06- 096 C.M.R. ch. 139, § 2

Current through 2024-51, December 18, 2024

Section 096-139-2 - Definitions

Terms used but not defined in this chapter shall have the meaning given them by the CAA, Titles 23 and 49 U.S.C., other Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, other DOT regulations, or under Chapter 100 of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection Regulations in that order of priority.

A. Applicable implementation plan. "Applicable implementation plan" is defined in Section 302(q) of the CAA and means the portion (or portions) of the implementation plan, or most recent revision thereof, which has been approved under Section 110, or promulgated under Section 110(c), or promulgated or approved pursuant to regulations promulgated under Section 301(d) and which implements the relevant requirements of the CAA. This would include a State Implementation Plan or Federal Implementation Plan.

B.CMAQ. "CMAQ" means the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program, funded by FHWA and administered by MaineDOT.

C.Control strategy implementation plan revision. "Control strategy implementation plan revision" is the implementation plan which contains specific strategies for controlling the emissions of and reducing ambient levels of pollutants in order to satisfy CAA requirements for demonstrations of reasonable further progress and attainment (including implementation plan revisions submitted to satisfy CAA Sections 172(c), 182(b)(1), 182(c)(2)(A), 182(c)(2)(B), 187(a)(7), 187(g), 189(a)(1)(B), and 189(b)(1)(A); 189(d), and Sections 192(a) and 192(b) for nitrogen dioxide and any other applicable CAA provision requiring a demonstration of reasonable further progress or attainment).

D.Design concept. "Design concept" means the type of facility identified by the project, e.g., freeway, expressway, arterial highway, grade-separated highway, reserved right-of-way rail transit, mixed-traffic rail transit, exclusive busway, etc.

E.Design scope. "Design scope" means the design aspects which will affect the proposed facility's impact on regional emissions, usually as they relate to vehicle or person carrying capacity and control, e.g., number of lanes or tracks to be constructed or added, length of project, signalization, access control including approximate number and location of interchanges, preferential treatment for high-occupancy vehicles, etc.

F.DOT. "DOT" means the United States Department of Transportation.

G.FHWA. "FHWA" means the Federal Highway Administration of DOT.

H.FHWA/FTA project. "FHWA/FTA project", means any highway or transit project which is proposed to receive funding assistance and approval through the Federal-Aid Highway program or the Federal mass transit program, or requires Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approval for some aspect of the project, such as connection to an interstate highway or deviation from applicable design standards on the interstate system.

I.Forecast period. "Forecast period" with respect to a transportation plan is the time period covered by the transportation plan pursuant to 23 CFR Part 450.

J.FTA. "FTA" means the Federal Transit Administration of DOT.

K.Highway project. "Highway project" means to implement or modify a highway facility or highway-related program. Such an undertaking consists of all required phases necessary for implementation. For analytical purposes, it must be defined sufficiently to:

(1) Connect logical termini and be of sufficient length to address environmental matters on a broad scope;

(2) Have independent utility or significance, i.e., be usable and be a reasonable expenditure even if no additional transportation improvements in the area are made; and

(3) Not restrict consideration of alternatives for other reasonably foreseeable transportation improvements.

L. Horizon year. "Horizon year" is a year for which the transportation plan describes the envisioned transportation system according to Section 93.106.

M.Hot-spot analysis. "Hot-spot analysis" is an estimation of likely future localized CO and PM₁₀ and/or PM_2.5 pollutant concentrations and a comparison of those concentrations to the national ambient air quality standards. Hot-spot analysis assesses impacts on a scale smaller than the entire nonattainment or maintenance area, including, for example, congested roadway intersections and highways or transit terminals, and uses an air quality dispersion model to determine the effects of emissions on air quality.

N. Isolated rural nonattainment and maintenance areas. "Isolated rural Nonattainment and maintenance areas" are areas that do not contain or are not part of any metropolitan planning area as designated under the transportation planning regulations. Isolated rural areas do not have federally required metropolitan transportation plans or TIPs and do not have projects that are part of the emissions analysis of any MPO's metropolitan transportation plan or TIP. Projects in such areas are instead included in statewide transportation improvement programs. These areas are not donut areas.

O.Lapse. "Lapse" means that the conformity determination for a transportation plan or TIP has expired, and thus there is no currently conforming transportation plan and TIP.

P.Limited maintenance plan. "Limited maintenance plan" is a maintenance plan that EPA has determined meets EPA's limited maintenance plan policy criteria for a given NAAQS and pollutant. To qualify for a limited maintenance plan, for example, an area must have a design value that is significantly below a given NAAQS, and it must be reasonable to expect that a NAAQS violation will not result from any level of future motor vehicle emissions growth.

Q.MaineDOT. "MaineDOT" means the Maine Department of Transportation.

R.Maintenance area. "Maintenance area" means any geographic region of the United States previously designated nonattainment pursuant to the CAA Amendments of 1990 and subsequently re-designated to attainment subject to the requirement to develop a maintenance plan under Section 175A of the CAA, as amended.

S.Maintenance plan. "Maintenance Plan" means an implementation plan under Section 175A of the CAA, as amended.

T.Metropolitan planning organization (MPO). "Metropolitan planning organization (MPO)" is that organization designated as being responsible, together with the State, for conducting the continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive planning process under Titles 23 U.S.C. 134 and 49 U.S.C. 5303. It is the forum for cooperative transportation decision-making.

