(a) Upon request by any person regarding a specific Federal action, a Federal agency must make available, subject to the limitation in paragraph (e) of this section, for review its draft conformity determination under § 93.154 with supporting materials which describe the analytical methods and conclusions relied upon in making the applicability analysis and draft conformity determination.

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(b) A Federal agency must make public its draft conformity determination under § 93.154 by placing a notice by prominent advertisement in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the action and by providing 30 days for written public comment prior to taking any formal action on the draft determination. This comment period may be concurrent with any other public involvement, such as occurs in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. If the action has multi-regional or national impacts (e.g., the action will cause emission increases in excess of the de minimis levels identified in § 93.153(b) in three or more of EPA’s Regions), the Federal agency, as an alternative to publishing separate notices, can publish a notice in the Federal Register.

(c) A Federal agency must document its response to all the comments received on its draft conformity determination under § 93.154 and make the comments and responses available, subject to the limitation in paragraph (e) of this section, upon request by any person regarding a specific Federal action, within 30 days of the final conformity determination.

(d) A Federal agency must make public its final conformity determination under § 93.154 for a Federal action by placing a notice by prominent advertisement in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the action within 30 days of the final conformity determination. If the action would have multi-regional or national impacts, the Federal agency, as an alternative, can publish the notice in the Federal Register.

(e) The draft and final conformity determination shall exclude any restricted information or confidential business information. The disclosure of restricted information and confidential business information shall be controlled by the applicable laws, regulations or executive orders concerning the release of such materials.

[75 FR 17275, Apr. 5, 2010]