Understanding the Implications of the General Conformity Rule for Marine Dredging Projects

摘要

The Clean Air Act provides the foundation for implementing general conformity in seaports by requiring that federal actions are prohibited from contributing to any new violations or to the frequency or severity of any existing violations of ambient air quality standards in a non-attainment or maintenance area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is the federal agency responsible for overseeing seaport dredging projects. With the increased demand for international commodities to be shipped to the United States, there is a need to increase the size of the container ships. These larger ships require increasing the depths of shipping channels and berthing areas in seaports. Recent seaport dredging projects have required the Corps to conduct general conformity analyses during the environmental impact assessment and permitting process. The Corps may demonstrate conformity for a project by showing that direct and indirect project emissions are already included in an EPA-approved state implementation plan (SIP).For projects not included in the SIP, a formal general conformity determination may be required if incremental project-related emissions of any applicable pollutant exceed de minimis levels, or if the project is considered “regionally significant,” where incremental project-related emissions of any applicable pollutant are greater than ten percent of the emissions inventory for the non-attainment or maintenance area for that pollutant. A formal determination is required to demonstrate how the proposed project conforms with the purposes of the SIP before the Corps can issue a dredging permit.