Air Quality and CMS

The Indianapolis MPA lies within or partly within two nonattainment areas as classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  In July 2004, the 9-county area including Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Morgan, and Shelby counties was classified as nonattainment for the ground-level pollutant, ozone (O3), under the 8-hour standard. In April 2005, the 5-county area including Hamilton, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, and Morgan counties was classified as nonattainment for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) under the annual standard. 
 
The MPO is responsible for air quality conformity and works cooperatively with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), the Anderson MPO, the Columbus MPO, the Office of Enivironmental Services Division of the Department of Public Works (OES) and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) in conducting other transportation-related air quality activities for the MPA and the region.

The Congestion Management System is a tool for identifying alternatives to capacity improvements on congested roadways, which tend to distort travel patterns and land uses in an undesirable manner.  The CMS works through the system for scoring projects and assigning project priorities for capacity projects; instead of using the absolute score, the CMS nets out the score of the highest-scoring alternative strategy.  This has the effect of lowering the capacity project's score, and hence lowering its chances of obtaining funding; if the sponsoring agency agrees to implement the alternate strategy, the original score is restored. 

For more information about Air Quality issues, please see the page on the current adopted Regional Transportation Plan.

For more information on Air Quality issues in the Indianapolis Urbanized Area, please contact MPO Principal Planner Sweson Yang.
 

Current Documents

April 2006, MDC Resolution: Regional Plan & Air Quality Conformity (updated)

9-County Region in Conformity for PM 2.5!

June 2005 Air Quality Conformity Analysis

June 2005 Final Air Quality Maps - Appendix J

June 2005 Air Quality Conformity Findings for Indianapolis and Anderson