§7506. Limitations on certain Federal assistance

(a), (b) Repealed. Pub. L. 101–549, title I, §110(4), Nov. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 2470

(c) Activities not conforming to approved or promulgated plans

(1) No department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Government shall engage in, support in any way or provide financial assistance for, license or permit, or approve, any activity which does not conform to an implementation plan after it has been approved or promulgated under section 7410 of this title. No metropolitan planning organization designated under section 134 of title 23, shall give its approval to any project, program, or plan which does not conform to an implementation plan approved or promulgated under section 7410 of this title. The assurance of conformity to such an implementation plan shall be an affirmative responsibility of the head of such department, agency, or instrumentality. Conformity to an implementation plan means-

(A) conformity to an implementation plan's purpose of eliminating or reducing the severity and number of violations of the national ambient air quality standards and achieving expeditious attainment of such standards; and

(B) that such activities will not-

(i) cause or contribute to any new violation of any standard in any area;

(ii) increase the frequency or severity of any existing violation of any standard in any area; or

(iii) delay timely attainment of any standard or any required interim emission reductions or other milestones in any area.

The determination of conformity shall be based on the most recent estimates of emissions, and such estimates shall be determined from the most recent population, employment, travel and congestion estimates as determined by the metropolitan planning organization or other agency authorized to make such estimates.

(2) Any transportation plan or program developed pursuant to title 23 or chapter 53 of title 49 shall implement the transportation provisions of any applicable implementation plan approved under this chapter applicable to all or part of the area covered by such transportation plan or program. No Federal agency may approve, accept or fund any transportation plan, program or project unless such plan, program or project has been found to conform to any applicable implementation plan in effect under this chapter. In particular-

(A) no transportation plan or transportation improvement program may be adopted by a metropolitan planning organization designated under title 23 or chapter 53 of title 49, or be found to be in conformity by a metropolitan planning organization until a final determination has been made that emissions expected from implementation of such plans and programs are consistent with estimates of emissions from motor vehicles and necessary emissions reductions contained in the applicable implementation plan, and that the plan or program will conform to the requirements of paragraph (1)(B);

(B) no metropolitan planning organization or other recipient of funds under title 23 or chapter 53 of title 49 shall adopt or approve a transportation improvement program of projects until it determines that such program provides for timely implementation of transportation control measures consistent with schedules included in the applicable implementation plan;

(C) a transportation project may be adopted or approved by a metropolitan planning organization or any recipient of funds designated under title 23 or chapter 53 of title 49, or found in conformity by a metropolitan planning organization or approved, accepted, or funded by the Department of Transportation only if it meets either the requirements of subparagraph (D) or the following requirements-

(i) such a project comes from a conforming plan and program;

(ii) the design concept and scope of such project have not changed significantly since the conformity finding regarding the plan and program from which the project derived; and

(iii) the design concept and scope of such project at the time of the conformity determination for the program was adequate to determine emissions.

(D) Any project not referred to in subparagraph (C) shall be treated as conforming to the applicable implementation plan only if it is demonstrated that the projected emissions from such project, when considered together with emissions projected for the conforming transportation plans and programs within the nonattainment area, do not cause such plans and programs to exceed the emission reduction projections and schedules assigned to such plans and programs in the applicable implementation plan.

(3) Until such time as the implementation plan revision referred to in paragraph (4)(C) is approved, conformity of such plans, programs, and projects will be demonstrated if-

(A) the transportation plans and programs-

(i) are consistent with the most recent estimates of mobile source emissions;

(ii) provide for the expeditious implementation of transportation control measures in the applicable implementation plan; and

(iii) with respect to ozone and carbon monoxide nonattainment areas, contribute to annual emissions reductions consistent with sections 7511a(b)(1) and 7512a(a)(7) of this title; and

(B) the transportation projects-

(i) come from a conforming transportation plan and program as defined in subparagraph (A) or for 12 months after November 15, 1990, from a transportation program found to conform within 3 years prior to November 15, 1990; and

(ii) in carbon monoxide nonattainment areas, eliminate or reduce the severity and number of violations of the carbon monoxide standards in the area substantially affected by the project.

With regard to subparagraph (B)(ii), such determination may be made as part of either the conformity determination for the transportation program or for the individual project taken as a whole during the environmental review phase of project development.

(4)(A) No later than one year after November 15, 1990, the Administrator shall promulgate criteria and procedures for determining conformity (except in the case of transportation plans, programs, and projects) of, and for keeping the Administrator informed about, the activities referred to in paragraph (1). No later than one year after November 15, 1990, the Administrator, with the concurrence of the Secretary of Transportation, shall promulgate criteria and procedures for demonstrating and assuring conformity in the case of transportation plans, programs, and projects. A suit may be brought against the Administrator and the Secretary of Transportation under section 7604 of this title to compel promulgation of such criteria and procedures and the Federal district court shall have jurisdiction to order such promulgation.

