FHWA Policy Memorandums - Office of Environment and Planning |
ACTION: Exemption Criteria During Highway Sanctions |
March 11, 1996 |
Rodney E. Slater Administrator |
HEP-40 |
Regional Administrators Federal Lands Highway Program Administrator |
This policy memorandum defines the exemption criteria that will be used to determine which projects can go forward and which grants can be awarded in the event EPA imposes highway sanctions under Section 179(a) or Section I 10(m) of the CAA. This policy memorandum contains a description of the criteria for exemptions and clarification of the types of projects and programs that are exempt. Projects for which exemptions cannot be granted are also included in this policy memorandum.
General Description
Highway sanctions, when applied, halt the approval of projects and the award of any grants funded under Title 23, U.S.C., except as defined in Section 179(b) and as clarified by this policy memorandum. This applies to the following major funding programs:
Projects funded under all other Title 23 programs and other authorizations are also subject to sanctions, including demonstration projects identified by Congress and specified in the ISTEA of 1991 under Sections 1 103 -1108 or in other laws, unless they meet the criteria set forth in this policy memorandum. Additionally, other Title 2' ) projects to be funded under previously authorized programs (prior to passage of the ISTEA, such as the Federal-aid Urban, Federal-aid Secondary Programs, etc.) may also be subject to certain highway funding restrictions under highway sanctions.
Projects funded under Title 49, U.S.C. chapter 53, the Federal Transit Act, as amended, are categorically exempt from sanctions by law as are other transportation programs authorized by statutes other than Title 23.
Typical Nonexempt Projects
The following types of projects generally do not meet the exemption criteria in Section 179(b)(1) and would not be allowed to be federally funded or approved under Title 23 unless it isdemonstrated that they meet one or more of the exemption criteria. These include projects that expand highway or road capacity, nonexempt project development activities, and any other project that does not explicitly meet the criteria in this policy memorandum. These may include activities for:
Project Exemptions
Under Section 179(b)(1) of the CAA, once EPA imposes highway sanctions. the FHWA may not approve or award any grants in the sanctioned area except those which generally meet the criteria within this memorandum. Congress specifically exempted projects which fall under three categories: (1) safety programs and projects (under Section 179(b)(1)(A)); (2) seven congressionally-authorized activities (under Section 179(b)(1)(B)(i-vii)); and, (3) air quality improvement projects that would not encourage single occupant vehicle (SOV) capacity (under Section 179(b)(1)(B)(viii) of the CAA). This policy memorandum further interprets and clarifies these statutory exemption provisions.
Safety projects are those for which the principal purpose is an improvement in safety but the projects may also have other important benefits. These projects must resolve a demonstrated safety problem with the likely result being a significant reduction in or avoidance of accidents as determined by the FHWA. Such demonstration must be supported by accident or other data submitted by the State or appropriate local Government.
Four general types of categories of safety-based programs and projects potentially meet the exemption criteria; grant programs and related activities; Emergency Relief (ER) projects; statewide safety-improvement programs; and specific projects outside of a statewide safety program. Each category calls for varying levels of justification.
Justification for an exemption on the grounds of safety must be based on accident or other data such as the data derived from a State's safety and bridge management system, the Highway Safety Improvement Program, or the Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program. Such data need not be specific to the proposed project's location, but may be based on accident or other data from similar conditions, including national experience where such projects have been implemented to remove safety hazards. For example, rigid highway sign posts were identified in the past as a safety hazard causing unnecessary deaths and injuries. The identification of this hazard led to national policy requiring rigid posts to be replaced with breakaway poles.
Projects exempted under the safety provision may not involve substantial functional (such as upgrading major arterial to freeways), locational, or capacity changes except when the safety problem could not otherwise be solved.
Seven project types are identified specifically in the C.N.A. section 179(b)(1) as exempt from highway sanctions. Essentially, these are projects that generally do not result in increased SOV capacity, or improve traffic flow (e.g., intersection improvements or turning lanes) in ways that reduce congestion and emissions:
The FHWA will consult with EPA on any project claimed to reduce emissions (e.g., with projects falling under paragraphs c, d, and g above). However, the final authority to determine whether a project meets the criteria in this memorandum and is exempt from highway sanctions rests with the FHWA.
