Section 140. Public participation

A. Upon request by any person regarding a specific federal action, a federal agency shall make available, subject to the limitation in subsection E of this section, for review its draft conformity determination under 9VAC5-160-160 with supporting materials that describe the analytical methods and conclusions relied upon in making the applicability analysis and draft conformity determination.

B. A federal agency shall make public its draft conformity determination under 9VAC5-160-160 by placing a notice by prominent advertisement in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the action and by providing 30 days for written public comment prior to taking any formal action on the draft determination. This comment period may be concurrent with any other public involvement such as occurs in the NEPA process. If the action has multi-regional or national impacts (e.g., the action will cause emission increases in excess of the de minimis levels identified in 9VAC5-160-30 E in three or more EPA regions), the federal agency, as an alternative to publishing separate notices, may publish a notice in the Federal Register.

C. A federal agency shall document its response to all the comments received on its draft conformity determination under 9VAC5-160-160 and make the comments and responses available, subject to the limitation in subsection E of this section, upon request by any person regarding a specific federal action, within 30 days of the final conformity determination.

D. A federal agency shall make public its final conformity determination under 9VAC5-160-160 for a federal action by placing a notice by prominent advertisement in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the action within 30 days of the final conformity determination. If the action would have multi-regional or national impacts, the federal agency, as an alternative, may publish the notice in the Federal Register.

E. The draft and final conformity determination shall exclude any restricted information or confidential business information. The disclosure of restricted information and confidential business information shall be controlled by the applicable laws, regulations, or executive orders concerning the release of such materials.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 12, Issue 26, eff. January 1, 1997; amended, Virginia Register Volume 27, Issue 11, eff. March 2, 2011.

Statutory Authority

§ 10.1-1308 of the Code of Virginia.