What person, group or organization is being profiled, and why are they of interest to this project?
The Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) is being profile as the public organization responsible for transportation in Houston.
HCAC is a cooperation of local governments, and serves as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for transportation planning in the eight-county Houston-Galveston area. While this extends beyond the city of Houston, there is no city level transportation agency for Houston.
What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health?
Formation of the Transportation Policy Council (TPC).
TPC drafts and approves the Regional Transportation Plan, which aims to identify the region's needs, goals, and policies regarding transportation over the next 25 years. The 2040 Regional Transportation plan outlines 5 goals, one of which is "conserve and protect natural and cultural resources" (http://www.h-gac.com/taq/plan/2040/vision.aspx). The performance measures outlined to quantify this goal are the 8-hr ozone design value and the reduction of impacts requiring mitigation.
Oversees the development of the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), a financial plan of transportation projects receiving federal funding over the next four years.
As the MPO, HGAC is responsible for Transportation Conformity.
Transportation Conformity links the SIP (required by the CAA) with the regional roadway planning.
Must ensure the federal, state, and local transportation organizations and air quality organizations cooperate to meet the transportation conformity requirements.
Pedestrian-Bicyclist Program
Coordinates programs to increase safety and mobility for passengers and cyclists. This is important, because Texas has an extremely high rate of pedestrian accidents (see my timeline for this week). Increasing safety will encourage emission free transportation, improving air quality.
Developed the 2040 Regional Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan.
Clean Air Action
Clean Air Action is an awareness program aimed at all non-attainment areas in the counties comprised of H-GAC that specifically focuses on ozone pollution
Provide resources for employers, such as Telework. The Regional Telework Program gives employers free technologies and services necessary to facilitate employees working from home, which ultimately reduces commuters and therefor pollution.
What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed?
1966: H-GAC founded
February 1974: H-GAC designated as the Metropolitan Planning Organization for transportation for the region
1994: Area Emission Reduction Credit Organization (AERCO) created
November 2012: Adopted the Public Participation Plan
Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches?
One unique aspect of their approach is encouraging public engagement in transportation.
The Brown Bag Lunch Series is a bi-monthly public event led by H-GAC geared towards professionals. These meetings are open to all H-GAC member agencies and governments. A consultant firm, research institute, or other industry experts give a presentation over lunch regarding key transportation issues facing the industry. Companies that present include METRO, ExxonMobil, Port of Houston Authority, and Texas Central Railway.
In 2012, they adopted a Public Participation Plan. Aims of this were to receive public input for the development of the TPC and the TIP, and to give the public full access to information surrounding transportation decisions. It outlines a plan to hold regular public forums, employ visualization techniques for describing the TPC and the TIP, make information readily available online, and making information available in multiple forms of medias and languages to reach a larger audience. The plan also addresses the importance of involving all stakeholders.
They also keep a public information archive online, detailing all public meetings.
Involving the public in transportation planning allows for greater opportunity for addressing public and environmental health by giving the public to raise concerns and ask questions about it directly.
What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created?
For each company, they outline reason for implementation of the program, employee benefits, challenges faced/ improvements to be made, and results. They also inspect factors such as productivity, recruitment and retention, and transportation and air quality.
The case study for BP revealed that the utilization of their 50 teleworkers save 74,100 driving miles annually.
What research has the organization produced or drawn on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade?
Mobility Studies are conducted for all significant transportation projects in metropolitan areas. The aim of these studies is to define the most effective transportation solutions for the given area.
These studies are unique because they do not just survey public opinion, but also "identify transportation measures that will improve public safety, traffic flow, reduce motorist delay, enhance air quality, and enhance bicycle and pedestrian access."(http://www.h-gac.com/taq/ plans_programs/mobility/default.aspx). H-GAC effectively merges the technical with the social, while many companies assume the public has no interest in the technical.
What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care?
One technology H-GAC heavily relies on to obtain their objectives is cars, and specifically their efficiency capabilities.
To reduce emissions, H-GAC encourages drivers to use cars with better technologies for fuel efficiency through managing the AirCheck Texas Drive a Clean Machine program (referenced in Texas DOT profile). The program for the entire state is run under the TCEQ, but the applications for Houston and surrounding counties are processed through H-GAC.
