Aviation is a growth sector in the United States. The growth of air traffic operations in the United States has resulted in an increase in traffic at the nation’s major airports, accompanied by a corresponding increase in emissions. Of the nation’s airports, approximately 158 commercial service airports are currently located in EPA-designated nonattainment or maintenance areas (https://www.faa.gov/airports/environmental/vale/media/vale_eligible_airports.xls). As EPA’s emission control strategies for other non-aviation sectors take effect, the aviation emissions sources could become more pronounced  within the current emission inventories conducted for our nation’s poor air quality regions as well as the future forecasted State Implementation Plan (SIP) emission budgets. General conformity regulations require that all federal actions must conform with applicable SIPs. Federal funding or approvals of future airport development projects may be affected by these regulations. Research is needed to develop guidance for airports and state and local air quality agencies to better represent future airport emission sources in their SIP forecasts. 

 

 

The objective of the research is to develop a guidebook for airport operators and state and local air quality planners that describes the development of the airport emissions component of a SIP, including emission inventories and projections, and key data elements for airside non-road emissions sources. The focus of this research is on civilian airports, both commercial service and general aviation (GA), but excluding military bases. This guidebook should include a description of the state of the practice, guidance on how to develop a civilian airport emissions component of the SIP, and direction on how to harmonize future civilian airport emissions estimates with aviation forecast information.

 

STATUS:The final product has been published as Report 84: Guidebook for Preparing Airport Emissions Inventories for State Implementation Plans