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DESCRIPTION:
The Clean Air Act (CAA), as amended, the Intermodal Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) reinforced the close linkage between clean air goals and transportation investments. These statutes also specify requirements that apply to transportation and air quality agencies throughout the United States. However, after more than ten years of implementation, it is clear that more educational opportunities are needed to explain how clean air, transportation rules, and regulations interrelate. In particular, this training was developed to explain the linkages to transportation in the air quality planning process. The training goes beyond the statutes to explain how the integrated transportation and air quality planning process has been defined and reinforced over the past decade by regulations, guidance, and litigation. It provides a context for the various statutory and regulatory requirements, including a comprehensive review of the CAA requirements, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policies related to transportation, and the process of developing State Implementation Plans (SIPs). It also provides information on emission trends, forecasting techniques, technology improvements, emerging issues, and demonstrates how transportation planning and air quality planning fit together under the Transportation Conformity Rule. Finally, it includes hands-on information based upon practitioners' experiences, a review of key court cases, and practical exercises which enable participants to reinforce the classroom instructional materials by addressing real-life challenges they may face within their organizations or agencies. OUTCOMES:
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:- Explain to agency officials, elected officials, and others why clean air requirements exist
- Identify key Federal laws, regulations, and policies related to transportation and air quality planning activities in order to collaborate effectively with State and local transportation and air quality agencies
- Describe how vehicle emission budgets and transportation control strategies are developed and their relationship to the SIP
- Identify how to contribute to the development of realistic motor vehicle emissions, budgets, and transportation control strategies
- Identify agency conformity responsibilities
- Explain how key conformity objectives relate to other transportation and air quality planning processes
- Describe key components of the transportation planning and project development processes related to air quality planning
- Describe how stakeholder interactions affect transportation and air quality planning
TARGET AUDIENCE:
The training is intended for transportation and air quality planners and engineers from State and local departments of transportation (DOT), metropolitan planning organizations (MPO), transit agencies, Federal agencies (Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, etc.), and State and local environmental agencies. Others include transportation and environmental consultants, public officials and staff members, community and interest groups, as well as other stakeholders in the planning process (Clean Cities, environmental organizations, chambers of commerce, fleet managers, etc.). |
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