Individuals with poor financial circumstances and cars that are too old or have failed an emissions test can apply for financial assistance to either replace or repair their car.
What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma?
Because H-GAC is not only in charge of transportation issues, but all local issues within the 13 counties, they demonstrate an all inclusive social ecology.
They are the first organization I've profiled to directly mention asthma:
7. What are the health effects of Ozone?
Ozone poses health problems for children, the elderly, asthmatics, and even healthy adults.
• It can cause acute respiratory problems
• It can aggravate asthma, emphysema and bronchitis
• It can lead to hospital admissions and emergency room visits
What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health?
When discussing air pollution, H-GAC, along with many Texas organizations, focuses on commuters.
This is likely due to Houston's current expanding economy, with new jobs continuously being created along with the increasing population.
This general focus on commuters is demonstrated by Commute Solutions
"Commute Solutions is a partnership of the Houston–Galveston Area Council (H-GAC), the Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO), the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Brazos Transit District, Colorado Valley Transit, Fort Bend County Transportation,the Gulf Coast Center-Connect Transit, the City of Galveston’s Island Transit, and the region's Transportation Management Organizations (TMOs), which include BayTran, Central Houston "Downtown in Motion," North Houston Association, and TREK."
(http://www.commutesolutions.com/)
All transportation organizations, private and public, in the Houston area have connected through a focus on commuters.
What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health?
As the regional MPO, H-GAC receives funding through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Programs. This program gives funding for non-attainment areas for ozone, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. Texas' non-attainment areas only fail to comply with the ozone standard. According to H-GAC, this funding is provided for projects that reduce congestion and improve air quality, such as transit improvements, traffic flow improvements, pedestrian and bicycle programs, etc. Which projects receive the funding is determined by the MPO along with the State, and they can be restricted by federal guidelines. (http://www.mysolutionis.com/faq/default.aspx)
H-GAC's separate website for air quality initiatives has a tab for "partners and stakeholders," but under this tab no partners are listed and it only says "to attain and meet federal air quality standards we rely on our community partners and stakeholders." For multiple programs H-GAC references member agencies, but does not provide a list of these members. This seems strange because BP, a infamous polluting company, is listed as a Clean Air Champion. To receive this title, a company needs to apply and prove they offer commuter benefits to employees. Overall, H-GAC is vague about their relationships and partnerships with private companies.
What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health?
Being a multidisciplinary organization likely shapes H-GAC's engagement of environmental health.
In 1994, The Houston-Galveston Area Emission Reduction Credit Organization (AERCO) was created to promote the improvement of air quality while mitigating impacts of control strategies on economic development.
This shows that H-GAC likely views all initiatives as a balance between all disciplines they are invested in, so while they aim to improve environmental health, they must be conscious of potentially conflicting initiatives.
What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health?
Even under one subject area like transportation, H-GAC has an overwhelming amount of programs and different sources of similar information.
It appears the organization finds it difficult to streamline their goals, and create many different programs to address many different aims.
While this makes navigating their website and profiling the organization as a whole more difficult, this method may be more efficient for implementation and results.
What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health?
H-GAC offers governance over companies by providing them incentives with commuter resources and education on efficiency improvement, who then translate that governance onto the works by providing them with commuter benefits and incentives.
How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization?
The Asthma Files could expand H-GAC's perception of public health by giving comparative measures of the air pollution governance in other cities facing similar issues. It could also help the organization expand incentives for companies, like programs that deal with health insurance.
What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health?
What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed?
Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches?
What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created?
(http://www.mysolutionis.com/hr-management/_images/CS-Telework_CaseStudies-102808.pdf)
What research has the organization produced or drawn on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade?
What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care?
What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma?
Ozone poses health problems for children, the elderly, asthmatics, and even healthy adults.
• It can cause acute respiratory problems
• It can aggravate asthma, emphysema and bronchitis
• It can lead to hospital admissions and emergency room visits
• It can impair the immune system
(http://www.mysolutionis.com/faq/default.aspx)
What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health?
(http://www.commutesolutions.com/)
What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health?
What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health?
What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health?
What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health?
How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization?