Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
b) The following actions which would result
in no emissions increase or an increase in emissions that is clearly de
minimis:
1) Judicial and legislative
proceedings.
2) Continuing and
recurring activities such as permit renewals where activities conducted will be
similar in scope and operation to activities currently being
conducted.
3) Rulemaking and policy
development and issuance.
4)
Routine maintenance and repair activities, including repair and maintenance of
administrative sites, roads, trails, and facilities.
5) Civil and criminal enforcement activities,
such as investigations, audits, inspections, examinations, prosecutions, and
the training of law enforcement personnel.
6) Administrative actions such as personnel
actions, organizational changes, debt management or collection, cash
management, internal agency audits, program budget proposals, and matters
relating to the administration and collection of taxes, duties and
fees.
7) The routine, recurring
transportation of material and personnel.
8) Routine movement of mobile assets, such as
ships and aircraft, in home port reassignments and stations (when no new
support facilities or personnel are required) to perform as operational groups
and/or for repair or overhaul.
9)
Maintenance dredging and debris disposal where no new depths are required,
applicable permits are secured, and disposal will be at an approved disposal
site.
10) Actions, such as the
following, with respect to existing structures, properties, facilities and
lands where future activities conducted will be similar in scope and operation
to activities currently being conducted at the existing structures, properties,
facilities, and lands; for example, relocation of personnel, disposition of
federally-owned existing structures, properties, facilities, and lands, rent
subsidies, operation and maintenance cost subsidies, the exercise of
receivership or conservatorship authority, assistance in purchasing structures,
and the production of coins and currency.
11) The granting of leases, licenses such as
for exports and trade, permits, and easements where activities conducted will
be similar in scope and operation to activities currently being
conducted.
12) Planning, studies,
and provision of technical assistance.
13) Routine operation of facilities, mobile
assets and equipment.
14) Transfers
of ownership, interests, and titles in land, facilities, and real and personal
properties, regardless of the form or method of the transfer.
15) The designation of empowerment zones,
enterprise communities, or viticultural areas.
16) Actions by any of the Federal banking
agencies or the Federal Reserve Banks, including actions regarding charters,
applications, notices, licenses, the supervision or examination of depository
institutions or depository institution holding companies, access to the
discount window, or the provision of financial services to banking
organizations or to any department, agency or instrumentality of the United
States.
17) Actions by the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal Reserve Bank to effect
monetary or exchange rate policy.
18) Actions that implement a foreign affairs
function of the United States.
19)
Actions (or portions thereof) associated with transfers of land, facilities,
title, and real properties through an enforceable contract or lease agreement
where the delivery of the deed is required to occur promptly after a specific,
reasonable condition is met, such as promptly after the land is certified as
meeting the requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and where the Federal agency does not
retain continuing authority to control emissions associated with the lands,
facilities, title, or real properties.
20) Transfers of real property, including
land, facilities, and related personal property from a Federal entity to
another Federal entity and assignments of real property, including land,
facilities, and related personal property from a Federal entity to another
Federal entity for subsequent deeding to eligible applicants.
21) Actions by the Department of the Treasury
to effect fiscal policy and to exercise the borrowing authority of the United
States.
c) The following
actions where the emissions are not reasonably foreseeable:
1) Initial Outer Continental Shelf lease
sales which are made on a broad scale and are followed by exploration and
development plans on a project level.
2) Electric power marketing activities that
involve the acquisition, sale and transmission of electric energy.
e) Notwithstanding the other
requirements of this Part, a conformity determination is not required for the
following Federal actions (or portion thereof):
1) The portion of an action that includes
major new or modified stationary sources that require a permit under the new
source review (NSR) program (section 173 of the CAA) or the prevention of
significant deterioration (PSD) program (title I, part C of the CAA).
2) Actions in response to emergencies or
natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, etc., which are commenced on
the order of hours or days after the emergency or disaster and, if applicable,
which meet the requirements of subsection (f) of this Section.
3) Research, investigations, studies,
demonstrations, or training (other than those exempted under subsection (b) of
this Section), where no environmental detriment is incurred and/or where the
particular action furthers air quality research.
4) Alteration and additions of existing
structures as specifically required by new or existing applicable environmental
legislation or environmental regulations (e.g., hush houses for aircraft
engines and scrubbers for air emissions).
5) Direct emissions from remedial and removal
actions carried out under CERCLA and associated regulations to the extent such
emissions either comply with the substantive requirements of the PSD/NSR
permitting program or are exempted from other environmental regulation under
the provisions of CERCLA and applicable regulations issued under
CERCLA.
f) Federal
actions which are part of a continuing response to an emergency or disaster
under subsection (e)(2) of this Section and which are to be taken more than 6
months after the commencement of the response to the emergency or disaster
under subsection (e)(2) of this Section are exempt from the requirements of
this Part only if:
1) The Federal agency
taking the actions makes a written determination that, for a specified period
not to exceed an additional 6 months, it is impractical to prepare the
conformity analyses which would otherwise be required and the actions cannot be
delayed due to overriding concerns for public health and welfare, national
security interests and foreign policy commitments; or
2) For actions which are to be taken after
those actions covered by subsection (f)(1) of this Section, the Federal agency
makes a new determination as provided in subsection (f)(1) of this
Section.
h)
The Federal agency must meet the criteria for establishing activities that are
presumed to conform by fulfilling the requirements set forth in either
subsection (1) or (2) of this subsection (h):
1) The Federal agency must clearly
demonstrate using methods consistent with this Part that the total of direct
and indirect emissions from the type of activities which would be presumed to
conform would not:
A) Cause or contribute to
any new violation of any standard in any area;
B) Interfere with provisions in the
applicable SIP for maintenance of any standard;
C) Increase the frequency or severity of any
existing violation of any standard in any area; or
D) Delay timely attainment of any standard or
any required interim emission reductions or other milestones in any area
including, where applicable, emission levels specified in the applicable SIP
for purposes of:
i) A demonstration of
reasonable further progress;
ii) A
demonstration of attainment; or
iii) A maintenance plan; or
2) The Federal agency
must provide documentation that the total of direct and indirect emissions from
such future actions would be below the emission rates for a conformity
determination that are established in Section
255.120(b)(1) and
(2) of this Part, based, for example, on
similar actions taken over recent years.
i) In addition to meeting the criteria for
establishing exemptions set forth in subsection (h)(1) or (h)(2) of this
Section, the following procedures must also be complied with to presume that
activities will conform:
1) The Federal
agency must identify through publication in the Federal Register its list of
proposed activities that are presumed to conform and the basis for the
presumptions;
2) The Federal agency
must notify USEPA Region V Office, IEPA, local air quality agencies and, where
applicable, the agency designated under section 174 of the CAA and the MPO and
provide at least 30 days for the public to comment on the list of proposed
activities presumed to conform;
3)
The Federal agency must document its response to all the comments received and
make the comments, response, and final list of activities available to the
public upon request; and
4) The
Federal agency must publish the final list of such activities in the Federal
Register.
j)
Notwithstanding the other requirements of this Part, when the total of direct
and indirect emissions of any pollutant from a Federal action does not equal or
exceed the rates specified in Section
255.120(b)(1) or
(2) of this Part, but represents ten percent
(.10) or more of a nonattainment or maintenance area's total emissions of that
pollutant, the action is defined as a regionally significant action and the
requirements of Sections
255.110 and
255.190
through
255.240
of this Part shall apply for the Federal action.