INDIANA – The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has prepared a transportation conformity determination report for the project listings in Greene and Jackson Counties in the Fiscal Years 2022 – 2026 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.
The transportation conformity report documents that the proposed project listings meet the federal transportation conformity requirements in 40 CFR Part 93. The report was prepared with coordination from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).
Clean Air Act (CAA) section 176(c) (42 U.S.C. 7506(c)) requires that federally funded or approved highway and transit activities are consistent with (“conform to”) the purpose of the State Implementation Plan (SIP). Conformity to the purpose of the SIP means that transportation activities will not cause or contribute to new air quality violations, worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of the relevant NAAQS or any interim milestones. 42 U.S.C. 7506(c) (1). EPA’s transportation conformity rules establish the criteria and procedures for determining whether metropolitan transportation plans, transportation improvement programs (TIPs), and federally supported highway and transit projects conform to the SIP. 40 CFR Parts 51.390 and 93.
On February 16, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in South Coast Air Quality Mgmt. District v. EPA (“South Coast II,” 882 F.3d 1138) held that transportation conformity determinations must be made in areas that were either nonattainment or maintenance for the 1997 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) and attainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS when the 1997 ozone NAAQS was revoked. These conformity determinations are required in these areas after February 16, 2019. Jackson County was maintenance at the time of the 1997 ozone NAAQS revocation on April 6, 2015 and was also designated attainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS on May 21, 2012. Therefore, per the South Coast II decision, conformity determination is being made for the 1997 ozone NAAQS on the Burkart Boulevard bypass road project in Jackson County.
The Transportation conformity report for Greene Jackson Counties is available for review and public comment.
INDOT is accepting public comment regarding the Greene and Jackson County conformity determination. Reply no later than Wednesday, June 23 to Michael McNeil, mmcneil@indot.in.gov Office of Planning, 100 North Senate Avenue, Room N750, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. You may submit comments by computer at INDOT4U.com or by phone at 1-855-463-6848 (1-855-INDOT4U).
The conformity determination process completed for Greene and Jackson County demonstrates that projects meet the Clean Air Act and Transportation Conformity rule requirements for the 1997 ozone NAAQS.
