Transportation Conformity

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Transportation Conformity

• Presented by Eldewins Haynes,
• AQ Specialist, CDOT
• Adapted From USEPA Conformity Training
• Summer 2004

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Outline

• What is transportation conformity?
• How is conformity demonstrated?
• What does conformity have to do with air quality?
• Little-known conformity facts
• What happens if conformity is not demonstrated?

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• What is conformity?

• Established by the Clean Air Act (176(c))
• Ensures that federal funding and approval are
  given to transportation activities that are
  consistent with air quality goals
• Applies in Charlotte ozone, CO areas designated
  as nonattainment or maintenance (areas formerly
  nonattainment)

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Transportation Conformity
Bridges the gap between air quality planning and
transportation planning
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• How is Conformity Demonstrated?

Clean Air Act Section 176(c) Conformity to the
air quality plan means such changes in the
transportation activities will NOT...

• Cause or contribute to any new violation of any
  standard in any area
• Increase the frequency or severity of any
  existing violation of any standard in any area
  or
• Delay timely attainment of any standard...in any
  area.

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• What Does Conformity Have to do With Air Quality?

• Transportation conformity only addresses air
  pollution from on-road mobile sources.
• On-road mobile sources are emissions created by
  cars, trucks, motorcycles and transit.

Transportation Conformitycovers just one piece
of the pie...
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Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets

• The air quality plan
• Creates an emissions budget for on-road sources
• Budget VMT x emissions per mile
• Conformity enforces the transportation portion of
  the air quality budget(s) as a ceiling

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Staying in Budget Is Good, But How???

• Control vehicle miles traveled
• Less driving less emissions
• Less engine running less emissions
• Improve technology of vehicles
• More efficient engines
• Low emission (LEV) or no emission (NEV)

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Little-known Conformity Facts

• Conformity is NOT an air quality strategy.
• Conformity is transportations promise not to
  hinder efforts toward cleaner air.
• Nonattainment does NOT mean transportation
  funding is automatically cut!
• Conformity has no effect on size or
• Number of parking lots

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More Little-known Conformity Facts

• Demonstrating conformity is NOT demonstrating
  improved air quality!
• Demonstrating improved air quality is NOT
  demonstrating conformity!
• When nonattainment ends, we will still have
  to do conformity!

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• What happens if conformity is not demonstrated?

• If the transportation plan or TIP do not
  demonstrate conformity by established time
  frames, the nonattainment or maintenance area
  will lapse...

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What Is a Conformity Lapse?

• No new Federal funding, TIPs or projects can be
  adopted or approved until
• the conformity plan and TIP are changed or
• the air quality plan is changed
• Only certain projects can proceed during a
  conformity lapse (such as projects already funded)

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The END

• Questions?