Collaborative Efforts
Cumulative Impacts Guidance
An interagency work group of EPA, the Federal Highway Administration and Caltrans published joint cumulative impacts guidance for NEPA document preparers. It is already being used by Caltrans and is expected to result in improved analyses of cumulative impacts to sensitive resources. The guidance, Guidance for Preparers of Cumulative Impact Analysis , is also applicable to non-transportation projects.
Merced Partnership for Integrated Planning
The Merced Partnership for Integrated Planning (PIP) is an interagency effort lead by the Merced County Association of Governments and co-sponsored by EPA, the Federal Highway Administration, and Caltrans. Through this joint transportation, land use, and environmental resource planning effort, the county identified critical resource protection areas at the regional level and educated local governments on federal permit requirements. The PIP results allowed Caltrans to expedite decision-making when choosing the "least environmentally damaging practicable alternative" for the Los Banos Bypass project. For more information on the PIP process, visit the Merced County Association of Gevernments Web site .