Staff Contacts:
Amanda Graor
Alternative fuel projects
Outreach/other projects
Diesel
Retrofit
Aaron Bartlett
Bicycle/pedestrian projects
Marc Hansen
Traffic flow projects
Transit projects
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Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality Program
Program description
The federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) program, began as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). CMAQ funds are used to pay for transportation projects that improve air quality in “non-attainment” and “maintenance” areas — those areas where the EPA considers air quality to be poor, or where there have been air quality problems in the past. The Kansas City region is technically an attainment area at this time but experienced three violations of the EPA standard for ground-level ozone in 2007. Continued violations could put the region's clean air status in jeopardy. This situation has heightened the importance of making transportation investments that reduce emissions from cars and trucks to the greatest possible extent.
Distribution of funds
The
national distribution of CMAQ funds is based on a formula that takes
into account the population and severity of air quality status for
each area. As the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Kansas
City area, MARC is responsible for choosing which projects within
the five-county
metropolitan area will receive CMAQ funds.
