The Federal Clean Air Act and the transportation planning provisions of Title 23 and Title 49 of the United States Code are intended to ensure that integrated transportation and air quality planning occurs in the areas that do not or previously have not met the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). These areas, known as nonattainment or maintenance areas respectively, require a process to demonstrate that transportation projects included in the region’s Long-Range Plan (Plan) or Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) will not impede a region’s progress towards meeting or maintaining the federal air quality standards.
Transportation conformity is the federally mandated analytical process through which Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) demonstrate that the transportation investments, strategies, and programs included in the Plan and TIPs are consistent with air quality goals established in State Implementation Plans (SIP) for achieving the NAAQS. Conformity demonstrations show that emissions from projects in transportation plans and programs do not exceed the SIP targets ("budgets") for emissions from mobile sources.
The nine-county DVRPC planning area is part of the:
- Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City Ozone Nonattainment Area
- Philadelphia-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE PM2.5 Maintenance Area
- New York - Northern New Jersey - Long Island, NY-NJ-CT PM2.5 Maintenance Area
- Delaware County PM2.5 Maintenance Area
On July 25, 2024, the DVRPC Board adopted the “Transportation Conformity Determination: Connections 2050 Long-Range Plan and FY 2025 TIP for Pennsylvania”. This is the current transportation conformity determination for the Pennsylvania portion of the region. The “Transportation Conformity Determination: Connections 2050 Long-Range Plan, FY 2023 TIP for Pennsylvania, and FY 2024 TIP for New Jersey”, adopted in September 2023, remains the current conformity document for the New Jersey portion of the region.
Adopted Conformity Documents
The DVRPC Board adopted the following documents in September 2023 and July 2024. Combined these documents demonstrate transportation conformity for:
- the Connections 2050 Long-Range Plan,
- the FY 2024-2027 TIP for New Jersey, and
- the FY 2025-2028 TIP for Pennsylvania
View the Transportation Conformity Determination: Connections 2050 Long-Range Plan and FY 2025 TIP for Pennsylvania and Executive Summary.
View the Transportation Conformity Determination: Connections 2050 Long-Range Plan, FY 2024 New Jersey and FY 2023 Pennsylvania TIPs and Executive Summary.
DVRPC procedures for developing a Transportation Conformity Determination are detailed in each conformity report. Further information on these procedures are available here:
PENNDOT Project Review and Classification Guidelines for Regional Air Quality Conformity
DVRPC Transportation Conformity Standard Operating Procedures for the New Jersey Subregion
For more information on transportation conformity, visit the FHWA or EPA webpages.