Abstract:
On March 10, 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule requiring transportation conformity analysis of project-level particulate matter (PM) in nonattainment and maintenance areas for projects of air quality concern. Since then the agency has released a public draft on transportation conformity guidance for quantitative hot spot analyses in PM2.5 and PM10 nonattainment and maintenance areas in which MOVES and EMFAC in California are designated as the official mobile emission models. The official air quality models are AERMOD and CAL3QHCR. The public draft requires detailed handling of emission and air quality data, which is a new requirement for state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations. The use of MOVES and AERMOD for transportation conformity analysis is showcased with priority given to the setup and running of the models with their respective data inputs in accordance with the transportation conformity guidance. Details of the input data preparation for MOVES and AERMOD, MOVES emission factor generation, sensitivity test results from MOVES, and the importance of interagency consultation process are presented. This showcase is an extended effort toward better understanding of the conformity process and setup of the models. Results from a real-world case study are presented as examples of the conformity process.
