Ozone and PM 2.5 Air Quality Conformity Determination (February 2022)
Available for public review and comment
The Naugatuck Valley Planning Region includes municipalities located in the Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island eight-hour Ozone Moderate Nonattainment Area, Greater Connecticut eight-hour Ozone Moderate Nonattainment Area, and the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut PM2.5 Attainment/Maintenance Area. As areas that have previously or currently not met ambient air-quality standards, transportation projects must demonstrate that they will contribute toward reductions to acceptable levels of future transportation related emissions. This analysis is completed by modeling transportation projects approved or proposed in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) or Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) and any approved amendments to those documents.
Air quality emissions analysis is a responsibility of the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), which coordinates TIPs and MTPs from all of the state’s planning areas. A version of the emissions analysis, available here combines both the Ozone and PM2.5 Air Quality Conformity Determinations of the 2019-2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plans and the FY 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Programs, as Amended. The February 2022 report shows conformity to the motor vehicle emission budgets for both Ozone nonattainment areas as noted in the current State Implementation Plan (SIP) for air quality, as well as the PM 2.5 attainment/maintenance area. Emissions were calculated using the latest version of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required software, MOVES2014b. Additional information about the process used to calculate future conformity can be found on the NVCOG website at https://nvcogct.gov/what-we-do/transportation-planning/air-quality-conformity/ or the CTDOT website at https://portal.ct.gov/DOT/PP_Bureau/ConnDOT-Plans/Air-Quality-Conformity.
To ensure the public has an opportunity to comment on this determination, NVCOG has established a forty-five (45) day review period, during which public comments will be accepted via email or presented to our board of elected officials. This period will formally begin on March 15, 2022 and run through April 28, 2022.
For anyone who would like to comment virtually to the region’s elected officials, public comment time will be made available at the meeting of the Central Naugatuck Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization (CNVMPO), a subset of NVCOG towns, during the regularly scheduled NVCOG and CNVMPO meeting scheduled to take place on April 8, 2022. At this meeting the CNVMPO will be asked to endorse the air quality determination, with a contingency that no major adverse comments are received before the end of the public comment period on April 28.
The public is invited to attend this meeting and will be afforded an opportunity to comment on the air quality conformity determinations before they are considered by the MPO. Written comments received by 5 p.m. on April 7, 2022, will be included in their entirety in writing to members of the board and will be presented in whole or in part by NVCOG staff during the meeting. All written comments can be sent to Rich Donovan, Transportation Planner, at rdonovan@nvcogct.gov.
The meeting will take place both virtually and at the offices of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments. At this time, we request that members of the public who wish to comment during this meeting reach out to 203-757-0535 or info@nvcogct.gov before Wednesday, April 6 to receive meeting dial in information.
