As part of its transportation planning process, the Wood-Washington-Wirt Interstate Planning Commission (WWW) completed the transportation conformity process for the 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). This report documents that the 2045 LRTP developed by the WWW IPC has met all applicable federal conformity requirements in 40 CFR Part 93.
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National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and were in attainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS when the 1997 ozone NAAQS was revoked. The reinstated conformity requirements were subsequently made effective February 16, 2019. The Parkersburg-Marietta region was a maintenance area for the 1997 ozone NAAQS at the time of its revocation by EPA on April 16, 2015, and had already been designated attainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS on May 21, 2012. Therefore, per the South Coast II decision, this conformity determination for the WWW 2045 LRTP is being made for the 1997 ozone NAAQS.
This conformity determination was completed consistent with Clean Air Act requirements, existing associated regulations at 40 CFR Parts 51.390 and 93, and the South Coast II decision, according to EPA’s Transportation Conformity Guidance for the South Coast II Court Decision, issued in November 2018.
