Air Quality Contacts
For more information, please contact Cecilia Ho.
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The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a new document relating to the CMAQ emissions performance measure, called Computation Guidance for Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program Total Emissions Reduction Measure. This document provides guidance on calculating the Total Emissions Reduction measure, as required by 23 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) part 490. This is the only measure in 23 CFR part 490 that State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are required to calculate and report to the Performance Management Form (PMF). A companion to this document is a new reporting tool in the CMAQ Public Access System.
FHWA is pleased to welcome four new air quality staff: three members of the Environment, Air Quality, and Realty Team in the Resource Center, and one new staff member at headquarters. The new resource center staff members are: Leigh Oesterling, an Environmental Protection Specialist, who comes from the FHWA Ohio Division and is working on conformity, MSAT and CMAQ; George Noel, an Air Quality Modeling Specialist, comes from the US DOT Volpe Center and will be supporting work on emissions, dispersion and traffic modeling; and, David D'Onofrio, Environmental Protection Specialist, who comes from the Atlanta Regional Commission where he served as the Principal Planner and will be working on conformity, emissions modeling and CMAQ. Finally, Edward Dancausse, the Air Quality Specialist for the FHWA North Carolina Division Office joined the Office of Natural Environment Air Quality and Noise team in Headquarters where he will work on conformity and CMAQ. Please see the Contacts section at the end of this newsletter to reach out to these new team members.
FHWA's Office of Planning, Environment and Realty, received 21 nominations in response to the third request to designate alternative fuel corridors, as required by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The 2018 nominations were due by January 31, 2019. Nominations are currently being evaluated, with designation announcements planned for Spring 2019. Rounds 1 and 2 resulted in a total of 58 designations, covering segments of 84 Interstates and 44 state roads/highways, spanning 43 states, plus the District of Columbia. More information on the FHWA Alternative Fuels Corridor Program can be found on FHWA's Alternative Fuel Corridor webpage.
FHWA recently released a Quick Guide on Requirements for Renewable Energy Projects in the Highway Right-of-Way. Several States have installed renewable energy generation projects, such as solar arrays and wind turbines, along the highway ROW, while other States are considering doing so. This quick guide is intended to point FHWA Division Offices and State DOTs to the relevant FHWA requirements, including 23 CFR 645 Accommodation of Utilities, or 23 CFR 710 Right-of-Way Use Agreements. It is guidance only and does not create any requirements other than those stipulated in statute or regulation. The guide is meant as a condensed version of information available in FHWA's Guidance on Utilization of Highway Right-of-Way.
A recent article titled "Renewable Roadsides," highlights the increasing interest among State DOTs in the installation of renewable energy technologies in the highway right-of-way. As they explore the possibilities, State DOTs are learning from their peers. Early adopters of ROW solar and State DOTs that are currently pursuing renewables provide lessons based on their experiences for those considering options for the future. The article highlights a number of these lessons through case studies in Oregon, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Utah. For more information, see the Renewable Energy in Highway Right-of-Way page, or contact Tina Hodges at 202–366–4287 or Tina.Hodges@dot.gov.
The Federal Highway Administration is currently conducting a research project to update program materials and refresh both the CMAQ Program and It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air websites. FHWA is hosting two webinars to share information and resources with a variety of stakeholders, and inform FHWA about ways to modernize the websites and attract new users. Two upcoming webinars are scheduled for April 23 and April 24:
The Southern Transportation and Air Quality Summit (STAQS) 2019 will be held on August 20th and 21st in Louisville, KY. The meeting is being sponsored this year by FHWA, EPA and the Kentuckiana Regional Planning & Development Agency (KIPDA). More information will be shared as planning for the conference is finalized. Contact Mike Roberts at Mike.Roberts@dot.gov for additional details.
FHWA, AASHTO and the Transportation Research Board (TRB) are sponsoring the 2nd International Conference on Transportation System Resilience to Natural Hazards and Extreme Weather from November 13-15, 2019, at the National Academies Building in Washington, DC. The conference is designed to provide transportation agencies with information, research results, and example practices to assist in their ability to anticipate and adapt to the potential impacts of changing climate conditions and extreme weather events. The conference also includes international dialogue on research, implementation, and lessons learned. There is an opportunity to attend through a webcast. Registration will be available soon and a call for proposals is planned for March 2019. See the conference website or contact Heather Holsinger at Heather.Holsinger@dot.gov for more information.
The National Transit Institute (NTI) is offering in-person training opportunities covering its "Introduction to Transportation Conformity" course. This 2.5 day course will present basic information about conformity requirements and the relationship of the transportation and air quality planning processes in order to prepare agency staff (federal, state and local) to participate in interagency consultation and work effectively in resolving conformity issues. Upcoming deliveries include June 2019 in Lansing, MI. For more information and to register, please visit the NTI registration website.
As a reminder, several web-based transportation conformity training opportunities are available on-demand from FHWA's conformity training website (under "Web-based Training"). These training opportunities range in level of detail from a short 27-minute video providing a high-level basic overview of transportation conformity to a detailed set of 32 self-directed training modules. Recordings of two webinars were added recently: basic transportation conformity overview (June 12, 2018, 70 minutes) and basic MOVES emissions model training (June 18, 2018, 42 minutes).
The target audience for these training materials are FHWA staff and State and local transportation partners (MPOs and State DOTs) who are either new to or would like a refresher training on the conformity process. For questions, please contact David Kall, at david.kall@dot.gov, or (202-366-6276).
The FHWA posted a 27-minute YouTube video on the CMAQ program. The video provides a basic introduction to the program, how CMAQ funds are distributed to states, and the types of projects eligible for the CMAQ program. The training is available via the FHWA's YouTube channel. For more information about the CMAQ program, please contact Mark Glaze at mark.glaze@dot.gov or (202) 366-4053.
The FHWA Resource Center Planning and Air Quality team will be conducting a series of training sessions on NEPA Air Quality Analysis for Highway Projects. The training includes sessions on project-level applications appropriate for managers and practitioners, as well as hands-on sessions intended for modelers. Please note this is not a general MOVES training course, but is focused on project-level applications. It is not intended to address regional applications, such as SIP emissions inventories or regional (plan and TIP) conformity analyses. If you are interested in this training, please contact Michael Claggett at michael.claggett@dot.gov.
Two training opportunities are available for MOVES model users. A three-hour webinar provides an introduction to MySQL Query Browser and MOVES interface. A six-hour training over two days will enable users to do MySQL programming and to write their own MySQL scripts and to manipulate MySQL databases including MOVES input and outputs. For more information or to schedule training, please contact Michael Claggett at michael.claggett@dot.gov.
The National Highway Institute (NHI) Air Quality Planning web-based training series is designed for transportation practitioners. It includes four modules: Clean Air Act Overview (FHWA-NHI-142068), State Implementation Plan (SIP) and Transportation Control Measure (TCM) Requirements and Policies (FHWA-NHI-142069), SIP Development Process (FHWA-NHI-142070), and Transportation Conformity (FHWA-NHI-142071). All courses are free. For more information, visit the NHI website and search "Air Quality Planning," or look for the specific course number. Please contact Karen Perritt at (202) 366-9066, or Karen.Perritt@dot.gov with any questions or comments.
Past issues of the Air Quality and Sustainability Highlights are available on FHWA's website: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/air_quality/conformity/highlights/ or https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/sustainability/newsletter/.
Please e-mail Victoria.Martinez@dot.gov with any suggestions for future issues.
