122431 Air Quality State Implementation Plan Transportation Conformity Regulations-Chapter 15

DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING

Air Quality State Implementation Plan Transportation Conformity Regulations

The Interim Director of the District Department of the Environment, pursuant to the authority set forth in sections 5 and 6(b) of the District of Columbia Air Pollution Control Act of 1984, as amended, effective March 15, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-165; D.C. Official Code §§ 8-101.05 and 8-101.06(b)), section 107(4) of the District Department of the Environment Establishment Act of 2005, effective February 15, 2006 (D.C. Law 16-51; D.C. Official Code § 8-151.07(4)), Mayor’s Order 98-44, dated April 10, 1998, and Mayor’s Order 2006-61, dated June 14, 2006, hereby gives notice of this final action to amend Chapter 4, reserve Chapters 11-14, and adopt a new Chapter 15 to Title 20 (Environment) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR), as published with the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the D.C. Register on April 24, 2009, 56 DCR 3132.

The rules are necessary to amend general conformity requirements and adopt new transportation conformity regulations that will help develop and implement the air quality State Implementation Plan (SIP). The air quality SIP includes conformity of federal actions based on the federal Clean Air Act, §§ 110 and 171-193 (Part D), 42 U.S.C. §§ 7410 and 7501 et seq., as amended. The federal conformity regulations in 40 CFR §§ 93.100-.160 establish standards and procedures to follow when evaluating the conformity of federal projects to all applicable implementation plans.

Transportation conformity is a way to ensure that federal funding goes to transportation activities that are consistent with national, regional, and local air quality goals. A transportation conformity determination demonstrates that the total emissions projected for a plan or program are within the emissions limits established by the SIP, and that transportation control measures are implemented in a timely fashion. Transportation conformity applies to transportation plans, transportation improvement programs, and projects funded or approved by the Federal Highway Administration or the Federal Transit Administration in areas that do not meet or previously have not met air quality standards for ozone, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, or nitrogen dioxide. These areas are known as "nonattainment” and “maintenance” areas. The District of Columbia is currently in nonattainment for ozone and the annual fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) standard. The District is also a maintenance area for the daily PM_2.5 standard and carbon monoxide.

Since conformity commitments in the SIP must be enforceable, the District’s responsibilities must be codified in the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations.

 

No comments were received on the proposed rules and no changes have been made to the text of the proposed rules as previously published. After a forty-five (45) day review period before the Council of the District of Columbia, the rules were deemed approved on November 28, 2009. The rules will become effective upon publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.