United States Air and Radiation EPA420-F-03-013
Environmental Protection June 2003
Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
of
to
Changes
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
revise the transportation conformity rule in response to a U.S. Court of
Appeals decision and thereby provide clear guidance and rules that will
assist in meeting the conformity requirements in a practicable
manner consistent with the court's ruling. This rulemaking would also
propose several changes to the conformity regulation that would clarify
and improve implementation of the program. Transportation conformity
is required by the Clean Air Act to ensure that federally funded or
approved highway and transit activities are consistent with or "conform
to" air quality plans (SIPs).
Background
In Environmental Defense Fund v. EPA, et al., 167 F. 3d 641, B.C. Cir.
1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
ruled against EPA on several provisions of the transportation conformity
regulation. In response, EPA and the Department of Transportation
(DOT) issued interim guidance to implement the court decision prior to
EPA updating its regulation. State and local governments have been
successfully implementing this guidance for over four years. The proposal
would incorporate this existing guidance into the conformity regulation.
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One significant proposal resulting from the court decision is to the proce-
dures for advancing highway and transit projects during a conformity
lapse. These projects may proceed, consistent with the court decision,
during a conformity lapse as long as they have received the appropriate
federal approvals before the lapse. A conformity lapse occurs when an
area does not meet conformity deadlines on time.
The proposal would also establish in regulation EPA's existing administra-
tive process for determining whether the motor vehicle emissions budgets
in SIP submissions are appropriate to use in conformity determinations. A
motor vehicle emissions budget is the level of emissions from cars and
trucks that the state has determined to be consistent with local air quality
goals.
In addition to issues addressed by the court decision, EPA will propose
several other changes to clarify and improve the conformity regulation.
Of particular interest is EPA's proposal to streamline the current require-
ments for redetermining conformity after certain SIP actions have oc-
curred (e.g., after EPA's approval of a SIP). This proposal would ensure
that a new conformity determination is only required for SIP budgets that
have never been used in the conformity process.
A second significant proposal would implement the Clean Air Act in a
more reasonable and practicable manner by allowing transportation
planners to base regional emissions analyses on assumptions available at
the beginning of the conformity process. Under the current rule, transpor-
tation agencies must include the latest planning assumptions available at
the end of the conformity process (after a regional analysis has already
been completed).
Key Elements of the Proposed Rule
• This proposal would revise the transportation conformity regulation
consistent with current guidance that implements a March 1999 U.S.
Court of Appeals decision issued by EPA and DOT.
• Consistent with the court decision and existing guidance, the pro-
posal would allow transportation projects to proceed during a
conformity lapse as long as they have received the appropriate
federal approvals before the lapse.
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A second major proposal resulting from the court decision would
establish in regulation EPA's existing administrative process for
determining whether the motor vehicle emissions budgets in SIP
submissions are appropriate to use in conformity determinations
(i.e., EPA's "adequacy process").
The proposal would also make a few additional changes to the
conformity regulation that would streamline and improve implemen-
tation of the program. Of particular interested are EPA's proposals
to: 1) streamline the number of triggers that require a new confor-
mity determination; and, 2) allow transportation planners to base
regional emissions analyses on assumptions available at the begin-
ning of the conformity process.
Health and Environmental Impacts
The proposed rule would not result in any change in health and environ-
mental benefits of the conformity program. This rulemaking will continue
to support the Clean Air Act's air quality standards to protect the public
and environmental health.
Public Participation Opportunities
We welcome your comments on this proposed rule. For instructions on
submitting written comments, please see the Federal Register notice. You
may submit written comments to EPA up to 30 days after the proposed
rule is published in the Federal Register. It is available from the EPA Air
Docket by calling (202) 566-1742; please refer to Docket No. OAR-
2003-0063.
In addition, you can access the proposed rules and related documents
electronically on the Office of Transportation and Air Quality Web site at:
www. epa.gov/otaq/transp/traqconf. htm
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For More Information
For more information, please contact:
Angela Spickard
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Transportation and Regional Programs Division
2000 Traverwood Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
(734) 214-4283
E-mail: spickard.angela@epa.gov
or
MegPatulski
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Transportation and Regional Programs Division
2000 Traverwood Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
(734) 214-4842
E-mail: patulski.meg@epa.gov
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