(B) The procedures and criteria shall, at a minimum-

(i) address the consultation procedures to be undertaken by metropolitan planning organizations and the Secretary of Transportation with State and local air quality agencies and State departments of transportation before such organizations and the Secretary make conformity determinations;

(ii) address the appropriate frequency for making conformity determinations, but in no case shall such determinations for transportation plans and programs be less frequent than every three years; and

(iii) address how conformity determinations will be made with respect to maintenance plans.

(C) Such procedures shall also include a requirement that each State shall submit to the Administrator and the Secretary of Transportation within 24 months of November 15, 1990, a revision to its implementation plan that includes criteria and procedures for assessing the conformity of any plan, program, or project subject to the conformity requirements of this subsection.

(D) Compliance with the rules of the Administrator for determining the conformity of transportation plans, programs, and projects funded or approved under title 23 or chapter 53 of title 49 to State or Federal implementation plans shall not be required for traffic signal synchronization projects prior to the funding, approval or implementation of such projects. The supporting regional emissions analysis for any conformity determination made with respect to a transportation plan, program, or project shall consider the effect on emissions of any such project funded, approved, or implemented prior to the conformity determination.

(5) Applicability.-This subsection shall apply only with respect to-

(A) a nonattainment area and each pollutant for which the area is designated as a nonattainment area; and

(B) an area that was designated as a nonattainment area but that was later redesignated by the Administrator as an attainment area and that is required to develop a maintenance plan under section 7505a of this title with respect to the specific pollutant for which the area was designated nonattainment.

(d) Priority of achieving and maintaining national primary ambient air quality standards

Each department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Government having authority to conduct or support any program with air-quality related transportation consequences shall give priority in the exercise of such authority, consistent with statutory requirements for allocation among States or other jurisdictions, to the implementation of those portions of plans prepared under this section to achieve and maintain the national primary ambient air-quality standard. This paragraph extends to, but is not limited to, authority exercised under chapter 53 of title 49, title 23, and the Housing and Urban Development Act.

(July 14, 1955, ch. 360, title I, §176, as added Pub. L. 95–95, title I, §129(b), Aug. 7, 1977, 91 Stat. 749 ; amended Pub. L. 95–190, §14(a)(59), Nov. 16, 1977, 91 Stat. 1403 ; Pub. L. 101–549, title I, §§101(f), 110(4), Nov. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 2409 , 2470; Pub. L. 104–59, title III, §305(b), Nov. 28, 1995, 109 Stat. 580 ; Pub. L. 104–260, §1, Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 3175 .)

References in Text

The Housing and Urban Development Act, referred to in subsec. (d), may be the name for a series of acts sharing the same name but enacted in different years by Pub. L. 89–117, Aug. 10, 1965, 79 Stat. 451 ; Pub. L. 90–448, Aug. 1, 1968, 82 Stat. 476 ; Pub. L. 91–152, Dec. 24, 1969, 83 Stat. 379 ; and Pub. L. 91–609, Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1770 , respectively. For complete classification of these Acts to the Code, see Short Title notes set out under section 1701 of Title 12, Banks and Banking, and Tables.

Codification

In subsecs. (c)(2) and (d), "chapter 53 of title 49" substituted for "the Urban Mass Transportation Act [49 App. U.S.C. 1601 et seq.]" and in subsec. (c)(4)(D) substituted for "Federal Transit Act" on authority of Pub. L. 103–272, §6(b), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1378 (the first section of which enacted subtitles II, III, and V to X of Title 49, Transportation), and of Pub. L. 102–240, title III, §3003(b), Dec. 18, 1991, 105 Stat. 2088 , which provided that references in laws to the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 be deemed to be references to the Federal Transit Act.

Amendments

1996-Subsec. (c)(4)(D). Pub. L. 104–260 added subpar. (D).

1995-Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 104–59 added par. (5).

1990-Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 101–549, §110(4), struck out subsec. (a) which related to approval of projects or award of grants, and subsec. (b) which related to implementation of approved or promulgated plans.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–549, §101(f), designated existing provisions as par. (1), struck out "(1)", "(2)", "(3)", and "(4)" before "engage in", "support in", "license or", and "approve, any", respectively, substituted "conform to an implementation plan after it" for "conform to a plan after it", "conform to an implementation plan approved" for "conform to a plan approved", and "conformity to such an implementation plan shall" for "conformity to such a plan shall", inserted "Conformity to an implementation plan means-" followed immediately by subpars. (A) and (B) and closing provisions relating to determination of conformity being based on recent estimates of emissions and the determination of such estimates, and added pars. (2) to (4).

1977-Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 95–190 inserted "national" before "primary".