This compendium of stewardship practices and procedures is designed to have a broad range of uses by the practitioner. It is anticipated that this material can be re-used and easily re-formatted into the following products that can be readily and practically applied by DOTs to improve environmental performance. The primary purpose of the project was to put the world of environmental stewardship practices and resources within much easier reach of the transportation professional. To help accomplish this, links to useful existing resources are included throughout the document. Practices and measures or indicators are primarily listed in bullet format, for easy use as checklists or in different stewardship practice media. Material is presented electronically, in Word, to facilitate re-use of the enclosed stewardship practices as:

• A menu of management or environmental stewardship practices.
• Short 1-2 page bulletins and tail-gate resources for construction and maintenance staff.
• Manuals, handbooks, or guides a DOT can tailor to their specific needs and requirements, or on specific topics of interest or priority.
• Checklists for inspection, evaluation, or benchmarking in various areas.
• Addition of environmental stewardship practices to construction and maintenance activity manuals.
• Proactive environmental stewardship commitments that a DOT may incorporate or include in activity or project-specific permits or plans. As such, these practices may serve as a starting point for internal and external discussion.
• Newsletter articles or website overviews on environmental stewardship topics for a DOT.
• On-line resource at AASHTO’s Center for Environmental Excellence, that can be used as a reference with regard to:
  • Environmental Stewardship― How to do DOT work in environmentally sound ways.
  • Innovation ― What’s being done in specific program areas and with reference to certain environmental issue areas. What has been effective?
  • Benchmarking ― What are others doing and how do we compare?
  • Sharing ideas and experience