Projects in nonattainment or maintenance areas of the State must be developed in compliance with requirements as determined by federal and state laws and policies.

For projects in nonattainment or maintenance areas, the MPO must have an MTP and TIP in conformance with the SIP. The SIP is the State’s comprehensive plan to improve air quality and meet federal air quality standards. The department is required to produce and regularly update a SIP which is enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Clean Air Act requires each state to develop a SIP that outlines a series of steps over time to improve air quality. These include mobile source plans affecting transportation planning and programming. FCAA revisions have been prepared for specific areas in the State (e.g., Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston Galveston).

Consult the SIP to determine whether it includes the project. If the project is not included in the SIP and is required to be, work early with the MPO to amend the local TIP and allow time for the redetermination of air quality conformity.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is responsible for air quality planning and has an interface with TxDOT on all transportation planning and programming in areas that are in nonattainment or maintenance for “criteria pollutants.”

These pollutants include particulates, carbon monoxide, ozone, volatile organic compounds, and nitrous oxides.

Document the applicability of the SIP to the project in the DSR.

A CMP is required in metropolitan areas with populations greater than 200,000. The CMP is a systematic process for managing congestion that provides information on transportation system performance and on alternative strategies for alleviating congestion and enhancing the mobility of persons and goods to levels that meet state and local needs.

A CMP is a living document that includes methods to monitor and evaluate performance of the multimodal transportation system, identify and evaluate alternative actions, identify causes of congestion, assess and implement cost effective actions, evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of implemented actions, provide for data collection and system performance monitoring and identify an implementation schedule, responsibilities and funding options.

Transportation Control Measures (TCM) is a developed congestion management strategy, which includes Transportation System Management (TSM), roadway system operational improvements, and Transportation Demand Management (TDM). TCMs are maintained, on a rolling basis, for at least five years.

The Clean Air Act Amendments requires the TCEQ and MPOs that are in nonattainment areas to include TCMs in the SIP (see ). Examples of TCMs, TSMs, and TDMs are listed below in .