Section 10. Definitions

Part I
General Definitions

A. For the purpose of this chapter and subsequent amendments or any orders issued by the board, the words or terms shall have the meanings given them in this section.

B. Unless specifically defined in the Virginia Air Pollution Control Law or in this chapter, terms used shall have the meanings given them by the federal Clean Air Act, Titles 23 and 49 of the United States Code, 40 CFR 93.101, other U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations, other USDOT regulations, 9VAC5-170-20 (definitions, Regulation for General Administration), or commonly ascribed to them by recognized authorities, in that order of priority.

C. Terms defined.

"Ambient air" means that portion of the atmosphere, external to buildings, to which the general public has access.

"Applicable implementation plan" or "implementation plan" means, as defined in § 302(q) of the federal Clean Air Act, the portion (or portions) of the implementation plan, or most recent revision thereof, which has been approved under § 110, or promulgated under § 110(c), or promulgated or approved pursuant to regulations promulgated under § 301(d) and which implements the relevant requirements of the federal Clean Air Act.

"Board" means the State Air Pollution Control Board or its designated representative.

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

"Criteria pollutant" means any pollutant for which a national ambient air quality standard is established in 40 CFR Part 50.

"DEQ" means any employee or other representative of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, as designated by the director.

"DEQ Director" means the director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality or a designated representative.

"Donut areas" means geographic areas outside a metropolitan planning area boundary, but inside the boundary of a nonattainment or maintenance area that contains any part of one or more metropolitan areas. These areas are not isolated rural nonattainment and maintenance areas.

"Emergency" means a situation that immediately and unreasonably affects, or has the potential to immediately and unreasonably affect, public health, safety, or welfare; the health of animal or plant life; or property, whether used for recreational, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other reasonable use.

"EPA" means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Federal Clean Air Act" means Chapter 85 (§ 7401 et seq.) of Title 42 of the United States Code.

"FHWA" means the Federal Highway Administration of U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).

"FHWA/FTA project" means any highway or transit project that is proposed to receive funding assistance and approval through the Federal-Aid Highway Program or the federal mass transit program, or requires FHWA or 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.

"FTA" means the Federal Transit Administration of USDOT.

"Highway project" means an undertaking 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.

"Isolated rural nonattainment and maintenance areas" means 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 improvements programs. These areas are not donut areas.

"LPO" or "Lead Planning Organization" means the organization certified by the state as being responsible for the preparation of control strategy implementation plan revisions for nonattainment areas under § 174 of the federal Clean Air Act. The organization includes elected officials of local governments in the affected nonattainment area, and representatives of DEQ, VDOT, the MPO(s) for the affected area, and other agencies and organizations that have responsibilities for developing, submitting or implementing any of the plan revisions. It is the forum for cooperative air quality planning decisionmaking.

"Maintenance area" means any geographic region of the United States previously designated nonattainment under § 107 of the federal Clean Air Act and subsequently redesignated to attainment subject to the requirement to develop a maintenance plan.

"Maintenance plan" means a revision to the applicable implementation plan, meeting the requirements of § 175A of the federal Clean Air Act.

"MPO" or "Metropolitan Planning Organization" means the organization designated as being responsible, together with the state, for conducting the continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive planning process under 23 USC § 134 and created as a result of the designation process in 23 USC § 134(d). It is the forum for cooperative transportation decision-making.

"NEPA" means the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as amended (42 USC § 4321 et seq.)

"NEPA process completion" means, with respect to FHWA or FTA, 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.

"Nonattainment area" means any geographic region of the United States that has been designated as nonattainment under § 107 of the federal Clean Air Act for any pollutant for which a national ambient air quality standard exists.

"PM₁₀" means particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometers as measured by the applicable reference method or an equivalent method.

"Project" means a highway project or transit project.

"Recipient of funds designated under Title 23 USC or the Federal Transit Laws" means any agency at any level of state, county, city, or regional government that routinely receives Title 23 USC 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.

"Regionally significant project" means a transportation project (other than an exempt project) that is on a facility that 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.

"TCM" or "transportation control measure" means any measure that is specifically identified and committed to in the applicable implementation plan, including a substitute or additional TCM that is incorporated into the applicable implementation plan through the process established in § 176(c)(8) of the federal Clean Air Act, that is either one of the types listed in § 108 of the federal Clean Air Act, 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 that control the emissions from vehicles under fixed traffic conditions are not TCMs for the purposes of this chapter.

"TIP" or "transportation improvement program" means a transportation improvement program developed by a metropolitan planning organization under 23 USC § 134(j).

"Transit" means mass transportation by bus, rail, or other conveyance that 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.

"Transit project" means 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.

"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.

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

"USDOT" means the U.S. Department of Transportation.

"VDOT" means the Virginia Department of Transportation.

"VDRPT" means the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

"Welfare" means that language referring to effects on welfare includes, but is not limited to, effects on soils, water, crops, vegetation, manmade materials, animals, wildlife, weather, visibility and climate, damage to and deterioration of property, and hazards to transportation, as well as effects on economic values and on personal comfort and well-being.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 23, Issue 17, eff. May 31, 2007; amended, Virginia Register Volume 25, Issue 06, eff. December 31, 2008.

Statutory Authority

§ 10.1-1308 of the Code of Virginia; § 176 (c) of the federal Clean Air Act.