Pennsylvania State Police Safety Initiative

Pennsylvania State Police are reaching out to local communities to help identify drug impaired drivers. The Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Program trains officers to detect various types of substance abuse, including but not limited to alcohol. There are 22 Drug Recognition Experts in Pennsylvania, 4 of which are in the Philadelphia region. DRE provides expert assistance in impaired driving investigations to any police department in Pennsylvania at anytime of day.

Sergeant Toboz of the Pennsylvania State Police, noted that drug use was becoming more problematic on the roads and the number of arrests has increased. Usually an officer stops a driver showing impairment, and administers a Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST). If that is low but there are still signs of a high level of impairment, a DRE would be called in to make three determinations – if the individual is impaired; whether the impairment is drugs or medically related; and if it is drug related what type of drugs are used. Testing is a 12 step process with prognosis based on a totality of a number of symptoms.

Court Decision Will Impact Municipalities and Airports

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a decision on May 31, 2007, upheld the requirement created by the State Aviation Code legislation of 1984, that townships where airports are located, and some nearby townships, must expand their zoning code to create overlay districts around the airport to protect certain airspace from intrusion by buildings, towers, and trees.  This is necessary for the safety of aircraft operations and to allow the airport to operate at its design potential.  Two thirds of all impacted townships in Pennsylvania have refused to enact this zoning or have ignored the 1984 law.  The May 2007 Supreme Court case, which required a municipality to adopt an overlay zone as stated in the 1984 legislation or face the consequence of decreased highway funding, proved that non-compliance will now have negative financial consequences for local governments.  

New Resource Guide of Funding Opportunities Available

DVRPC has just completed a new resource guide for municipalities which lists all of the funding opportunities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It is intended to assist local and county governments, community groups and nonprofit organizations in the Delaware Valley region to identify federal, state, county, and private sources of funding for locally initiated planning and development projects. The programs cover topic areas of housing, water and sewer facilities, transportation, economic development, environment, recreation, open space, and multi-municipal planning, to name a few.

Within the guide are a wide variety of sources that include grants, loans, tax credits, loan guarantees, municipal assistance and reimbursement programs. A total of 193 distinct funding programs are included, from 67 different sources. To request a copy of the guide, contact Eileen Gallagher, Resource Center Librarian, at 215-238-2817 or egallagher@dvrpc.org.

Aerial Imagery and Maps from DVRPC

DVRPC offers several useful and informative products via our Map and Publication Sales Office. Our most popular offering is aerial imagery which covers DVRPC's 9-county region for various years beginning with 1959, then in five-year increments from 1965 to 2005 (2000 & 2005 imagery is ortho-corrected and suitable for use in GIS applications). This imagery may be purchased in digital or hardcopy form. Also, various GIS layers are available for purchase, including 5' topographic contours that were developed in conjunction with our 2005 orthoimagery. Most of DVRPC's recent reports and publications are available for purchase, as well as data bulletins which are provided free of charge. We also offer custom mapping. For more information, contact Sharon Smith at mapsales@dvrpc.org.

Be the First to Know About the Next CMAQ Competition

DVRPC's Competitive Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program seeks transportation-related projects that can help the region reduce emissions from highway sources and meet National Clean Air Act standards. The program covers the DVRPC region of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania; and, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Mercer counties in New Jersey. DVRPC has received numerous inquiries asking when DVRPC might hold its next CMAQ Competition. At this time, DVRPC has not made a decision on another round of CMAQ competition.

If you are interested in receiving an email notice once a decision is made, that option is now available on the DVRPC CMAQ Competetitve Program web page by providing your e-mail address. 

Take Action to Improve Air Quality

While we are currently enjoying the warm summer weather, we must remember that we are also in the midst of ozone season. At ground level, ozone can be harmful to our lungs and the environment. In the summer, sunlight and heat can "bake" pollutants to form ground-level ozone, also known as smog. DVRPC administers a program called the Air Quality Partnership (AQP), which is a public/private coalition dedicated to improving air quality in the Delaware Valley through air quality initiatives and advisories.

The Partnership implements the Air Quality Action program to notify the public when air quality is forecast to be unhealthy and to encourage the public to take action to reduce air pollution, especially on Air Quality Action days. Steps like taking transit, telecommuting, trip-linking, refueling after dark, and conserving energy at home, all help reduce air pollution.

Take action to protect yourself from air quality health risks and help reduce the formation of ground-level ozone on days when it counts the most! For more information and daily air quality forecasts visit www.airqualitypartership.org or call 1-800-872-7261. 

DVRPC Board Approvals

The DVRPC Board recently approved revisions to the Destination 2030 Long Range Plan. The revisions meet new requirements contained in the federal transportation legislation, SAFETEA-LU. It resulted in changes to the costs and implementation schedule for transportation projects contained in the Long Range Plan. To view the newly updated Long Range Plan, visit www.dvrpc.org/LongRange.htm

The DVRPC Board also approved the New Jersey Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Fiscal Year 2008, at its June meeting. The TIP is the regionally agreed upon list of priority projects, as required by federal law. The TIP document must list all projects that intend to use federal funds, along with non-federally funded projects that are regionally significant. The projects are multi-modal; that is, they include bicycle, pedestrian, freight related projects, and innovative air quality projects, as well as the more traditional highway and public transit projects. For more information about how to get involved and to view the TIP document, visit www.dvrpc.org/transportation/capital/tip.htm.