Section 20. Terms defined

"Administrator" means the Administrator of EPA or an authorized representative.

"Affected federal land manager" means the federal agency or the federal official charged with direct responsibility for management of an area designated as class I under the federal Clean Air Act, and located within 100 kilometers of the proposed federal action.

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

"Applicability analysis" means the process of determining if the federal action shall be supported by a conformity determination.

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

"Areawide air quality modeling analysis" means an assessment on a scale that includes the entire nonattainment area or maintenance area using an air quality dispersion model or photochemical grid model to determine the effects of emissions on air quality, for example, an assessment using EPA's community multi-scale air quality (CMAQ) modeling system.

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

"Cause or contribute to a new violation" means a federal action that:

1. Causes a new violation of a national ambient air quality standard at a location in a nonattainment or maintenance area which would otherwise not be in violation of the standard during the future period in question if the federal action were not taken; or

2. Contributes, in conjunction with other reasonably foreseeable actions, to a new violation of a national ambient air quality standard at a location in a nonattainment or maintenance area in a manner that would increase the frequency or severity of the new violation.

"Caused by" means, as used in the terms "direct emissions" and "indirect emissions," emissions that would not otherwise occur in the absence of the federal action.

"Confidential business information" or "CBI" means information that has been determined by a federal agency, in accordance with its applicable regulations, to be a trade secret, or commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential and is exempt from required disclosure under the federal Freedom of Information Act (5 USC § 552(b)(4)).

"Conformity determination" means the evaluation (made after an applicability analysis is completed) that a federal action conforms to the applicable implementation plan and meets the requirements of this regulation.

"Conformity evaluation" means the entire process from the applicability analysis through the conformity determination that is used to demonstrate that the federal action conforms to the requirements of this regulation.

"Consultation" means that one party confers with another identified party, provides all information to that party needed for meaningful input, and, prior to taking any action, considers the views of that party and responds to those views in a timely, substantive, written manner prior to any final decision on the action. The views and written response shall be made part of the record of any decision or action.

"Continuing program responsibility" means a federal agency has responsibility for emissions caused by (i) actions it takes itself; or (ii) actions of nonfederal entities that the federal agency, in exercising its normal programs and authorities, approves, funds, licenses, or permits, provided the agency can impose conditions on any portion of the action that could affect the emissions.

"Continuous program to implement" means that the federal agency has started the action identified in the plan and does not stop the actions for more than an 18-month period, unless it can demonstrate that such a stoppage was included in the original plan.

"Control" means the ability to regulate the emissions from the action. The ability to regulate may be demonstrated directly, such as through the use of emission control equipment, or indirectly, such as through the implementation of regulations or conditions on the nature of the activity that may be established in permits or approvals or by the design of the action. An example of control includes the ability of a federal agency to control the level of vehicle emissions by controlling the size of a parking facility and setting requirements for employee trip reductions.

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

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

"Direct emissions" means those emissions of a criteria pollutant or its precursors that are caused or initiated by the federal action and originate in a nonattainment or maintenance area and occur at the same time and place as the action and are reasonably foreseeable.

"Director" means the Director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

"Emergency" means, in the context of 9VAC5-160-30, a situation where extremely quick action on the part of federal agencies involved is needed and where the timing of the federal activities makes it impractical to meet the requirements of this regulation, such as natural disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes, civil disturbances such as terrorist acts, and military mobilizations.

"Emergency" means, in the context of 9VAC5-160-40, 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.

"Emissions budgets" means those portions of the total allowable emissions defined in the applicable implementation plan for a certain date for the purpose of meeting reasonable further progress milestones or attainment or maintenance demonstrations, for any criteria pollutant or its precursors, specifically allocated by the applicable implementation plan to mobile sources, to any stationary source or class of stationary sources, to any federal action or any class of action, to any class of area sources, or to any subcategory of the emissions inventory. The allocation system shall be specific enough to assure meeting the criteria of § 176(c)(1)(B) of the federal Clean Air Act. An emissions budget may be expressed in terms of an annual period, a daily period, or other period established in the applicable implementation plan.

"Emissions inventory" means a listing of information on the location, type of source, type and quantity of pollutant emitted as well as other parameters of the emissions.

"Emissions offsets" means, for the purposes of 9VAC5-160-160, emissions reductions which are quantifiable, consistent with the applicable implementation plan attainment and reasonable future progress demonstrations, surplus to reductions required by, and credited to, other applicable implementation plan provisions, enforceable under both state and federal law, and permanent within the timeframe specified by that program. Emissions reductions intended to be achieved as emissions offsets under this regulation shall be monitored and enforced in a manner equivalent to that under the new source review program.

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

"Facility" means something that is built, installed, or established to serve a particular purpose; includes, but is not limited to, buildings, installations, public works, businesses, commercial and industrial plants, shops and stores, heating and power plants, apparatus, processes, operations, structures, and equipment of all types.

"Federal action" means any activity engaged in by a federal agency, or any activity that a federal agency supports in any way, provides financial assistance for, licenses, permits, or approves, other than activities related to transportation plans, programs, and projects developed, funded, or approved under Title 23 USC or the Federal Transit Act (49 USC § 5301 et seq.). Where the federal action is a permit, license, or other approval for some aspect of a nonfederal undertaking, the relevant action is the part, portion, or phase that the nonfederal undertaking that requires the federal permit, license, or approval.

"Federal agency" means a department, agency, or instrumentality of the federal government.

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

"Increase the frequency or severity of any existing violation of any standard in any area" means to cause a nonattainment area to exceed a standard more often, or to cause a violation at a greater concentration than previously existed or would otherwise exist during the future period in question, if the project were not implemented.

