Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A.
Transportation plans adopted after January 1, 1997 in serious, severe or
extreme ozone non-attainment areas and in serious CO nonattainment areas. If
the metropolitan planning area contains an urbanized area population greater
than 200,000, the transportation plan shall specifically describe the
transportation system envisioned for certain future years which shall be called
horizon years.
(1) The MPO, in developing the
transportation plan in consultation with the affected agencies identified in
Paragraph (1) of Subsection D of 20.11.3.105 NMAC, may choose any years to be
horizon years, subject to the following restrictions:
(a) horizon years may be no more than 10
years apart;
(b) the first horizon
year may be no more than 10 years from the base year used to validate the
transportation demand planning model;
(c) the attainment year must be a horizon
year if it is in the time frame of the transportation plan and conformity
determination;
(d) the last year of
the transportation plan's forecast period shall be a horizon year;
and
(e) if the time frame of the
conformity determination has been shortened under Subsection D of 20.11.3 NMAC,
the last year of the time frame of the conformity determination must be a
horizon year.
(2) For
these horizon years:
(a) the transportation
plan shall quantify and document the demographic and employment factors
influencing expected transportation demand, including land use forecasts, in
accordance with implementation plan provisions and the consultation
requirements specified by 20.11.3.105 NMAC;
(b) the highway and transit system shall be
described in terms of the regionally significant additions or modifications to
the existing transportation network which the transportation plan envisions to
be operational in the horizon years; additions and modifications to the highway
network shall be sufficiently identified to indicate intersections with
existing regionally significant facilities, and to determine their effect on
route options between transportation analysis zones; each added or modified
highway segment shall also be sufficiently identified in terms of its design
concept and design scope to allow modeling of travel times under various
traffic volumes, consistent with the modeling methods for area-wide
transportation analysis in use by the MPO; transit facilities, equipment and
services envisioned for the future shall be identified in terms of design
concept, design scope and operating policies that are sufficient for modeling
transit ridership; additions and modifications to the transportation network
shall be described sufficiently to demonstrate a reasonable relationship
between expected land use and the envisioned transportation system;
and
(c) other future transportation
policies, requirements, services and activities, including intermodal
activities, shall be described.
B. Two-year grace period for transportation
plan requirements in certain ozone and CO areas: The requirements of Subsection
A of 20.11.3.106 NMAC apply to such areas or portions of such areas that have
previously not been required to meet these requirements for any existing NAAQS
two years from the following:
(1) the
effective date of EPA's reclassification of an ozone or CO nonattainment area
that has an urbanized area population greater than 200,000 to serious or
above;
(2) the official notice by
the census bureau that determines the urbanized area population of a serious or
above ozone or CO nonattainment area to be greater than 200,000; or,
(3) the effective date of EPA's action that
classifies a newly designated ozone or CO nonattainment area that has an
urbanized area population greater than 200,000 as serious or above.
C. Transportation plans for other
areas: Transportation plans for other areas shall meet the requirements of
Subsection A of 20.11.3.106 NMAC at least to the extent it has been the
previous practice of the MPO to prepare plans which meet those requirements.
Otherwise, the transportation system envisioned for the future shall be
sufficiently described within the transportation plans so that a conformity
determination can be made according to the criteria and procedures of
20.11.3.109 NMAC through 20.11.3.119 NMAC.
D. Time frame of conformity determination:
(1) Unless an election is made under
Paragraph (2) or (3) of Subsection D of 20.11.3.106 NMAC, the time frame of the
conformity determination shall be through the last year of the transportation
plan's forecast period.
(2) For
areas that do not have an adequate or approved CAA Section 175A(b) maintenance
plan, the MPO may elect to shorten the time frame of the transportation plan
and TIP conformity determination, after consultation with state and local air
quality agencies, solicitation of public comments, and consideration of such
comments.
(a) The shortened time frame of the
conformity determination must extend at least to the latest of the following
years:
(i) the tenth year of the
transportation plan;
(ii) the
latest year for which an adequate or approved motor vehicle emissions budget(s)
is established in the submitted or applicable implementation plan; or
(iii) the year after the completion date of a
regionally significant project if the project is included in the TIP or the
project requires approval before the subsequent conformity
determination.
(b) The
conformity determination must be accompanied by a regional emissions analysis
(for informational purposes only) for the last year of the transportation plan
and for any year shown to exceed motor vehicle emissions budgets in a prior
regional emissions analysis, if such a year extends beyond the time frame of
the conformity determination.
(3) For areas that have an adequate or
approved CAA Section 175A(b) maintenance plan, the MPO may elect to shorten the
time frame of the conformity determination to extend through the last year of
such maintenance plan after consultation with state and local air quality
agencies, solicitation of public comments, and consideration of such
comments.
(4) Any election made by
an MPO under Paragraph (2) or (3) of Subsection D of 20.11.3.106 NMAC shall
continue in effect until the MPO elects otherwise, after consultation with
state and local air quality agencies, solicitation of public comments, and
consideration of such comments.
E. Savings: The requirements of 20.11.3.106
NMAC supplement other requirements of applicable law or regulation governing
the format or content of transportation plans.
