Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; California; Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan Update for Ten Planning Areas; Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets; Technical Correction

The EPA is taking direct final action to approve a State Implementation Plan revision, submitted by the California Air Resources Board on November 8, 2004, that includes the 2004 Revision to the California State Implementation Plan for Carbon Monoxide, Updated Maintenance Plan for Ten Federal Planning Areas. This revision will provide a ten-year update to the carbon monoxide maintenance plan, as well as replace existing and establish new carbon monoxide motor vehicle emissions budgets for the purposes of determining transportation conformity, for the following ten areas: Bakersfield Metropolitan Area, Chico Urbanized Area, Fresno Urbanized Area, Lake Tahoe North Shore Area, Lake Tahoe South Shore Area, Modesto Urbanized Area, Sacramento Urbanized Area, San Diego Area, San Francisco-Oakland- San Jose Area, and Stockton Urbanized Area. EPA is taking this action pursuant to those provisions of the Clean Air Act that obligate the agency to take action on submittals of revisions to State implementation plans. The intended effect of this action is to fulfill the requirement under the Clean Air Act for a State to submit a subsequent maintenance plan that provides for continued maintenance of a National Ambient Air Quality Standard within former nonattainment areas within eight years of redesignation of those areas to attainment. In connection with the motor vehicle emissions budgets, we are denying a request by the California Air Resources Board for EPA to limit the duration of our approval of the budgets. Also, in this action, EPA is notifying the public that we have found that the carbon monoxide motor vehicle emissions budgets contained in the submitted maintenance plan are adequate for conformity purposes. As a result of this finding, the various metropolitan planning organizations in the ten planning areas and the U.S. Department of Transportation must use the CO motor vehicle emissions budgets from the submitted maintenance plan for future conformity determinations. Lastly, EPA is correcting certain errors made in our 1998 final rule approving California's redesignation request for these ten planning areas.