[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 20, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11403-11404]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-6722]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5444-3]
Air Pollution Control, Proposed Action on Clean Air Act Grant to
the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District
AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed determination with request for comments and notice of
opportunity for public hearing.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. EPA has made a proposed determination under section
105(c) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) that a reduction in expenditures of
non-Federal funds for the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control
District (MBUAPCD or ``district'') in Monterey, California is a result
of a non-selective reduction in expenditures. This determination, when
final, will permit the MBUAPCD to keep the financial assistance awarded
to it for FY-95 by EPA under section 105(a) of the CAA.
DATES: Comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be received
by EPA at the address stated below by April 19, 1996.
ADDRESSES: All comments and/or requests for a public hearing should be
mailed to: Roy T. Ford, Air Grants Section (A-2-3), Air and Toxics
Division, U.S. EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco,
California 94105-3901, FAX (415) 744-1076.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy T. Ford, Air Grants Section (A-2-
3), Air and Toxics Division, U.S. EPA, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street,
San Francisco, California 94105-3901 at (415) 744-1233.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of Section 105 of the
CAA, EPA provides financial assistance to the MBUAPCD to aid in the
operation of its air pollution control programs. In FY-94 EPA awarded
the MBUAPCD $347,863, which represented approximately 10% of the
MBUAPCD's budget. In FY-95 EPA awarded the MBUAPCD $292,856, which
represented approximately 8% of the MBUAPCD's budget.
Section 105(c)(1) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. Section 7405(c)(1),
provides that ``(n)o agency shall receive any grant under this section
during any fiscal year when its expenditures of non-Federal funds for
recurrent expenditures for air pollution control programs will be less
than its expenditures were for such programs during the preceding
fiscal year.''
EPA may still award financial assistance to an agency not meeting
this requirement, however, if EPA, ``after notice and opportunity for
public hearing, determines that a reduction in expenditures is
attributable to a non-selective reduction in the expenditures in the
programs of all Executive branch agencies of the applicable unit of
Government.'' CAA Section 105(c)(2). These statutory requirements are
repeated in EPA's implementing regulations at 40 CFR 35.210(a).
In its FY-95 Section 105 application, which EPA reviewed in early
1995, the MBUAPCD projected recurrent expenditures (or its maintenance
of effort (MOE)) of $3,254,272. This MOE would have been sufficient to
meet the MOE requirements of the CAA because it was not lower than the
FY-94 MOE of $2,967,502. In January of 1996, however, the MBUAPCD
submitted to EPA documentation which shows that its actual FY-95 MOE
was $2,828,502. This amount represents a shortfall of
[[Page 11404]]
$139,352 from the FY-94 MOE. In order for the MBUAPCD to be eligible to
keep its FY-95 grant, EPA must make a determination under Section
105(c)(2) that the reduction in expenditures is attributable to a non-
selective reduction in the programs of all agencies of the applicable
unit of government.
The MBUAPCD is a single-purpose agency whose primary source of
funding is permit fee revenue. Fees associated with permits issued by
the MBUAPCD go directly to the district to fund its operations. It is
the ``unit of Government'' for Section 105(c)(2) purposes. The MBUAPCD
submitted documentation to EPA which shows that in 1994 and 1995 air
permit fee revenues decreased because of declining economic conditions
which caused the business community to curtail operations, resulting in
fewer permits issued and fees collected. As a result, the MBUAPCD's
overall budget and its MOE decreased. The MBUAPCD also submitted
documentation to EPA which shows that over the last three years the
district instituted a number of cost cutting measures, including the
elimination of a position and reductions in hiring, equipment
purchases, and contract costs.
The MBUAPCD's MOE reductions resulted from budget cuts stemming
from a loss of fee revenues due to circumstances beyond its control.
EPA proposes to determine that the MBUAPCD's lower FY-95 MOE level
meets the Section 105(c)(2) criteria of a non-selective reduction.
Pursuant to the CAA and 40 CFR 35.210, this determination will allow
the MBUAPCD to keep the funds received from EPA for FY-95.
This notice constitutes a request for public comment and an
opportunity for public hearing as required by the Clean Air Act. All
written comments received by April 19, 1996 on this proposal will be
considered. EPA will conduct a public hearing on this proposal only if
a written request for such is received by EPA at the address above by
April 19, 1996. If no written request for a hearing is received, EPA
will proceed to a final determination. While notice of the final
determination will not be published in the Federal Register, a copy of
the determination can be obtained by sending a written request to the
above address.
Dated: March 6, 1996.
David P. Howekamp,
Director, Air and Toxics Division.
[FR Doc. 96-6722 Filed 3-19-96; 8:45 am]
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