(a) In interpreting an applicable implementation plan (or implementation plan submission) with respect to its motor vehicle emissions budget(s), the MPO and DOT may not infer additions to the budget(s) that are not explicitly intended by the implementation plan (or submission). Unless the implementation plan explicitly quantifies the amount by which motor vehicle emissions could be higher while still allowing a demonstration of compliance with the milestone, attainment, or maintenance requirement and explicitly states an intent that some or all of this additional amount should be available to the MPO and DOT in the emissions budget for conformity purposes, the MPO may not interpret the budget to be higher than the implementation plan's estimate of future emissions. This applies in particular to applicable implementation plans (or submissions) which demonstrate that after implementation of control measures in the implementation plan:

(1) Emissions from all sources will be less than the total emissions that would be consistent with a required demonstration of an emissions reduction milestone;

(2) Emissions from all sources will result in achieving attainment prior to the attainment deadline and/or ambient concentrations in the attainment deadline year will be lower than needed to demonstrate attainment; or

(3) Emissions will be lower than needed to provide for continued maintenance.

(b) A conformity demonstration shall not trade emissions among budgets which the applicable implementation plan (or implementation plan submission) allocates for different pollutants or precursors, or among budgets allocated to motor vehicles and other sources, unless the implementation plan establishes appropriate mechanisms for such trades.

(c) If the applicable implementation plan (or implementation plan submission) estimates future emissions by geographic subarea of the nonattainment area, the MPO and DOT are not required to consider this to establish subarea budgets, unless the applicable implementation plan (or implementation plan submission) explicitly indicates an intent to create such subarea budgets for the purposes of conformity.

(d) If a nonattainment area includes more than one MPO, the implementation plan may establish motor vehicle emissions budgets for each MPO, or else the MPOs must collectively make a conformity determination for the entire nonattainment area.

[62 FR 43801. Aug. 15, 1997, as amended at 69 FR 40081, July 1, 2004]