Memorandum
U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration

One goal of the 1998 FHWA National Strategic Plan is to protect and enhance the natural environment and communities affected by highway transportation. A strategic objective of this goal is to improve the quality of the natural environment by reducing highway-related pollution and by protecting and enhancing ecosystems. To ensure the achievement of this goal and objective, FHWA currently measures the performance through two air quality indicators and one wetland mitigation indicator. Performance of the air quality indicators is measured against reducing on-road mobile source emissions by 20 percent in 10 years, and having more nonattainment and maintenance areas each year that are meeting their on-road mobile source emissions budgets through the conformity process. Performance of the wetland mitigation indicator is measured against the goal of providing 1.5 acres of mitigation for each acre of wetland unavoidably impacted on Federal-aid highway projects, program-wide.

FHWA has demonstrated that it continues to provide leadership and assistance necessary to the States and local agencies to reduce transportation-related mobile source emissions, and comply with the transportation conformity provisions of the Clean Air Act. The best available data used to produce this report are the EPA estimates that contain data through year 2003¹ and show on-road mobile source emissions were reduced 24.56 percent from 1996 to 2003. In addition, a high percentage of nonattainment and maintenance areas demonstrated that they were meeting their emission goals in FY 2004. As of July 1, 2004, 101 out of 105 (96.2 percent) ozone areas, 58 out of 61 (95.1 percent) carbon monoxide (CO) areas, and 38 out of 39 (97.4 percent) particulate matter (PM) areas designated as nonattainment or maintenance had met their on-road mobile source emissions budgets. Although this percentage is down slightly from 2003 for ozone, it is higher for CO and PM-10, and the overall trend and level are generally favorable. It is important to note however that in each of these areas FHWA has worked closely with State and local officials and other Federal partners to re-establish conformity to minimize projects delays.

In the early 1990s, FHWA established an agency policy of no-net-loss of wetland impacted on a program-wide basis for Federal-aid highway projects. In 1996, the FHWA revised its no-net-loss policy upward to a net gain goal to reflect changing national goals for protecting and enhancing wetland resources. The Agency's 1998 Strategic Plan indicates this change by establishing a performance measure for wetland acreage replacement of 1.5 acres of compensation for every acre impacted under the Federal-aid highway program.

The Office of Natural and Human Environment monitors progress on this performance measure by annually compiling wetland loss and compensatory mitigation data. State data is tabulated and an overall mitigation to impact ratio is calculated for the Federal-aid highway program. In FY 2004, 41 State DOTs and Federal Lands Highway divisions reported 1763 acres of mitigation and 847 acres of impacts. The resulting mitigation ratio is 2.1 acres mitigation to 1 acre of impacts. The data does not provide a complete record of wetland impacts due to federally-funded highway projects, but are a measure of program performance against a "net gain of wetland" criteria. On a program-wide basis, the FY 2004 figures indicate that Federal-aid highway projects provided 2.1 acres of compensatory wetland mitigation for each acre of impact.

Over the short period of time this data has been collected (1996-2004), few conclusions can be drawn concerning replacement of wetland functions and values, long-term mitigation success, ecological effectiveness, and other similar measures which would be required for a complete assessment of a sustained net gain in wetland area, functions, and performance. FHWA staff continue to recommend that information collected for FY 1996-2004 be used with caution, and that further evaluation of the success and performance of compensatory mitigation sites is necessary to substantiate the achievement of our long-range strategic performance objectives. However, FHWA believes the current data, in conjunction with similar data compiled for FY 1996-2004, provides a valuable performance indicator of the Federal-aid highway program in achieving an immediate increase of wetland area, and is strongly indicative that a long-term net gain of wetland functions and values is being realized within the federally-funded highway program.

These results demonstrate the continued strong commitment of the Agency, the State DOTs, and the metropolitan planning organizations, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local resource agencies to protect and enhance our natural environment.

Attached is the air quality performance measures report, which shows the air quality accomplishments including the emissions reduction trend and the status of nonattainment and maintenance areas meeting their emissions budgets. Also attached is the wetland mitigation data report. If you have any questions on the air quality performance report or the wetland mitigation data report, please contact Gary Jensen at (202) 366-2048 or Paul Garrett at (720) 963-3071, respectively.

2 Attachments

¹ 2003 estimates are preliminary.