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Air Quality Conformity Determination
Planning and conservation › Transportation › Regional Transportation Plan › 2035 RTP update › Air Quality Conformity Determination
Federal and state regulations require that the region assess the air quality consequences of proposed transportation improvements.
Air quality and transportation planning
Federal and state regulations require that the region assess the air quality consequences of proposed transportation improvements. This work ensures that air quality standards are met as the transportation system is improved.
2008 Air Quality Conformity Determination
Metro has prepared an air quality conformity determination for the federal component of the 2035 RTP and 2008-11 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) as required by state and federal law. The document shows that the metro area, including the 25 cities and the urban portions of three counties of the greater metropolitan region, will continue to meet federal and state air-quality standards to the year 2035.
More about the 2035 RTP
More about the 2008-11 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program
The factors addressed in the Air Quality Conformity Determination are used to estimate future carbon monoxide emissions from cars and trucks operating within the greater Portland air shed to the year 2035. The estimated emissions must not exceed the "budget" established for mobile sources by plans approved for the region by the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Additional analysis
The region must assess the Carbon Monoxide emissions from surface transportation sources as required by State and federal regulations to meet the Clean Air Act. This analysis is included in the 2035 RTP Air Quality Conformity Determination discussed above.
In addition, there are other pollutants that Metro has voluntarily agreed with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to assess as Metro completes its regional transportation plans. These volutarily reported pollutants include:
Ozone - sometimes known as smog and which includes Volatile Organic Compounds and Oxides of Nitrogen which, when atmospheric conditions are right, combine in the atmosphere to create ozone.
Air Toxics - these include Acetaldehyde, Acrolein, Benzene, 1,3 butadiene, Formaldehyde and particulates, or very small particles, from on-road diesel engines - PM 10 carbon, PM 10 exhaust, PM 2.5 carbon, PM 2.5 exhaust
The results of estimates of future levels of Ozone and Air Toxics for the Metro area, given the expected growth of housing and jobs in the region and the transportation investments included in the 2035 Regional Transportation Plan, are available by downloading the Projected Ozone and Air Toxics Emmissions from On-road Sources for Region table below.
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has approved the 2008 Air Quality Conformity Determination for the 2008-11 MTIP. This determination demonstrates that planned and funded transportation projects in the Metro region, as defined in the federal component of the 2035 RTP and programmed in the 2008-11 MTIP, will continue to meet federal and state air-quality standards.
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Files and related materials
Related Documents
Files that are downloadable from this page
- 2008 Air Quality Conformity for 2035 RTP and 2008-11 MTIP 2.1M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published October 12, 2009
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