National Association of Regional Councils

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Washington, DC (October 26, 2009) – The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) today released its updated Integrating Air Quality and Transportation Planning: A Resource Compendium. This document provides a valuable resource to the air quality planning community and local elected officials through the illustration of ways in which regional and local air quality strategies have evolved over time in response to new challenges and information.

“NARC’s Air Quality Compendium provides a detailed description of the challenges and innovative solutions regional planning organizations, state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), environmental stakeholders and other concerned parties have developed as the conversation on integrating air quality and transportation planning has evolved,” said NARC President Stephen Cassano, Selectman, Town of Manchester, CT. “The nature of air quality legislation and regulation is such that ongoing education by these parties is necessary to comprehensively address the transportation and human health concerns surrounding these challenges.”

In cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NARC has compiled the contents of fourteen workshops to address the most pressing challenges in balancing healthy air with transportation investments. These workshops, held between 2001 and 2009, presented information pertaining to:

• Smart Growth and Alternative Land Use Planning
• Project Selection Criteria and Performance Measures
• Proposed Regulations Addressing the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
• Using Outreach to Improve Air Quality
• Climate Change: A Transportation Planning Approach to Reducing Greenhouse Gases (GHG)
• Integrating Air Quality and Transportation Planning: Regional Approaches to Setting GHG Reduction Targets

NARC leveraged its network with local elected officials, practitioners and stakeholders to conduct peer-to-peer trainings; provided information on new technologies employed by the private-sector; and supplied regular updates on changes in federal air quality conformity standards, CAFÉ standards and innovations intended to curb GHG emissions. The organization will continue to research state-of-the-art best practices on integrating transportation and air quality planning and serve as a national resource to local elected officials as well as public and private sector practitioners.

Click here to access the Air Quality Compendium.