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174 � Transportation Statistics Annual Report 1996 BOX 8-1: AIR QUALITY STANDARDS AND ATTAINMENT LEVELS The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) are a set of atmospheric concentration levels (not to be confused with emissions levels) for six critical air pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), lead, nitrogen dioxide (NO 2), ozone (O 3), fine particles (PM-10), and sulfur dioxide (SO 2). These standards are defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as concentration levels above which there is significant damage to public health and welfare. Primary standards protect against adverse health effects, while secondary standards protect against other effects, such as damage to vegetation and buildings. Current primary and secondary standards are shown in the table. Since there may be significant day-to-day or even hour-to-hour variation in air quality, standards for some pollutants are defined in terms of peak periods. Health impacts are more closely connected with the worst concentration levels than with average levels. For example, the standard for CO is not attained if the eight-hour concentration level is exceeded during any eight-hour period within a year, or if the higher one-hour concentration level is exceeded during any one-hour period. For O 3 the standard is not attained if the maximum one-hour concentration exceeds the standard more than one day a year. 1 Monitoring of ambient concentrations takes place at over 4,000 monitoring sites, known as the Aerometric Information Retrieval System, operated mostly by state and local agencies. While not all sites monitor each pollutant, each is monitored at 300 or more sites. Areas where concentrations of one or more pollutants persistently exceed the standards levels are designated as nonattainment areas. A nonattainment area is classified as marginal, moderate, serious, severe, or extreme depending on the number of days and the amount by which the concentration standards are exceeded. In nonattainment areas, steps must be taken to reduce emissions. As of February 8, 1996, there were 182 regions designated as nonattainment areas for one or more of the six pollutants: 75 for O 3, 35 for CO, 43 for 1 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, National Air Quality and Emission Trends Report, 1992, EPA-454/R-93-031 (Research Triangle Park, NC: October 1993). Primary standard Secondary standard Standard level Standard level Pollutant Type of average concentration Type of average concentration Carbon monoxide 8-hour 9 ppm No secondary standard 1-hour 35 ppm No secondary standard Lead Maximum quarterly 1.5 ug/m Same as primary standard average Nitrogen dioxide Annual arithmetic 0.053 ppm Same as primary standard mean Ozone Maximum daily 1-hour 0.12 ppm Same as primary standard average PM-10 Annual arithmetic mean 50 ug/m Same as primary standard 24-hour 150 ug/m Same as primary standard Sulfur dioxide Annual arithmetic mean 80 ug/m 3-hour 1,300 ug/m 24-hour 365 ug/m KEY: ppm = parts per million; ug/m = micrograms per cubic meter. NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS SOURCE: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, National Air Quality and Emissions Trends Report, 1992 (Research Triangle Park, NC: 1993).
Estimating the number of people that are exposed to unhealthy air is difficult, however. It is currently estimated that between one-quarter to one-third of the population are affected. Most live in urban areas. Transportation vehicles—especially highway vehicles—emit large quantities of four pollutants that are directly covered by the NAAQS or are related precursor substances. As detailed in chapter 7, much progress has been made in reducing emissions from highway vehicles. In 1994, however, highway vehicles still accounted for 62 percent of carbon monoxide (CO) emissions, 32 percent of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, and 7 percent of particulate matter smaller than 10 microns (PM-10) excluding miscellaneous and natural sources. Highway vehicles also accounted for 26 percent of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions, which along with NOx are the main precursor pollutants to ozone (O 3) formation. (USEPA 1995) Table 8-1 shows estimates of highway vehicle emissions in 13 MSAs in 1985 and in 1994. Chapter 8 Transportation and Air Quality: A Metropolitan Perspective � 175 BOX 8-1 (cont’d): AIR QUALITY STANDARDS AND ATTAINMENT LEVELS SO 2, 82 for PM-10, 10 for lead, and 1 for NO 2. 2 The great majority of the population living in nonattainment areas is metropolitan. The number of people exposed to unhealthy air in nonattainment areas is difficult to estimate. A total of 132 million people live within the boundaries of the 182 nonattainment areas. Yet, this is not necessarily a good measure of the number of people currently exposed to unhealthy air. To be reclassified as in attainment, an area must not violate EPA standards for three consecutive years and must have an approved state implementation plan (SIP). Thus, some areas may not have violated air quality standards for one or two years but will still be classified as nonattainment. An estimated 90 million people live within the boundaries of nonattainment areas that currently violate EPA standards. Some of these people have homes located in healthy air pockets, even though the metropolitan region as a whole is in nonattainment. (They may still be affected if they work in areas with unhealthy air.) EPA also estimates the number of people living in counties with unhealthy air in a single year. Data for the most recent year available, 1994, show that 62 million live in counties that violated at least one pollutant standard. 3 This estimate, however, only includes counties that have a monitoring station and does not account for year to year weather variations that can affect air quality. Consequently, this method likely underestimates the number of people who live in areas with unhealthy air. 2 An updated list of nonattainment areas is available on the World Wide Web at www.epa.gov/airs/nonattn.html. 3 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, National Air Pollution Emission Trends, 1900–1994, EPA-454/R-95-011 (Research Triangle Park, NC: October 1995). Over that period, significant reductions occurred in the primary pollutants, except NOx which increased in some areas. Some of the fastest growing metropolitan areas (San Diego, Dallas, Houston) were among those with the highest percentage reductions for these pollutants. Because of differences in transportation patterns and economic structure among metropolitan areas, the proportion of emissions attributable to highway vehicles varies. In San Francisco, for example, 79 percent of estimated CO emissions are attributed to road vehicles, along with 46 percent of both NOx and VOC emissions. By contrast, only 60 percent of CO, 25 percent of NOx, and 17 percent of VOC are attributed to road vehicles in Houston, possibly owing to the predominance of petroleum-based industries in that area. (USEPA 1995, table 2-7) The link between vehicle emissions and concentrations in the air is not straightforward. Local factors, such as variations in weather and topography, affect the rate of emissions dispersal. Moreover, the size of the area over which
