environmental commitments/tracking. environmental commitments federal agencies shall –use all...
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Environmental Commitments/Tracking
Environmental Commitments
• Federal Agencies Shall– Use all practicable means consistent with the requirements of
the NEPA and other essential considerations of nation policy, to restore and enhance the quality of the human environment and avoid or minimize any possible adverse effects of their actions on the quality of the human environment.
-- 40 CFR 1500.2(f)
• Mitigation of impacts must be considered whether the impacts are significant or not.
• Agencies are required to identify and include in the action all relevant and reasonable mitigation measures that could improve the action.
Environmental Commitments
The NEPA process is intended to help public officials make decisions that are based on understanding of environmental consequences, and take actions that protect, restore, and enhance the environment.
-- 40 CFR § 1500.1(b): Purpose
For the vast majority of capital projects: ODOT will “take action”, or in other words, make environmental commitments to protect, restore, or enhance the environment
What are they, what do they mean, why are the important?
Environmental Commitments
For all ODOT Projects we strive to:
MAXIMIZE POSITIVE IMPACT
MINIMIZE NEGATIVE IMPACT
Environmental Commitments
Environmental commitments are developed based upon the need to:
1. Avoid the impact altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of an action.
2. Minimize impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action and its implementation.
3. Rectify the impact by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the affected environment.
4. Reduce or eliminate the impact over time by preservation and maintenance operations during the life of the action.
5. Compensate for the impact by replacing or providing substitute resources or environments.
Any action that does one of the conditions above rises to an environmental commitment. ODOT may incorporate these by design or integral components of contracting methodology. These types of commitments need to have appropriate methods of documenting them as commitments and have methods in place for ensuring compliance and success.
Environmental Commitments
1. ECs come from 1. Federal, state, and local laws
2. Public outreach
3. Context specific needs
2. ECs are often multidisciplinary, on multiple timelines, and can require action before, during, and after construction.
Environmental Commitments
Common Types of Environmental Commitments• Timing Considerations
– In water work restrictions, tree clearing restrictions, noise and timing, seasonal restrictions (school bus impacts, etc)
• Location/spatial Considerations– Avoiding certain areas (wetlands, trees, habitats, buildings, parks, etc)
• Retaining Access/Use– Trails, businesses, residences, EMS, school buses, etc
• Notification requirements– Prior to construction, during construction, after construction, etc
• Survey Requirements– Assess presence or absence surveys for species, pre-construction, as built, etc
• Restoration actions– Natural resource replacement, cultural resource
improvements/protections/relocations, social or economics restoration (connectivity, livability, etc)
Environmental Commitment Project Implications
1. Must be in the plans as a standard specification, note, or special provisions
2. Can affect project staging, schedule, and design
3. All parties working on the project are responsible to know and ensure compliance of environmental commitments
4. Failure to implement ECs has consequences
Environmental Commitment Implementation
1. Not our strongest area
2. ECs can be easily non-performed, or inadvertently forgotten
Environmental Commitment Documentation
Our near future is the comprehensive documentation of how ECs are implemented successfully
Take Away
1. Environmental Commitments (ECs) can be created throughout the PDP
2. Once made, ECs are required to be met
3. Non performance of ECs devalues, undermines, and makes worthless the Planning and NEPA process1. Result in immediate work stoppages, delay claims,
fines, jail time, removal of federal funding from this and future projects, and will substantially slow down the delivery of your next project
4. Performance of ECs results in minimizing negative impacts, and maximizing positive impacts
Environmental Commitments
Matt Perlik, M.S.Assistant Environmental Administrator
Ohio Department of Transportation
Office of Environmental Services
1980 West Broad Street, Mail Stop 4170
Columbus, OH 43223
614-466-1937
Matt Perlik, M.S.Assistant Environmental Administrator
Ohio Department of Transportation
Office of Environmental Services
1980 West Broad Street, Mail Stop 4170
Columbus, OH 43223
614-466-1937
Project Development Process