Terry Tamminen

Agency Secretary

The energy challenge facing California is real. Ev ery Californian needs to take immediate action to r educe energy consumption. For a list of simple ways you can reduce demand and cut your energy costs, see our Website: http://www.arb.ca.gov

. California Environmental Protection Agency

Printed on Recycled Paper 

# Air Resources Board

Alan C. Lloyd, Ph.D.

Chairman

1001 I Street • P.O. Box 2815 Sacramento, California 95812 • www.arb.ca.gov Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor

November 17, 2004 

### Appendix E

«Title» «First_Name» «Last_Name»
«Job_Title» «Organization» «Street_Address»
«Address_2» «City», «State» «Zip»

Dear «Title» «Last_Name»:

I am writing on behalf of the Air Resources Board ( ARB) with two requests.

• First, that your agency provide any existing trans portation activity updates to us by December 31, 2004 for incorporation into California ’s next motor vehicle emissions model, EMFAC2005. This model and activity data wil l serve as the basis for the motor vehicle emissions and conformity budgets in t he next round of air quality plans that the local air districts are already developing for nonattainment areas. Our staffs have previously discussed this request.

• Second, that you designate a policy-level contact and a technical contact within your agency for liaison with ARB to help identify and re solve any issues that arise in this complex air quality-transportation planning arena.

SIP Development Schedules . With the implementation of the federal 8-hour oz one and fine particulates (PM2.5) standards, nonattainm ent areas in California have begun to prepare new State Implementation Plans (SIPs). Ozone plans are due to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) in June 2007 and PM2.5 plans in February 2008. To begin the lengthy process of air quality modeling in support of the SIP attainment demonstrations, ARB must complete a working version of the statewide motor vehicle emissions inventory by June 2005.

Transportation Activity Update . It is important that this inventory incorporate t he most

current and reliable estimates of motor vehicle act ivity, including vehicle miles of travel (VMT) by speed grouping (and by time of day if your agency has this capability) for past and future years. If your area has developed new e stimates of motor vehicle activity within the last two years, we would like to receive them as soon as possible, and no later than December 31, 2004. This will enable us to review those estimates for

inclusion in the new EMFAC2005 model.«Title» «First_Name» «Last_Name»

November 17, 2004 Page 2

EMFAC Model Update . ARB has already begun extensive technical work t o improve the accuracy of the EMFAC emissions model. We held workshops in mid-October to review the changes being proposed by staff and soli cit public comment. Copies of the staff presentations may be reviewed at: http://www .arb.ca.gov/msei/msei.htm . Our schedule requires release of the draft EMFAC2005 fo r review by your agency and others in April 2004.

New Procedures for Transportation Activity Data Sub mittals . The data you submit to ARB are used not only to update the EMFAC model, but also to calculate motor vehicle emissions budgets for new clean air plans, to update photochemical models that demonstrate attainment of the air quality standards , and to evaluate the effectiveness of control strategies.

Due to the diversity of demand for local vehicle ac tivity information, ARB has implemented new procedures for receiving and proces sing such data. Mr. Doug Thompson, Manager of the Motor Vehicle Ass essments Section, has assumed responsibility for travel activity. He can be reached at (916) 322-7062, or dthompso@arb.ca.gov . He and Ms. Pamela Burmich of that section will s erve as primary contacts for your staff on technical matter s related to travel activity. Please provide activity data and documentation to Ms. Burm ich at (916) 323-8475, or pburmich@arb.ca.gov

.

Our quality assurance procedures include an interna l protocol that clarifies roles and processes for review of local data. The protocol w ill enable ARB to consolidate requests made to your agency and to achieve consist ent use of local data throughout ARB. We have enclosed a set of questions that ARB staff will use to review activity updates. Our review process will be expedited to t he extent you can include such information with your data submittal. Our intent i s not to question your agency’s expertise in travel forecasting, but to act on our responsibility to base planning and policy decisions on a sound and well-documented emi ssions inventory, and to assure that ARB staff understands both the data you submit and the context in which it was developed.

Finally, once our staffs have reviewed and concurre d on new activity data, we will ask your agency to send a letter to me formally request ing that ARB include your updated activity in the EMFAC2005 model. This letter will be an important part of our documentation for SIP and conformity budget develop ment.

Transportation Conformity Considerations . ARB is aware of the tremendous implications for transportation planning and progra mming of both new air quality plans

and a revised EMFAC model. We are committed to wo rking with you to manage the«Title» «First_Name» «Last_Name»

November 17, 2004 Page 3

processes of plan development, EMFAC update, EMFAC2 005 transmittal to U.S. EPA for approval to use in SIPs and conformity, and tra nsportation conformity budget adequacy findings to minimize disruptions to the es tablished timelines for both transportation and air quality planning. For examp le, we know that most transportation agencies will be updating regional transportation p lans and programs prior to ozone SIP adoption in 2007, and that these plans may rely on demographic projections or transportation modeling improvements not yet comple ted. For this reason, we will work with your agency to determine the opportunity for f inal critical updates in late Summer 2006 to the activity used for air quality planning and conformity purposes.

Because of the anticipated workload associated with the 2006 updates, we are seeking new ways to revise vehicle activity in the model ac curately and efficiently. We plan to work with the transportation community next year on ways to standardize the formats of data submitted to ARB to facilitate electronic proc essing of that data. We also need to determine the best way to periodically integrate th e latest planning assumptions required by federal guidance into air quality and t ransportation modeling efforts.

Other Policy Issues . We welcome your ideas regarding coordinated tran sportation and air quality planning in California between the regional transportation planning agencies, the California Department of Transportati on, the local air districts, and ARB. Agreement among air and transportation agencies wit hin the State strengthens our collective hand as we address issues raised by the federal agencies that ultimately review and approve our plans. ARB’s policy contact for these matters is Ms. Cynthia Marvin, Chief of the Air Quality and Tr ansportation Planning Branch, at (916) 322-7236 or cmarvin@arb.ca.gov

.

We appreciate your efforts, past and forthcoming, t o provide the best available information for air quality planning and transporta tion conformity. If you have questions, please call me at (916) 322-5350, or have your staf f speak with ARB’s policy or

technical contacts.

Sincerely,

/s/

Robert D. Fletcher, Chief Planning and Technical Support Division