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Air Quality Nonattainment or
Maintenance Areas read
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Areas where air
pollution levels persistently exceed the standards
may be designated as nonattainment. These areas
may consist of a county, a partial county or a
group of counties. Once the area emissions fall
below the standard,the area may be redesignated
as "attainment with a maintenance plan".
For additional explanation of these terms, please
see Air
Quality Terms and Abbreviations.
Further information can be found in the Air
Quality brochure.
In June 2004, EPA designated 8 counties in Kentucky
as nonattainment for the new 8-hour ozone standard.
See EPA's
8-hour Designation.
Those counties are Boyd, Boone, Bullitt, Campbell,
Christian, Jefferson, Kenton and Oldham. Since
that original designation, Boyd, Bullit, Christian, Jefferson, and Oldham have been
re-designated back to attainment with an approved
maintenance plan. See maps above.
In April 2005, EPA designated 7 counties in Kentucky
as nonattainment for the new fine particulate
(PM2.5) standard.
See EPA's Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)Designation.
Those counties are Boone, Boyd,
Bullitt, Campbell, Jefferson, Kenton, and Lawrence (partial).
See maps above.
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The State Implementation
Plan (SIP) defines the future maximum levels (called
budgets) for each pollutant in each nonattainment
and maintenance area. Transportation Conformity
is a process that uses transportation and air
quality models to examine future levels of emissions
for each of these areas and ensures that the transportation
plan does not worsen or cause air quality problems.
Typically, a traffic model is developed based
on planned roadway projects to determine projected
traffic patterns, volumes, and speeds. These
numbers, along with vehicle fleet characteristics
and environmental information, are entered into
the EPA
Mobile 6.2 emissions model to determine
future emission levels. If the emission levels
calculated are less than the budget for
that pollutant, the area's long range transportation
plan is determined to be "in conformity."
During the planning process, federal, state, and
local transportation and environmental agencies
consult and come to agreement on the inputs that
are entered into the traffic model and Mobile
6.2 model. Each time the Long-Range Transportation
Plan (LRTP) or the short-range transportation
plan, Transportation Improvement Program (TIP),
is updated, transportation conformity must be
examined.
For information on transportation conformity at the federal level see,
EPA's Transportation Conformity
FHWA's Transportation Conformity
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Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) read
more
Federal transportation
legislation established the Congestion Mitigation
and Air Quality (CMAQ) program to provide funding
for projects that improve traffic flow, reduce
congestion, and ultimately improve air quality in designated nonattainment or maintenance areas.
See Kentucky
CMAQ Program for application
and program requirements. For federal CMAQ information, see FHWA CMAQ Program. |
Presentations, Reports, and
Brochures
read more
2008 Air Quality Conference Presentations
read more
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