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Air Quality

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The Air Quality topic describes a range of programs, policies, case studies, resources, and tools related to air quality impacts as they relate to surface transportation. Pollutants of concern from the surface transportation sector include volatile organic compounds, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter as well as air toxics and greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation planners work to address air quality issues at both the regional and project scales.

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Recent Developments

• EPA Issues 2020 Automotive Trends Report
• FHWA OKs Use of Environmental Assessment for NYC Congestion Pricing Plan
• Study: Thousands of Deaths Could be Avoided with Continued Air Quality Improvements
• Report Analyzes Benefits of Clean Trucks, Buses
• Research Provides Guidebook for Deploying Zero-Emission Transit Buses
• EPA Retains Particulate Matter Air Quality Standards
• FHWA Evaluates Modeling for Hot Spot Analyses at Intersections
• EPA Announces Smartway Excellence Awards
• FHWA Requests Nominations for Round 5 of Alternative Fuel Corridors
• EPA Report: Estimating Emission Reductions from Travel Efficiency

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Key Resources

• AASHTO Air Quality Community of Practice and State of the Practice Reports
  Addressing Air Quality Issues in the NEPA Process for Highway Projects (June 2017) (Practitioners Handbook #18
• FHWA Air Quality Program website
• FHWA Transportation Conformity Resources
• FHWA Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program information
• FHWA Air Toxics information
• EPA Transportation and Air Quality Information
• Air Quality Fundamentals Video Series (2016), Developed by TRB, FHWA and AASHTO.
• NCHRP 25-25, Task 89 - Establishing Representative Background Concentrations for Quantitative Hot-spot Analyses for Particulate Matter: Final Report, Case Studies, Power Point (2014)
• NCHRP 25-25, Task 78 - Programmatic Agreements for Project-Level Air Quality Analyses Using MOVES, CAL3QHC/R and AERMOD (2015): Project Description including Final Report, Appendix B: Programmatic Agreement Template, Appendix C, Technical Support Document Template, and Data Files

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