• Information Resources
  • Volpe Library
  • Volpe Journal
  • Volpe Highlights
  • Points of Pride
  • Bibliographies

Volpe Center Highlights - October/November 2001

Human and Natural Environment

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility | Human and Natural Environment
Economic Growth | National Security | Papers and Presentations

Volpe Publishes First Monthly Environmental Streamlining Newsletter (FHWA)

Environmental streamlining is the term used for a new, cooperative way of doing business that integrates the timely delivery of transportation projects with the protection and enhancement of the environment. It was first enacted into legislation for highway and transit projects with the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). In support of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) efforts to effectively implement streamlining, the Volpe Center is preparing a monthly newsletter, "Successes in Streamlining," for the FHWA Office of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Facilitation. Each edition highlights a transportation project or process that uses successful environmental streamlining practices. Ms. Sara McKinstry, Ms. Cynthia Maloney, Ms. Cassandra Callaway, and Mr. Jonah Soolman of the Economic Analysis Division recently published the first installment of the newsletter.

The first issue featured the Pennsylvania State Route (SR) 119 Improvement Project and the state's effort to streamline their Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. This project has been recognized nationally for environmental streamlining excellence. It demonstrates how early agency coordination and creative use of technology can engage the public and yield better environmental results in less time than normal. Completing an EIS in Pennsylvania can take 6 to 10 years and can result in an EIS comparable in length to a telephone book. The SR-119 project team completed their EIS for widening SR-119 South in just 22 months and 172 pages. Best practices from the project are the following:

• Creative use of technology turned what could have been a tedious and bureaucratic EIS into an educational document. An easy-to-understand companion CD-ROM with reader-friendly graphics provided the community and resource agencies with the information they needed to review permits and make decisions.
• Under a revised NEPA coordination process, early and continued input from resource agencies, monthly interagency meetings, and concurrent electronic review accelerated the NEPA process while avoiding and mitigating environmental impacts.
• Enlisting a community advisory council of local citizens and businesses allowed the community to become part of the solution. As a result, bike/pedestrian trails and a Park & Ride facility were added to the project design.
• Pennsylvania has used its environmental streamlining experience and its participation in the Mid-Atlantic Transportation and Environment Streamlining Task Force to help develop regional environmental streamlining approaches.

The October issue of FHWA's on-line environmental streamlining newsletter featured Oregon's Collaborative Environmental and Transportation Agreement for Streamlining.

The newsletter is primarily distributed via the Internet to approximately 400 contacts from various agencies, including the FHWA, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, Forest Service, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Council on Environmental Quality, national associations, and Congressional staff. Subscribers are notified electronically of each issue, which is available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/strmlng/index.htm. The September edition highlighted Indiana's Streamlined Environmental Impact Procedures, the October issue featured Oregon's Collaborative Environmental and Transportation Agreement for Streamlining, and the November issue features Michigan's Process for Streamlining State Delegated Section 404 Permitting.

Return to Top