California Transportation Conformity Working Group Thursday, May 19, 2005 10:30 am - 3:30 pm Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, CA 94607 MEETING NOTES 10:30 Welcome; introductions; housekeeping; agenda review * No significant agenda changes. 10:40 Public Comment: none 10:50 FHWA Updates * Status of 8-hour ozone (and other) conformity determinations Most done or submitted. SACOG, Tahoe still in lapse. * Update on Status of TEA-21 Reauthorization No real news. In conference committee. FHWA will not do impact analysis until a final bill is received. * Status of CMAQ funding and allocation criteria If there is no new bill by June 15, 2005, allocations will be based on carbon monoxide only. FHWA clarified that there will be no impact on programmed projects or a requirement to reprogram the TIP; only allocation would be affected. QUESTION FOR SEPTEMBER: how will things be done after final bill is passed? * Statewide FSTIP Issues - State planning finding coming that will address FSTIP and other issues. All MPO reconciliation amendments done. - Financial Constraint – if final State Budget is very different from Fund Estimate, will need to re-demonstrate Financial Constraint. May Revise makes that less likely due to restoration of Prop. 42. FHWA will work w/CT Programming to fix. - "Mega" projects – need financial plan of their own – guidance available from FHWA HQ web site. * FHWA – NEW STAFF ASSIGNMENTS: Jean: MTC, SANDAG, Tahoe, SCAG, Mountain Counties. Steve: San Joaquin Valley, Butte, Nevada Co. * SURVEY EMAIL: FHWA Division office will handle. No need to respond. * JEAN: handouts re TIP amendments: - Reviewed a table summarizing various amendments and requirements. Comments are due July 1; FHWA requested that MPOs coordinate with programming staff. - There was a discussion re: statewide templates or individual MPO drafts for each amendment option; FHWA will look for CA examples that they prefer. Consistency of TIP and RTP was stressed – conformity determinations must address both documents. If a TIP amendment requires a new regional emissions analysis (i.e. you cannot rely on the regional emissions analysis from the RTP) than a new conformity determination should be made on the RTP also. 11:20 US EPA Updates * STAFF REARRANGEMENTS: Lisa Hanf: replaces Steve Barhite, from NEPA, was FHWA; Office of Air Planning in Air Division. * Recent EPA SIP Actions (emission budget adequacy, approvals, sanctions clocks, etc.) - Adequacy: SJV Extreme Ozone in Feb. - CO: still under review; expect proposal in September-October with budget approval as part of SIP approval. South Coast CO still separate. * 8-hour ozone implementation rule – Phase 2 At OMB – no big issues expected. Possible publication in a few months. - Question: No re-proposal to cover ROP SIP? John Kelly: detail changes but nothing that would need re-proposal … - 1-hour revocation on track for June 15. - Probably no approval of San Joaquin Valley Extreme 1-hr ozone SIP before 6/15. * Status of PM2.5 implementation and conformity rule updates - SIP rule: proposal at OMB. Won't come out for a while (because of 8-hour ozone Phase 2). Possibly will be published mid-late summer. Will cover classifications, attainment dates, NSR, SIP procedures. - CARI: last meeting – interim guidance for SIPs? Inventory guidance instead? INCOMPLETE DATA? Some holes in CA data. Fire flags? But few data quality issues. - PM2.5 PRECURSOR RULE went ahead early to support initial conformity analyses for 4/06. Precursors are NOx, VOC, SOx, Before a SIP, NOx must be analyzed UNLESS State & EPA find it's not signficant; VOC, SOx, ammonia do NOT need to be analyzed unless State OR EPA finds one or more of them should be; criteria for findings provided. SIP trumps when submitted budgets are found adequate. ARB will address precursor significance during SIP development. - ARNIE: if something is found significant (ammonia?) & EMFAC doesn't do it, how do we fix? EPA: if ammonia data not available then conformity not needed (CA). CARI: ARB does have inventory w/ammonia for mobile source in SJV – will use that approach even if it doesn't come from EMFAC. Likelihood of significance finding other than NOx low prior to SIP. - PM HOTSPOT RULE: probably not until October. Covers what to include in project-level conformity analyses (and NEPA documents). * CEQA/NEPA: Schonbrun- case-- watch - diesel focus but will highlight PM analysis. * PM2.5 GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS (Inventory, Multiple MPO, Fugitive): - Inventory guidance due out in about 2 months to help with initial conformity determinations. Multiple MPO guidance likely similar to 8hO3 (SJV focus). - Fugitive Dust – how to adjust for PM2.5 – farther out in the Fall? CARI Existing multiple MPO guidance is for all pollutants – is this something new? KARINA: multiple-MPO guidance covers questions arising from 7/04 edition. ARNIE: how will PM2.5 differ from other annual standards. KARINA: total emissions/year not sum(daily). - PM2.5 NSR MEMO released at EPA web site. http://www.epa.gov/nsr/documents/nsrmemo.pdf * Potential Training Courses - KARINA: OTAQ not coming to CA, but FHWA planning on doing some PM2.5 training. There also will be hotspot training after rule comes out. * Status of Imperial County (PM10) - Redesignation to Serious per Court is Final. Proposed failure to attain