Comment submitted by Charles Stoll, Director, Land Use and Transportation Planning, San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG)

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the proposed conformity rule restructuring amendments. SANDAG supports the efforts to reduce redundancy and simplify the language included in the rule, however, we do have some concerns regarding the proposed modifications to section 40 CFR 93.118. Near-Term Analysis Year for the Budget Test (40 CFR 93.118) EPA proposed that when the attainment year has passed, or when an area’s attainment date has not been established, a near-term year would have to be analyzed when using the budget test. For these cases, EPA proposed to amend 40 CFR 93.118 (d)(2) to require areas to analyze a year no more than five years beyond the year in which the conformity determination is being made. The proposed change will require MPOs to expend greater staff resources to conduct the necessary travel demand and emissions modeling. This proposed change also has the potential to limit the MPOs ability to move non-exempt highway and transit projects within the five years of an approved, conforming Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Consequently, MPOs in non-attainment areas may be unable to modify the implementation year of TIP projects to account for project delays, increased funding opportunities or shortfalls. Please feel free to contact Rachel Kennedy of my staff at rke@sandag.org or 619-699-1929 with any questions you may have regarding these comments. Sincerely, Charles “Muggs” Stoll Director of Land Use and Transportation Planning