"Indirect emissions" means those emissions of a criteria pollutant or its precursors:

1. That are caused or initiated by the federal action and originate in the same nonattainment or maintenance area, but occur at a different time or place as the action;

2. That are reasonably foreseeable;

3. That the agency can practically control; and

4. For which the agency has a continuing program responsibility.

For the purposes of this definition, even if a federal licensing, rulemaking, or other approving action is a required initial step for a subsequent activity that causes emissions, such initial steps do not mean that a federal agency can practically control any resulting emissions.

"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 the department, the Virginia Department of Transportation, the metropolitan planning organizations 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 decision-making.

"Local air quality modeling analysis" means assessment of localized impacts on a scale smaller than the entire nonattainment or maintenance area, including, for example, congested roadways on a federal facility that uses an air quality dispersion model (e.g., Industrial Source Complex Model or Emission and Dispersion Model System) to determine the effects of emissions on air quality.

"Maintenance area" means an area that was designated as nonattainment and has been redesignated in 40 CFR Part 81 to attainment, meeting the provisions of § 107(d)(3)(E) of the federal Clean Air Act and has a maintenance plan approved under § 175A of the federal Clean Air Act.

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

"Metropolitan planning organization" means the policy board of an organization created as a result of the designation process in 23 USC § 134(d).

"Milestone" means as defined in §§ 182(g) and 189(c)(1) of the federal Clean Air Act. A milestone consists of an emissions level and the date on which it is required to be achieved.

"Mitigation measure" means any method of reducing emissions of the pollutant or its precursor taken at the location of the federal action and used to reduce the impact of the emissions of that pollutant caused by the action.

"National ambient air quality standards" means those standards established pursuant to § 109 of the federal Clean Air Act.

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

"New source review (NSR) program" means a preconstruction review and permit program (i) for regulated air pollutants from new stationary sources or projects (physical changes or changes in the method of operation), (ii) established to implement the requirements of §§ 110 (a)(2)(C), 112 (relating to permits for hazardous air pollutants), 165 (relating to permits in prevention of significant deterioration areas), and 173 (relating to permits in nonattainment areas) of the federal Clean Air Act and associated regulations, and (iii) Article 7 (9VAC5-80-1400 et seq.), Article 8 (9VAC5-80-1605 et seq.) and Article 9 (9VAC5-80-2000 et seq.) of Part II of 9VAC5-80 (Permits for Stationary Sources) of the Regulations for the Control and Abatement of Air Pollution.

"Nonattainment area" means any geographic region of the United States which 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.

"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, a governmental body, a municipal corporation, or any other legal entity.

"Precursors of a criteria pollutant" means:

1. For ozone,

a. Nitrogen oxides, unless an area is exempted from nitrogen oxides requirements under § 182(f) of the federal Clean Air Act, and

b. Volatile organic compounds.

2. For PM₁₀, those pollutants described in the PM₁₀ nonattainment area applicable implementation plan as significant contributors to the PM₁₀ levels.

3. For PM_2.5, (i) sulfur dioxide in all PM_2.5 nonattainment and maintenance areas, (ii) nitrogen oxides in all PM_2.5 nonattainment and maintenance areas unless both the department and EPA determine that it is not a significant precursor, and (iii) volatile organic compounds and ammonia only in PM_2.5 nonattainment or maintenance areas where either the department or EPA determines that they are significant precursors.

"Reasonably foreseeable emissions" means projected future direct and indirect emissions that are identified at the time the conformity determination is made; the location of such emissions is known; and the emissions are quantifiable, as described and documented by the federal agency based on its own information and after reviewing any information presented to the federal agency.

"Regional water or wastewater projects" means construction, operation, and maintenance of water or wastewater conveyances, water or wastewater treatment facilities, and water storage reservoirs which affect a large portion of a nonattainment or maintenance area.

"Restricted information" means information that is privileged or that is otherwise protected from disclosure pursuant to applicable statutes, executive orders, or regulations. Such information includes, but is not limited to, classified national security information, protected critical infrastructure information, sensitive security information, and proprietary business information.

"Source" means any one or combination of the following: buildings, structures, facilities, installations, articles, machines, equipment, landcraft, watercraft, aircraft, or other contrivances which contribute, or may contribute, either directly or indirectly to air pollution. Any activity by any person that contributes, or may contribute, either directly or indirectly to air pollution, including, but not limited to, open burning, generation of fugitive dust or emissions, and cleaning with abrasives or chemicals.

"Take or start the federal action" means the date that the federal agency signs or approves the permit, license, grant, or contract or otherwise physically begins the federal action that requires a conformity evaluation under this chapter.

"Total of direct and indirect emissions" means the sum of direct and indirect emissions increases and decreases caused by the federal action, that is, the "net" emissions considering all direct and indirect emissions. Any emissions decreases used to reduce the total shall have already occurred or shall be enforceable under state and federal law. The portion of emissions which are exempt or presumed to conform under 9VAC5-160-30 are not included in the "total of direct and indirect emissions," except as provided in 9VAC5-160-30 M. The "total of direct and indirect emissions" includes emissions of criteria pollutants and emissions of precursors of criteria pollutants. Segmentation of projects for conformity analyses when emissions are reasonably foreseeable is prohibited.

"Virginia Air Pollution Control Law" means Chapter 13 (§ 10.1-1300 et seq.) of Title 10.1 of the Code of Virginia.

"Welfare" means that language referring to effects on welfare includes, but is not limited to, effects on soils, water, crops, vegetation, human-made 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 12, Issue 26, eff. January 1, 1997; amended, Virginia Register Volume 14, Issue 03, eff. January 1, 1998; Errata, 14:7 VA.R. 1175 December 22, 1997; amended, Virginia Register Volume 27, Issue 11, eff. March 2, 2011.

Statutory Authority

§ 10.1-1308 of the Code of Virginia.