and Serious SIP call – still reviewing comments. What's current attainment date? 2006. Ted Harris: when finding made when will grace period start? Not clear. * PETITION FOR REVIEW OF CONFORMITY RULE: briefs due to court in late June. 11:45 Lunch Break 1:15 ARB Updates * EMFAC updates - Work is continuing – on track for public comment draft late June with another workshop. Justification document in progress. ARB working with EPA and FHWA on vehicle registration data issue – existing data reaches age 5 at the end of 2005. * Regional SIP development updates (N. Calif., So. Calif.) None currently affecting conformity. * OFFROAD contractor developing graphical (Windows) user interface. No schedule. Covers all mobile off-road sources. Use for project-level analyses? Nothing near term. * South Coast CO SIP: still at ARB. 2:00 Status of Transportation and Air Quality Planning in California * Near Term Air Quality Plans – Area Representatives - Bay Area: Ozone Strategy – Fed/State plan development target paused by 1hr revocation. Priority now is to split out triennial state update ASAP. - SJV – 8-hr SIP in development; have preliminary inventory; preliminary modeling in progress. Inventory has gross adjustments for EMFAC 2002 from ARB but final will use EMFAC05. PM10 midcourse review in process; waiting for draft emission inventory; preliminary modeling expected by June. Existing PM10 SIP scheduled for Board action today: updates control adoption schedules and emission reductions, but not RFP, attainment demonstration, or conformity budgets. PM2.5 not really started yet except preliminary discussions. - Sacramento: draft emission budget from ARB expected in June; will take 8-hr ROP SIP to boards in Nov/Dec with new emission budgets to replace existing 1-hour ozone budgets. Should be to EPA in time for conformity determination for new MTP in February (March?) 2006. - South Coast: currently working on court issues & w/SCAG on models/growth; will re-convene So. Calif. (SIP) working group late summer. - SD: waiting for another So. Calif. SIP working group meeting. - SB: will be doing 8h Sec110 maintenance SIP as part of state triennial update. - Ventura: moving slowly toward 2007 for 8-hr ozone; inventory work in progress; working w/SCAG on clarification of TCMs. * RTP and TIP Updates and Amendments – Area Representatives - Bay Area: Conformity determination done for RTP&TIP 3/17. - SJV: all FSTIP conditions are taken care of; all 8hr conformity determinations submitted to FHWA. Starting on approach for PM2.5. - SCAG: starting on next RTP update (due 2007). Working on flexible schedule that would allow early update if needed. TIP – fiscal issues covered via amendment #6. 8-hr letter received 5/12. - SANDAG: working on 06 and 07 updates; still on 3yr cycle but may focus on 07 if legislation changes. 8-hr ozone initial conformity determination sent last month. - Santa Barbara: on the way out, but lapse has ended; updating 05 RTP with a target of end of summer – no conformity requirement this time around. - Tahoe: still has a financial constraint issue. RTP still not completed and FHWA-approved so conformity lapse remains. * RON MAERTZ (Sacramento): do any other areas have concerns re. ARB Air Quality/Land Use Handbook? How do we address this? BAAQMD: yes, tracking issue and projects, CAPCOA planning managers talking; it's statewide but need to decide what's better for region – do regional guidance instead? RON: do we need to do thresholds etc for this? (question left open) * Steve Luxenburg/FHWA: reminder: used to have leeway in conformity rule re TIP/RTP consistency (6 months) – removed in July 2004 update – when ANY amendment submitted, conformity needed on BOTH RTP and TIP since analysis needs to be consistent – most areas doing it anyway. Call Steve/Jean if there are questions. * Arnie Sherwood: (SCAG) confirming: new conformity determination for RTP/TIP amendment doesn't re-set clocks for the 'other' document. * TED (SCAG): re-affirmation of RTP? … some projects are now in baseline. JEAN (FHWA): relying on previous analysis makes the exercise unnecessary – only need new analysis if projects are changing or being re-scheduled in a regionally significant way. * Arnie Sherwood: Question for FHWA: 4yr provision RTP/TIP in reauthorization legislation – do both Senate & House have 4yr? 1 is 5, 1 is 4 (regardless, will be more than 3). Will it apply to existing plans or only new determinations? (FHWA HQ will provide guidance after final bill is done). 3:00 Information sharing * Staff changes, meeting locations, other administrative matters Jim Damkowitch (Santa Barbara) moving to consultant. * David Schonbrun/TRANSDEF: RTP smart growth alternative (MTC) modeled – environmentally superior and lower cost; more job accessibility – lower congestion than constrained plan – different way of planning that benefits air quality – see http://www.transdef.org. Highway widening had no regional benefit. Cost-effective transit & smart growth works. MTC finalizing criteria to get transportation project construction funding based on local land use plan consistency with RTP principles. EPA: local GPs changing? DS: yes, cooperative; major change in planning function. Other agencies – alternatives in RTP? Encouraged by Keeley(?) bill? * TED/SCAG: growth visioning relationship to 2004 RTP ... similar program. 3:30 Adjournment