{
  "id": "RL32106",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32106",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 104147,
      "date": "2004-04-23",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T20:16:42.803108",
      "title": "Transportation Conformity Under the Clean Air Act: In Need of Reform?",
      "summary": "Under the Clean Air Act, areas that have not attained one or more of the six National Ambient\nAir\nQuality Standards (currently more than 100 areas with a combined population of at least 159 million)\nmust develop State Implementation Plans (SIPs) demonstrating how they will attain the standards\nand, once they have attained them, how they will maintain air quality. The Act requires that, in these\nareas, federal agencies not engage in, approve, permit, or provide financial support for activities that\ndo not \"conform\" to the area's SIP. \n  Although a wide range of federal funding and programs is subject to conformity, it is\ntransportation planning (and ultimately highway funding) that is most commonly affected. Before\na new transportation plan can be approved or a new project can receive federal funding in a\nnonattainment area, a regional emissions analysis must demonstrate that the projected emissions are\nconsistent with the emissions ceiling established by the SIP. While some express concern at the\npotential impact of these conformity determinations in delaying or altering new highway projects,\nothers note that the process simply obligates the federal government to support rather than undermine\nthe legally adopted state plans for achieving air quality. \n  Conformity lapses have occurred in 63 areas in 29 states and Puerto Rico since 1997. Most of\nthese areas have returned to conformity quickly without major effects on their transportation\nprograms: according to the General Accounting Office, only 5 areas had to change transportation\nplans in order to resolve a conformity lapse. Nevertheless, the impact of conformity requirements\nis expected to grow in the next few years for several reasons. First, the growth of emissions from\nSUVs and other light trucks and greater than expected increases in vehicle miles traveled have made\nit more difficult to demonstrate conformity. Second, recent court decisions have tightened the\nconformity rules, making it more difficult to grandfather new projects. And third, the\nimplementation of more stringent air quality standards for ozone and particulates in 2004 means that\nadditional areas will be subject to conformity, many for the first time. Thus, numerous metropolitan\nareas may face a temporary suspension of highway and transit funds unless they impose sharp\nreductions in vehicle, industrial, or other emissions. \n  This report, which will be updated as events warrant, provides an explanation of the conformity\nrequirements, discusses the experiences of metropolitan areas that have experienced a conformity\nlapse during the last 10 years, and reviews some of the recent proposals for reform. Among the\nissues raised have been the frequency with which conformity should be demonstrated, whether\ntransportation planning and SIP timeframes are mismatched, and to what extent projects should be\n\"grandfathered\" if they were once part of a conforming transportation program. The House and\nSenate surface transportation bills ( H.R. 3550  and  S. 1072 ), the\nAdministration's highway and transit funding bill, are among the bills discussed, as is the\nAdministration's Clear Skies bill ( H.R. 999  /  S. 485 ), which proposes\nchanges that would affect the number of areas required to demonstrate conformity.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
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  ],
  "topics": [
    "Environmental Policy"
  ]
}