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Bureau of Transportation Statistics
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION F
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5 THE STATE OF TRANSPORTATION STATI
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List of Figures PART I: THE STATE O
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9 AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF TR
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8 TRANSPORTATION AND AIR QUALITY: A
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well as the condition and performan
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cance of transportation is comparab
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U.S. society over the lifetime of p
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and compile statistical information
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onmental impacts focus on individua
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Angeles recorded 208 unhealthful da
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Part I The State of the Transportat
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4 � Transportation Statistics Ann
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10 � Transportation Statistics An
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To capture the rich interplay betwe
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Tables 2-1 and 2-2 present transpor
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kinds of transportation services co
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counted as products of the manufact
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worth of industrial output to final
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Measures of Transportation’s Impo
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New car Used car Gas and oil Gas ta
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Vehicle Operating Costs Vehicle pur
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Chapter 2 Transportation and the Ec
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federal funds spent on transit, rai
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The total collections from all thes
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classified under the industry in wh
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The airline industry is using fewer
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that businesses that once depended
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Millions of current dollars Annual
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C H A P T E R T H R E E TRANSPORTAT
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Risk exposure means that the more a
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fatality rate will continue to decl
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more than $14 billion in health car
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in terms of fatalities per distance
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that figure had dropped to 14 perce
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ed duty/sleep periods before their
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more seats (Title 14 Code of Federa
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Drivers who ignore warning signs ar
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The lack of accurate, comprehensive
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_____. 1996. 1995 Traffic Crashes,
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100 � Transportation Statistics A
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tion accounts for about one-ninth o
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cases the results have fallen short
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� Water Pollution The major sourc
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Page 146 and 147: Total social cost at quantity Q' wh
Page 148 and 149: such as the Clean Air Act and Amend
Page 150 and 151: C H A P T E R S E V E N ENVIRONMENT
Page 152 and 153: CO emissions, 45 percent of all nit
Page 154 and 155: Index, 1970 = 1.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0
Page 156 and 157: highway vehicles emit only half the
Page 158 and 159: 7-3). VOC emissions from mobile sou
Page 160 and 161: 1988; before 1988, PM-10 was not di
Page 162 and 163: new CAAA regulations required a red
Page 164 and 165: that without the improvement, VOC e
Page 166 and 167: fuels are derived from natural gas
Page 168 and 169: Gallons (millions) 25 20 15 10 5 B
Page 170 and 171: The Strategic Targeting and Respons
Page 172 and 173: EPNdB Large jet—Stage 1 (L) Large
Page 174 and 175: � Aircraft Noise Aircraft noise b
Page 176 and 177: Chapter 7 Environmental Trends and
Page 178 and 179: iron, and other metals, and greater
Page 180 and 181: Re-use Waste tire inventory Process
Page 182 and 183: � Transportation of Hazardous Mat
Page 184 and 185: Netherlands employ compensatory pro
Page 186 and 187: Billions of 1990 dollars 30 25 20 1
Page 188 and 189: Developing the information needed f
Page 190 and 191: _____. 1990. Pollutant Loadings and
Page 192 and 193: 172 � Transportation Statistics A
Page 230 and 231: Index, 1980 = 100 A. CO emissions,
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Appendices
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AAMVA American Association of Motor
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ISTEA Intermodal Surface Transporta
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U.S. to Metric Length (approximate)
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A Aboveground storage tanks, xxi, 1
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C CAA. See Clean Air Act CAAA. See
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Energy efficiency combination truck
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evenues, 53-56 subsidies paid to op
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Malaysia emissions control efforts,
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energy demand projections, 95 exter
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Tires burning, 158 disposal, xxi, 1
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physical condition and performance,
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