Transportation programs not otherwise exempt that improve air quality and which would not encourage SOV capacity (as determined by EPA in consultation with DOT) are also exempt from highway sanctions. For example, projects listed in section 108(f) of theCAA and projects funded under 23 U. S.C. 149, the CMAQ program, are projects which EPA and DOT may, after individual review of each project, find to be exempt from highway sanctions. For these projects to advance while highway sanctions are in place, the State must submit to DOT an emissions reduction analysis similar to that required under the CMAQ program, Upon receipt, DOT will forward it to EPA. The EPA will complete its review and make its finding regarding air quality and SOV capacity within 14 days of receipt of such information.
The EPA and DOT have agreed that the following projects will be categorically exempt from highway sanctions, and will not require additional EPA review or an individual finding by EPA:
In considering exempt projects, States should seek to ensure adequate access to downtown and other commercial and residential areas, and should strive to avoid increasing or relocating emissions and congestion.
The following projects are likely to have "de minimis" environmental or environmentally beneficial impacts, provide other aesthetic benefits, do not promote SOV capacity, and are, therefore considered exempt from highway sanctions:
Planning and Research Activities: Planning and research activities for transportation and/or air quality purposes are exempt from highway sanctions (except as noted in the Project Development Activities section). Such planning and research is critical for the development of projects that improve safety and address an area's transportation/air quality needs. Planning and research activities may include development of anEnvironmental Impact Study or Environmental Assessment (under NEPA) in conjunction with a major investment study. Major investment studies are planning studies which normally take a multimodal approach in considering transportation alternatives, and are therefore exempt from sanctions under this criteria.
Research activities also include those research, development, testing, and planning projects involving the National Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Program funded by Part B of Title 6 of the 1991 ISTEA. The goal of the ITS Program is to use advanced technology to improve travel and roadway safety without expanding existing infrastructure. The ITS activities are generally done under seven broad categories:
(1) transportation management and traveler information; (2) travel demand management; (3) public transportation operations; (4) electronic payment- (5) commercial vehicle operations; (6) emergency management; and (7) advanced vehicle control and safety systems. Therefore, planning and research activities associated with the ITS Program are also exempt from sanctions under this criteria.
Project Development Activities: Development and completion of studies to meet requirements under NEPA are exempt from highway sanctions as long as consideration of projects that would be exempt under this policy memorandum, such as transit or other Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures, are actively pursued as reasonable independent alternatives. Once all alternatives that could be considered exempt from highway sanctions under this policy memorandum are eliminated, project development activities for NEPA or other purposes are no longer exempt and can no longer be approved or funded under Title 23. For example, if prior to completion of NEPA documentation, all TDM measures are eliminated from consideration and the sole remaining question is the determination of an alignment for a highway capacity expanding project (which may include TDM), subsequent project development activities are not exempt from highway sanctions.
The FHWA may not approve preliminary engineering for final design of a project, nor can approval be granted for a project's plans, specifications, and estimates after initiation of highway sanctions for projects that are not exempt under this policy memorandum. Neither right-of-way nor any necessary equipment may be purchased or leased with Federal funds for nonexempt projects while an area is under sanction. Federally-funded construction may not in any way begin on a project that does not meet the exemption criteria described in this policy memorandum while an area is under sanction.
Highway sanctions apply to those projects whose funds have not yet been obligated by FHWA by the date the highway sanction applies. Those projects that have already received approval to proceed and had obligated funds before EPA imposes the prohibition may proceed even while the area is under sanction, if no other FHWA action is required to proceed. In the case of a phased project, only those phases that have been approved and had obligated fiends prior to the date of sanction application may proceed. For example, if preliminary engineering for a project was approved and funds were obligated prior to application of sanctions, but no approval was secured for later project phases(such as right-of-way acquisition, construction, etc.), preliminary engineering could proceed while the highway sanction applies, but no subsequent phases of the project could proceed with FHWA funds unless the total project meets the exemption criteria in this policy memorandum. These restrictions pertain only to project development activities that are to be approved or funded by FHWA under Title 23. Activities funded under Title 49, U.S.C., or through State or other funds, may proceed even after highway sanctions have been imposed unless: (1) approval or action by FHWA under Title 23 is required; and (2) they do not meet the exemption criteria of this policy memorandum.
Other Environmental Requirements
Exemption of a transportation project from Section 179(b)(1) highway sanctions does not waive any applicable requirements under NEPA (e.g., environmental documents), section 176(c) of the CAA (conformity requirement), or other Federal law.