Transportation Conformity Highlights

March 2005

Jim Shrouds Retires after 39 years of Federal Service. On April 1, Jim Shrouds, FHWA's Director of the Office of Natural and Human Environment is retiring. The transportation conformity team and all of his friends and colleagues at the FHWA and in the transportation and environmental communities wish him the best in his well-deserved retirement. We will all miss Jim's excellent counsel.

House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality Holds Conformity Hearing. On March 2, the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on the transportation conformity provisions of H.R. 3, the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. The following organizations were represented at the hearing: U.S. EPA, U.S.DOT, STAPPA/ALAPCO, AASHTO, AMPO, Environmental Defense, and the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). Testimony is posted at: http://archives.energycommerce.house.gov/reparchives/108/Hearings/03022005hearing1445/hearing.htm.

Transportation Conformity Website Updated. The FHWA has updated the transportation conformity website with a user-friendly design that makes navigating the site easy. New features include links to the reformatted conformity rule and well-organized information on transportation conformity-related topics. See the website at: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/air_quality/conformity/.

NTI Course: Introduction to Transportation Conformity. Courses will be offered in Houston, TX on March 21-23, St. Louis, MO on April 18-20, and New York City on May 11-13. This will mark the completion of these classes until at least July. For information and to register go to: www.ntionline.com/CourseInfo.asp?CourseNumber=FP213.

FHWA Resource Center Training Activities. FHWA's Resource Center Air Quality Technical Services Team will be conducting the following air quality-related training opportunities over the next several months.

Transportation Air Quality - March 21-22, 2005, Fairbanks, AK, contact: Jeff.Houk@fhwa.dot.gov.
Transportation Air Quality - March 24-25, 2005, Anchorage, AK, contact: Jeff.Houk@fhwa.dot.gov.
Transportation Conformity - March 28, 2005, Santa Fe, NM, contact: Michael.Roberts@fhwa.dot.gov.
Applied MOBILE6.2 - March 29-30, 2005, Santa Fe, NM, contact: Michael.Claggett@fhwa.dot.gov.
Transportation Air Quality Dispersion Modeling - March 29-30, 2005, Richmond, VA, contact: Tianjia.Tang@fhwa.dot.gov; Joon.Byun@fhwa.dot.gov.

If you have any suggestions for future monthly conformity highlights, please email: ssiwek@aol.com.

FHWA Resource Center Air Quality Team Contacts:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/resourcecenter/teams/airquality/index.cfm.