u
c
c
c
e
r^
5k
Final Rule:Transportation Conformity
Rule Amendments to Implement
Provisions Contained in SAFETEA-LU
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing changes
to the transportation conformity rule to make the rule consistent
with the Clean Air Act as amended by the most recent transportation
funding legislation known as the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
Key Elements of the Final Rule
The final rule updates the conformity regulation as follows:
• Changes the required frequency of conformity determinations for transportation
plans and transportation improvement programs from at least every three
years to at least every four years.
• Gives areas two years (increased from 18 months) to make a conformity
determination in response to a new "motor vehicle emissions budget"
in a State Implementation Plan.
• Provides a one-year grace period before the consequences of a conformity
lapse apply when an area misses certain conformity deadlines. During the
lapse grace period, an area can make conformity determinations for certain
projects.
• Gives areas the flexibility to shorten the timeframe covered by a conformity
determination, if the local transportation planning agency elects to do so.
• Streamlines the requirements for state conformity procedures ("conformity
SIPs").
• Addresses the statute's provision that allows areas to substitute or add
transportation control measures without a SIP revision.
In addition, this final rule includes other changes not related to SAFETEA-LU. This
final rule:
• Allows the U.S. Department of Transportation, in consultation with EPA, to
make categorical hot-spot findings for projects in areas that are in nonattainment
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
United States
Environmental Protection EPA420-F-08-002
A9encv January 2008
-------
or maintenance for carbon monoxide. Such findings could streamline hot-spot
analyses for certain projects.
Removes the provision that allowed 8-hour ozone areas to use other tests for conformity
instead of their 1-hour ozone SIP budgets where the other tests were more appropriate.
This provision no longer applies because it was vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia Circuit on Oct. 20, 2006.
Updates terms and make other minor changes for clarification or to ensure the rule is
consistent with other EPA and DOT regulations.
Background
Transportation conformity is a Clean Air Act requirement that ensures that federally supported
highway and transit projects are consistent with ("conform to") the purpose of a State
Implementation Plan. Conformity ensures that public health is protected by early consideration
of the air-quality impacts of transportation decisions in places where air quality does not
currently meet national standards or has not met them in the past.
Enacted in August 2005, SAFETEA-LU primarily authorized funding of the nation's
transportation infrastructure. This legislation also made several changes to the conformity
portion of the Clean Air Act, which are addressed by the final rule.
Health and Environmental Benefits
Though the final rule makes the conformity program more flexible, health and air quality continue
to be protected. As always, transportation activities - transportation plans, transportation
improvement programs, and individual transportation projects - must be found to conform
before they may be adopted. In addition, conformity must still be determined on a regular basis.
For More Information
You can access documents on transportation conformity on EPA's Office of Transportation and
Air Quality Web site at:
www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf
For more information, please contact Laura Berry at berry.laura@epa.gov or 734-214-4858;
Rudy Kapichak at kapichak.rudolph@epa.gov or 734-214-4574; or:
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
2000 Traverwood Dr.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Final Rule: Transportation Conformity Rule Amendments to
Implement Provisions Contained in SAFETEA-LU
------- |