The resources listed below provide information on other Federal Highway Administration programs that promote environmental stewardship within transportation projects.

Environmental Streamlining and Stewardship (ESS) is an ongoing FHWA program aimed at helping transportation agencies to work with natural and cultural resource agencies to establish and strive toward realistic timeframes for the environmental review of transportation projects while protecting and enhancing the environment. Many of the tools and methods for implementing ESS also achieve better planning and environment linkages.

Re:NEPA Transportation Planning and NEPA Linkages Topic Area - the Federal Highway Administration's online "community of practice". This site supports and encourages the open exchange of knowledge, information, experience, and ideas about the National Environmental Policy Act, related environmental issues, and transportation decisionmaking. The goal of Re:NEPA is to provide additional opportunities to explore the transportation decisionmaking process through discussion, research, assistance, and education. Transportation Planning and NEPA linkages will be devoted to issues related to linking the transportation planning and NEPA processes, and also to the consideration of environmental issues in the context of the transportation planning process. With the new transportation planning regulations and the requirements in SAFETEA-LU Section 6001 currently being implemented, this will likely be a topic of significant interest to many.

Conflict Resolution Tools presents strategies for managing conflict and identifying issues that may arise during transportation project development and environmental process review under NEPA and related laws. The website offers options for problem solving among agencies that have varying roles and responsibilities under NEPA. Collaborative problem solving strategies can help improve interagency coordination for planning and environmental linkages.

Linking Planning and NEPA Workshops

FHWA's Linking Planning and NEPA Workshops were designed to foster fundamental change in the culture that underlies transportation planning and project development – leading to better planning and decisionmaking, improved environmental stewardship, and streamlined delivery of transportation projects. Between 2003 and 2007 FHWA conducted 24 Linking Planning and NEPA Workshops. At this time the workshops are no longer being offered.

The following items provide more information on the results of several of these workshops.

State Action Plans

Participants developed Action Plans as a key workshop product. These Action Plans identify opportunities for better integration within the decisionmaking process and activities that the State DOT and its partners can take to achieve stronger linkages between planning and NEPA. State Action Plans are living documents; many State DOTs have re-evaluated and updated their Action Plans to reflect changing agency needs or requirements.

To view examples of State Actions Plans, click on the states listed below:

Arkansas – includes strategies to improve planning by developing interdisciplinary planning and environment teams, documenting procedures, training staff, and developing project screening mechanisms.
Georgia – includes strategies to improve internal state DOT communication, to improve collaboration with resource/regulatory agencies, and to better carry project information throughout the project development process (e.g. developing tools or a project clearinghouse).
Oregon – includes strategies to inform DOT staff of planning and environment requirements and processes, conduct analyses in planning that can be carried through the NEPA process, and develop an environmental data management system.
South Carolina – includes strategies to develop a web-based GIS, improve internal state DOT communication, and improve collaboration with resource/regulatory agencies.
Texas – includes an action plan for each of Texas' four largest MPOs and a discussion on how to improve statewide data use and sharing.
Utah – includes strategies to enhance analysis in planning, improve intra- and inter-agency coordination, enhance resource agency, MPO, and local government participation in the planning process, and define a long range planning and pre-STIP process that moves NEPA considerations earlier.
Wisconsin – includes strategies that mostly focus on one large MPO in developing its long range transportation and land use plans, improving internal DOT communication, and enhancing resource agency participation. The MPO effort is considered a pilot for greater interagency involvement in statewide planning.

Workshop Progress Reports

To maintain momentum on Linking Planning and NEPA initiatives and to identify further opportunities for FHWA assistance, the USDOT Volpe Center conducted three interviews with workshop participants. Common themes, innovative initiatives, and state recommendations for FHWA assistance have been summarized in the Progress Reports listed below. Note that some activities may have changed since these reports, so please contact individual states for more information related to their current efforts.