Environmental Programs
Overview
FTA's Office of Environmental Programs, part of the Office of Planning and Environment, develops and promotes approaches to enhance and integrate environmental decision-making into transportation planning, programming and projects. It works to minimize the impact of transportation projects through implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and related legislation. Current initiatives include implementation of:
- Executive Order 13807 - Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure (August 2017)
- USDOT Interim Policy on One Federal Decision Implementation (August 2019)
- USDOT Interim Policy on Page Limits for NEPA Documents and Focused Analyses (August 2019)
- Executive Order 13927 - Accelerating the Nation’s Economic Recovery from the COVID-19 Emergency by Expediting Infrastructure Investments and Other Activities (June 2020)
Additionally, the Office of Environmental Programs ensures up-to-date reporting for FTA projects on the Federal Permitting Dashboard, which increases agency accountability and public transparency for those projects.
The Environmental Programs webpages contain resources to support project sponsors with the environmental review process.
- The Environmental Review Process page provides an overview of the FTA environmental review process and resources related to preparing environmental review documents. It also includes FTA regulation, guidance documents, and standard operating procedures.
- The Environmental Resources Information page highlights the environmental resources and impact areas that are frequently considered as part of the environmental review process for FTA projects.
- Learn more about how FTA supports transit agencies in minimizing the impact of their operations and construction activities to increase their operational efficiency at the Environmental and Sustainability Management Systems page.
- The Environmental Training and Technical Assistance links to training and webinars that assist stakeholders with conducting FTA's environmental review process.