Highway Air Quality Impact Appraisals: Volume II - Guidance for Highway Planners and Engineers

Federal Highway Administration1978PDFTech ReportPollack, R. I.Tesche, T.W.Austin, TSystems Applications, Inc.JHK & AssociatesUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Research and DevelopmentUnited StatesAir pollutionAnalysisEnvironmental impactsForecastingHighway planningMathematical modelsAir qualityAir quality managementFHWA-RD-78-100DOT-FH-11-9143Kenneth E. JonesFinal ReportThis report is the second of a two volume series titled, "Highway Air Quality Impact Appraisals--Volume I, Introduction to Air Quality Analyses, and Volume II, Guidance for Highway Planners and Engineers." These two reports are intended to provide transportation planners and engineers with guidance in how to perform air quality analyses. This volume presents guidance for transportation planners and engineers on evaluating the air quality impact of a land use or transportation plan. The various laws that require such an evaluation are reviewed. The technical procedures utilized in transportation planning are presented briefly, and their value in providing input for an air quality analysis is described. Techniques for compiling emissions inventories and for predicting resultant air quality are also discussed. The various issues that arise in evaluating land use plans, transportation policies, and facility and operation plans at both regional and subregional levels are described, including the selection of the appropriate spatial and temporal scales for the analysis, the accuracy necessary in the analysis methods, the application of screening procedures to determine the level of analysis required, the comparison of air quality predictions to legal requirements on air quality, and the reporting of modeling results. The treatment is designed to familiarize the highway planner or engineer with the issues that must be considered and allow him to determine the appropriate analysis method.95