T.F. Green Airport Improvement Program - FEIS Chapters - PVD

T.F. Green Airport Improvement ProgramEnvironmental Impact Statement and Final Section 4(f) Evaluation5.7.6 General and Transportation ConformityThe General and Transportation Conformity provisions of the CAA require federal agencies to demonstrate thatprojects and actions approved, funded, and/or permitted under their authorization to conform to the applicableSIP. Presently, the City of Warwick and the entire State of Rhode Island are located in an area designated as“non-attainment” for the pollutant O 3. The criteria for compliance with the General and TransportationConformity provisions of the CAA are different from each other and therefore addressed separately.5.7.6.1 General ConformityUnder General Conformity, an applicability test is first applied to determine if a formal determination isnecessary. If the program-related emissions (those expected to result from the Improvement Program) arewithin prescribed de minimis levels, they automatically conform to the SIP. Program-related emissions arederived from the future-year emissions inventory results and are based on the differences (+/-) in totalemissions between Alternatives B2 and B4 and the No-Action Alternative.As the Warwick area is presently designated as a moderate O 3non-attainment area, the applicable de minimislevels are 100 tpy for NO Xand 50 tpy for VOC. Therefore, if program-related emissions (of NO Xand VOC) areless than 100 tpy and 50 tpy, respectively, the General Conformity Rule does not apply. This applicability testalso requires that the program-related emissions do not represent more than 10 percent of the area-wide totals.Both operational and construction-related emissions are subject to the General Conformity Rule.Operational EmissionsTotal Improvement Program-related operational emissions of NO Xand VOC are summarized in Table 5-89.These values were derived based upon the differences in total airport-related operational emissions between theAlternatives B2 and B4 and the No-Action Alternative. Again, for comparative purposes, the applicable GeneralConformity Rule de minimis levels and “yes/no” statements as to whether the program-related emissionsautomatically conform to the SIP are also provided.Table 5-89Operational Emissions General Conformity Summaries 1 (tpy)De minimisAlternative B2Alternative B4Pollutant Levels 2 2015 2020 2025 2015 2020 2025VOC 50