Performance Measurement Framework for Highway Capacity Decision Making (2009) / Chapter Skim
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APPENDIX B - High-Value Data Investments
APPENDIX B - High-Value Data Investments
Pages 96-114
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From page 96... ...
• Water quality parameters: Chemical, biological, and physical parameters are used to model, estimate, monitor, and manage impacts on water quality, water quality standards compliance, impaired water bodies and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs.) There are numerous metrics, spanning data on nutrients, sediment, oxygen demand, biological factors (e.g., macroinvertebrate and periphyton populations, fish assemblages, single species indicators)
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From page 97... ...
Sources of Data for Current Measures • Primary Data Sources: Data on water quality parameters, including biological, chemical, and physical parameters, are largely collected and managed within state agencies, including state DOTs and MPOs, state environmental agencies (those that oversee implementation of the Clean Water Act) , natural resource agencies, and sometimes, state departments of health, depending on where statespecific authority lies for water quality monitoring and related health-based requirements.
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From page 98... ...
See: http:// cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm Performance Data Gaps • Watershed data and the connectivity between water quality at particular highway-related locations with watershed health: Watershed protection plans and related data about priority watershed protection areas/units, watershed health vulnerabilities, and watershed-level (or subwatershed unit level) watershed health metrics that can clearly be tied to highway capacity projects.
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From page 99... ...
Sources of Data for Current Measures • Primary data sources: Some landscape data is available at a national level.
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From page 100... ...
• GIS data sharing agreements and web-based GIS data access: Transportation planners can benefit from having direct access to GIS and other data held by environmental, natural resource, and fish and wildlife agencies and entities. Because this data tends to be dynamically updated, acquiring static data layers is only partially beneficial.
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From page 101... ...
Federal regulations require monitoring of mitigation sites, however, states' monitoring practices vary and few states track mitigation site performance beyond a site-specific scale. High-Value Data Investment Opportunities • Develop Remote-Sensing-Based Data for Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Wetland Quality Data on a Regional or Statewide Scale – Wetland quality data is traditionally developed using time intensive field surveys and is therefore carried out only for site-specific locations on an asneeded basis.
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From page 102... ...
Sources of Data for Current Measures • Primary Data Sources: MSATs are a relatively new and emerging area for data collection, analysis and performance measurement in the context of transportation planning and projects. Data on air toxics emissions and increasingly on ambient concentrations of MSATs are collected by EPA and state and local environmental agencies.
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From page 103... ...
Performance Data Gaps • Data on Ambient Air Toxics Concentrations – The availability of data from air toxics monitoring is limited in many areas of the U.S. While some states, such as California, have extensive air toxics monitoring programs and networks of sampling sites, many other parts of the U.S.
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From page 104... ...
• Conduct Meta-Analysis of Site-Specific MSAT Studies – The proliferation of pilot projects to assess the prevalence and health effects of MSATs, including the FHWAsponsored studies, are providing increasing opportunities to look across existing and emerging studies to assess patterns and the extent to which findings may be transferable. In the future, it may not be necessary to invest in near-road air toxics monitoring in areas where cost-effective "best practice" mitigation measures can be proposed to address public concerns related to air toxics "hotspots." • Improve Data on MSAT Exposure and Health Effects – The Health Effects Institute's November 2007 review of the literature on MSAT exposure and health effects makes a series of recommendations for improving the state of knowledge.
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From page 105... ...
Performance Data Gaps There are several data gaps that need to be addressed to accurately assess performance on climate change. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transportation • Alternative fuels emissions data – While current direct (tailpipe)
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From page 106... ...
; • Temperature (seasonal averages; extreme highs and lows) ; • Relative sea level rise; • Storm surge heights; and • Location and duration of flooding events.
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From page 107... ...
High-Value Data Investment Opportunities At a metropolitan area level, efforts to integrate local land use data into a regional view have proven extremely valuable for regional planning efforts as well as project or corridor planning efforts that span multiple jurisdictions. Further data integration efforts should be encouraged, along with systems to maintain regional databases with real-time updates from local jurisdictions.
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From page 108... ...
• How will any adverse effects be mitigated? Sources of Data for Current Measures • Primary Data Source: Data used by DOTs for this process is available through the National Register Information System (18)
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From page 109... ...
Finally, utilizing cultural resource data layers in conjunction with environmental data layers for alternative review during the long-range planning and preprogram studies phase would provide the most value. High-Value Data Investment Opportunities • Develop Comprehensive GIS-based Tool to Incorporate Environmental, Land Use, Transportation, and Cultural Resource Data – Many agencies are utilizing this technology, but have not integrated the analysis process.
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From page 110... ...
Existing response times are measured through existing EMS data or through the use of travel demand models. Future response times would be measured using a travel demand model, or may be estimated based on the removal of a known bottleneck or barrier, such as a railroad grade crossing.
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From page 111... ...
• GIS software and layers are often joined with the available socioeconomic data to identify environmental justice areas of interest geographically. • Travel demand models are used usually at the city or regional level to support the application of other measures, such as travel-time reduction, to specifically identified groups or geographic areas.
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From page 112... ...
The more sophisticated components of Environmental Justice analysis, such as travel impacts (select link analysis or CTPP origin-destination analysis) represent the more laborand time-intensive aspects of the analysis, as most existing travel demand models do not explicitly integrate all types of socioeconomic data necessary to examine Environmental Justice-related travel impacts.
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From page 113... ...
of the Department of Transportation Act prohibits FHWA and other federal transportation agencies from using land from a historic site of national, state, or local significance unless there is no feasible and prudent alternative to use of the land, and actions are taken to reduce all possible harm to the site. The Section 4(f )
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