Air Quality Contacts
For more information, please contact Victoria Martinez (787-771-2524).
Prepared by the Office of Natural and Human Environment Federal Highway Administration - Publication Number FHWA-HEP-11-028
FY 2011 Supplementary Tables Released. FHWA recently released a Notice to provide supplementary tables related to FY 2011 Apportionments under the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2010, as amended, and the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2011. The Notice includes program-by-program, State-by-State apportionment amounts including information on the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ). The Notice and tables for all funding programs can be found at: FY 2011 Supplementary Tables.
AMPO Conducting Survey on MOVES Implementation. The Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO) has worked closely over the past two years with MPOs, state DOTs, FHWA and EPA on the use and implementation of EPA's Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) model. AMPO has just completed obtaining information from MPOs and state DOTs in air quality nonattainment and maintenance areas on the status of MOVES implementation. The survey information will be assessed and will be made available through AMPO. Contact Rich Denbow, AMPO's Technical Director, for more information.
AMPO Annual Meeting October 25-28, 2011. The AMPO Annual Meeting will be held in Dallas, Texas from October 25-28, 2011. The conference includes sessions on sustainability, climate change, bicycle and pedestrian planning, innovative finance, performance measures and much more. For more information, see: AMPO 2011 Annual Meeting.
EPA and DOT Offer Training Course on PM Quantitative Guidance. EPA and DOT recently announced a three-day training course on how to implement EPA's "Transportation Conformity Guidance for Quantitative Hot-spot Analyses in PM2.5 and PM10 Nonattainment and Maintenance Areas." This is a hands-on course targeted to state and local agency staff that are or will be using EPA's MOVES model and air quality dispersion models (AERMOD and CAL3QHCR) for quantitative PM hot-spot analyses. A California course using EMFAC2007 is currently under development. Detailed information about this course, including its content, technical requirements, and a list of upcoming training sessions can be found on EPA's website at: MOVES Project Level Analysis Training.
TRB 2012 Annual Meeting. The TRB 91st Annual Meeting will be held on January 22-26, 2012 in Washington, D.C. The Transportation and Air Quality Committee (ADC20) has issued a general call for papers and a joint call for papers with the Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities and (ADA30) Committee for presentation at the meeting.
New CMAQ Public Access System now available on the FHWA's Air Quality Website. This release of the CMAQ Public Access System (PAS) is the first opportunity that the general public will have access to information concerning FHWA approved CMAQ Projects submitted through the annual reporting process. The CMAQ PAS now makes available searchable project information from 1992 through 2009 in various reporting formats. The PAS webpage along with CMAQ system support and guidance information will be reachable through the FHWA Air Quality CMAQ website. For questions related to the PAS, contact Mark Glaze at (202)366-4053.
STAQS Meeting in Raleigh, NC. This year's Southern Transportation and Air Quality Summit (STAQS) was held in Raleigh, NC from July 19-21 at the downtown Sheraton Hotel. The summit was sponsored by FHWA and EPA Regions 3, 4, and 6. Conference agenda and other information are available at: STAQS 2011.
FHWA Clarifies Eligibility Issues Related to CMAQ Funds and Alternative Fuel Vehicles. FHWA recently clarified an issue related to the application of Federal, government-wide cost principles and the obligation and expenditure of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) funds for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). To review the full memo on this topic, see: CMAQ and Federal Cost Principles.
Continuation of the CMAQ 100 percent Federal Share Flexibility. The Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007 amended Title 23 to provide a temporary full Federal share (at 100 percent) for CMAQ projects obligated in Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009. This increased Federal share will continue to apply to CMAQ projects during the most recent SAFETEA-LU extension. In practice, the Federal share flexibility is continued as it was on September 30, 2009, when SAFETEA-LU expired. Any questions related to the CMAQ program should be directed to Mike Koontz at (202)366-2076.
MOVES/EMFAC 24-month Grace Period for Hot-Spot Analyses Started December 20, 2010. To access the Federal Register notice, guidance documents, and fact sheets, go to: EPA's Project Level Conformity.
MOVES2010's 24-Month Grace Period for Regional Conformity Analysis Started on March 2, 2010. For more information, see The Federal Register notice, EPA's guidance, and the MOVES website.
Transportation Conformity Training Courses. FHWA is sponsoring a two-day Introduction to Transportation Conformity training course in response to requests from various states. For more information or if you are interested in hosting a training session, please contact Sarah Siwek, FHWA's contractor for these courses at ssiwek@aol.com.
Conformity 101 Training Available On-Line. FHWA has made a short course titled "What is Conformity" available on-line. This course is intended for transportation and air quality practitioners who are new to transportation conformity, those looking for a refresher, or others who only need a brief overview of the rule. The session is approximately 27 minutes long. Handouts are available for download at the same site. This course can be accessed on FHWA's website.
FHWA Resource Center Training Activities. FHWA's Resource Center Air Quality Technical Services Team is available to offer air quality-related training opportunities and information is available at the Resource Center website. For further information, contact: Mike Roberts at 404-562-3928.
EPA and FHWA Offer Two-Day MOVES2010 Training Course. EPA and FHWA have jointly developed a two-day training course on the MOVES2010 model that will be taught at various locations over the coming months. This is a detailed, two-day, hands-on course geared toward state and local agency staff that will use MOVES2010 for developing SIPs and conformity analyses. For additional information on the two-day training sessions, visit EPA's MOVES training website. The materials needed for the course are posted on the MOVES training site.
FHWA HQ Transportation Conformity Team:
FHWA Resource Center Air Quality Team:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/resourcecenter/teams/airquality/index.cfm.
Past issues are available at FHWA's website.If you have any suggestions for future monthly conformity highlights, please email: ssiwek@aol.com.
