|
Air Quality and Transportation |
Air quality and transportation – what’s the connection?
Air pollution comes from many different sources - factories, power plants, various small businesses like dry cleaners – but it also comes from mobile sources. Mobile sources include cars, trucks, buses, trains, ships, lawn mowers, and construction equipment.
Transportation-related air pollution is pollution that results from the operation of cars, trucks, buses, trains, and ships.
Although transportation is only one cause of the air pollution in the Baltimore region, it is a sizeable one.
Fact: According to data from the State’s environmental agency, 41 percent of the nitrogen oxides problem in the state is caused by mobile sources (cars, trucks, buses, etc.), while 32 percent of the volatile organic compounds problem in the state is from mobile sources. These two pollutants contribute to ground-level ozone formation. What does the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board do about transportation-related air pollution?
Because the Baltimore region is not currently meeting federal air quality standards, the BRTB must show that the emissions resulting from transportation plans, programs, and federally-funded projects are within emissions limits set by the State of Maryland’s air quality plan. This process is called “transportation conformity”, or just “conformity.”
For more information:
Sara Tomlinson, stomlinson@baltometro.org or 410-732-0500 x1035.
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 17 December 2008 )
|
Environmental Planning 
Air
Air Quality and Transportation
