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16 : Florida DOT Environmental Policy
It is the policy of the Florida Department of Transportation
to help preserve and enhance Florida 's natural, physical,
cultural and social environment as we develop, implement,
and maintain transportation facilities and services.
In carrying out this policy, the Department will:
- Balance quality engineering and aesthetic design
principles with consideration of environmental and
economic aspects of the transportation program.
- Utilize methods to preserve, enhance, and protect
trees and other vegetation as valuable natural resources
consistent with ecosystem management principles, local
community values and established safety practices.
- Take into account the effects of transportation
improvements on prehistoric and historic cultural
resources in all phases of Department activity and
avoid, minimize, or mitigate for such impacts as applicable.
- Cooperate in the State's Greenways Program of
land acquisition and management through identification
and prioritization of important habitat connections.
Where alternative mitigation strategies permit, the
Department will support land acquisition activities
to help achieve this ecological infrastructure. Consideration
of habitat connectivity and wildlife crossings will
be included on existing facilities as well as in the
development of planned projects.
- Consider, in all functional activities, environmental
factors such as noise, air quality, stormwater runoff,
water quality, wetlands, wildlife and habitat, and
hazardous materials in order to preserve and enhance
the state's environmental quality.
- Maximize the use of recycled materials in highway
construction.
- Cooperate in the State's program to control the
spread of invasive exotic plants.
- Consider social consequences resulting from transportation
actions to ensure that impacts to the human environment
are identified and fully considered equally with impacts
related to the natural and physical environments.
- Be sensitive to community values and needs utilizing
an open decision-making process, which strives to
accommodate community concerns, where feasible, and
facilitate problem solving in a collaborative manner.
- Utilize proactive public involvement that is responsive
to agencies, citizens and groups in addressing environmental
issues and developing transportation plans, programs
and policies.
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