Section 1502	Transportation Conformity-Purpose	1/8/10	[Insert Federal
Register publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

Section 1503	Transportation Conformity-Consultation Process	1/8/10
[Insert Federal Register publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

Section 1504	Transportation Conformity-Interagency Consultation
Requirements	1/8/10	[Insert Federal Register publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

Section 1505	Transportation Conformity-Conflict Resolution Associated
With Conformity Determinations	1/8/10	[Insert Federal Register
publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

Section 1506	Transportation Conformity-Public Consultation Procedures
1/8/10	[Insert Federal Register publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

Section 1507	Transportation Conformity-Interagency Consultation
Procedures	1/8/10	[Insert Federal Register publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

Section 1508	Transportation Conformity-Procedures for Determining
Regional Transportation-Related  Emissions	1/8/10	[Insert Federal
Register publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

Section 1509	Transportation Conformity-Enforceability of Design Concept
and Scope and Project-Level Mitigation and Control Measures	1/8/10
[Insert Federal Register publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

Section 1599	Definitions	1/8/10	[Insert Federal Register publication
date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]	New Regulation

*    *    *    *    *    *   *

                                                

                                                  

*		*		*		*		*

 

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