Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley

Air quality conformity refers to the process wherein federally supported plans, programs and projects are shown to meet the air quality requirements of the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) and the applicable State Implementation Plan (SIP). Transportation conformity refers to actions approved or funded by the Federal Highway Administration or the Federal Transit Administration. General conformity refers to projects approved or funded by other federal agencies. Airport projects are usually subject to general conformity rules. The general conformity process has provoked several contradictory views. It has been argued if it is a meaningful process to achieve air quality objectives. Airports see the conformity process as a burden to their development. Also, potential flaws have been said to exist in the execution of the process. The research opportunities in this field are numerous.