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 (from a baseline year of 1996 with target reductions of 1 percent in 1997 and 1998, and 2 percent a year thereafter), 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 increasing net wetland hectare area (acreage) resulting from Federal-aid highway projects by 50 percent in 10 years.

FHWA has demonstrated that it will provide the 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 published in August of 2002¹ that contain data through year 2000 and show on-road mobile source emissions were reduced from 1996 levels by 1.53 percent in 1997, by an additional 1.57 percent in 1998, by an additional 4.27 percent in 1999, and by 2.97 in 2000. In addition, a high percentage of nonattainment and maintenance areas demonstrated that they were meeting their emission goals in fiscal year 2003. As of July 1, 2003, 90 out of 93 (96.7 percent) ozone areas, 49 out of 53 (92.4 percent) carbon monoxide areas, and 29 out of 31 (93.5 percent) particulate matter areas designated as nonattainment or maintenance had met their on-road mobile source emissions budgets. This number is down slightly from 2002, due in part to new vehicle emissions factor model requirements and areas being unable to meet budgets established in SIPs using older models. It is important to note however that in each of these areas FHWA worked closely with State and local officials and other Federal partners to reestablish 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 2003, 40 State DOTs and 2 Federal Lands Highway divisions reported 3431 acres of mitigation and 1278 acres of impacts. The resulting mitigation ratio is 2.7 acres mitigation to one 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 2003 figures indicate that Federal-aid highway projects provided 2.7 acres of compensatory wetland mitigation for each acre of impact.

Over the short period of time this data has been collected (1996-2003), 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 1996-2003 be used with caution, and that further research on the success and performance of compensatory mitigation sites is necessary to substantiate the achievement of our long-range strategic performance objectives. However, FHWA staff purports the current data, in conjunction with similar data compiled for FY 1996-2003, 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 Susan Lee at (202) 366-9196 or Paul Garrett at (720) 963-3071, respectively.

2 Attachments

¹ At the time of preparation of this report, no data was available from EPA for 2002. FHWA and EPA are also in discussions to revise the vehicle emissions model that was used to develop the 2001 data.