U.Milestone. "Milestone" has the meaning given in CAA Sections 182(g)(1) and 189(c) for serious and above ozone nonattainment areas and PM₁₀ nonattainment areas, respectively. For all other nonattainment areas, a milestone consists of an emissions level and the date on which that level is to be achieved as required by the applicable CAA provision for reasonable further progress towards attainment.

V.Motor vehicle emissions budget. "Motor vehicle emissions budget" is that portion of the total allowable emissions defined in the submitted or approved control strategy implementation plan revision or maintenance plan for a certain date for the purpose of meeting reasonable further progress milestones or demonstrating attainment or maintenance of the NAAQS, for any criteria pollutant or its precursors, allocated to highway and transit vehicle use and emissions.

W.National ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). "National ambient air quality standards" are those standards established pursuant to Section 109 of the CAA.

X.NEPA. "NEPA" means the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (Title 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Y.NEPA process completion. "NEPA process completion" means the point at which there is a specific action to make a determination that a project is categorically excluded, to make a Finding of No Significant Impact, or to issue a record of decision on a Final Environmental Impact Statement under NEPA.

Z.Nonattainment area. "Nonattainment area" means any geographic region of the United States which has been designated as nonattainment under Section 107 of the CAA for any pollutant for which a national ambient air quality standard exists.

AA.Project. "Project" means a highway project or transit project.

BB.Protective finding. "Protective finding" means a determination by EPA that a submitted control strategy implementation plan revision contains adopted control measures or written commitments to adopt enforceable control measures that fully satisfy the emissions reductions requirements relevant to the statutory provision for which the implementation plan revision was submitted, such as reasonable further progress or attainment.

CC.Recipient of funds" Recipient of funds" means any state, county, city, or regional government agency that routinely receives Title 23 U.S.C. or Federal Transit Laws funds to construct FHWA/FTA projects, operate FHWA/FTA projects or equipment, purchase equipment, or undertake other services or operations via contracts or agreements. This definition does not include private landowners or developers, or contractors or entities that are only paid for services or products created by their own employees.

DD.Regionally significant project. "Regionally significant project" means a transportation project (other than an exempt project) that is on a facility which serves regional transportation needs (such as access to and from the area outside of the region, major activity centers in the region, major planned developments such as new retail malls, sports complexes, etc., or transportation terminals as well as most terminals themselves) and would normally be included in the modeling of a metropolitan area's transportation network, including at a minimum all principal arterial highways and all fixed guideway transit facilities that offer an alternative to regional highway travel.

EE.Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). "Statewide Transportation Improvement Program" means a staged, multiyear, statewide, intermodal program of transportation projects which is consistent with the Statewide transportation plan and planning processes and metropolitan plans, TIPs and processes.

FF.Safety margin. "Safety margin" means the amount by which the total projected emissions from all sources of a given pollutant are less than the total emissions that would satisfy the applicable requirement for reasonable further progress, attainment, or maintenance.

GG.Transit. "Transit" is mass transportation by bus, rail, or other conveyance which provides general or special service to the public on a regular and continuing basis. It does not include school buses or charter or sightseeing services.

HH.Transit project. "Transit project" is an undertaking to implement or modify a transit facility or transit-related program; purchase transit vehicles or equipment; or provide financial assistance for transit operations. It does not include actions that are solely within the jurisdiction of local transit agencies, such as changes in routes, schedules, or fares. It may consist of several phases. For analytical purposes, it must be defined inclusively enough to:

(1) Connect logical termini and be of sufficient length to address environmental matters on a broad scope;

(2) Have independent utility or independent significance, i.e., be a reasonable expenditure even if no additional transportation improvements in the area are made; and

(3) Not restrict consideration of alternatives for other reasonably foreseeable transportation improvements.

II. Transportation control measure (TCM). "Transportation control measure" is any measure that is specifically identified and committed to in the applicable implementation plan that is either one of the types listed in Section 108 of the CAA, or any other measure for the purpose of reducing emissions or concentrations of air pollutants from transportation sources by reducing vehicle use or changing traffic flow or congestion conditions. Notwithstanding the first sentence of this definition, vehicle technology-based, fuel-based, and maintenance-based measures which control the emissions from vehicles under fixed traffic conditions are not TCMs for the purposes of this chapter.

JJ.Transportation improvement program (TIP). "Transportation improvement program" means a staged, multiyear, inter-modal program of transportation projects covering a metropolitan planning area which is consistent with the metropolitan transportation plan and developed pursuant to 23 CFR Part 450.

KK. Transportation plan. "Transportation plan" means the official intermodal metropolitan transportation plan that is developed through the metropolitan planning process for the metropolitan planning area, developed pursuant to 23 CFR Part 450. For the purposes of this document, the transportation plan also means the 20 year plan (also called the long range plan) developed by the MaineDOT for the nonattainment and maintenance areas including those outside of the MPO boundaries.

LL. Transportation project. "Transportation project" means a highway project or a transit project.

MM. Written Commitment. "Written Commitment" means a written commitment that includes a description of the action to be taken; a schedule for the completion of the action; a demonstration that the funding necessary to implement the action has been authorized by the appropriating or authorizing body; and an acknowledgment that the commitment is an enforceable obligation under the applicable implementation plan.

06- 096 C.M.R. ch. 139, § 2