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Planning & Environment Linkages

Recent Developments

Listed below are recent developments pertinent to environmental considerations in planning from the past six months.  If you would like to suggest a recent development on this topic, please submit a short description to AASHTO (including any pertinent links) on the Share Info with AASHTO form.

• FHWA Launches On-Demand PEL Webinar

  The Federal Highway Administration has launched an on-demand webinar featuring planning and environment linkages (PEL) tools and practices. The webinar consists of three presentations from PEL experts and practitioners working in various roles related to PEL. Topics include an overview of PEL authorities and available resources from FHWA, information about a state-level implementation of PEL in Colorado, and the early involvement of resource agencies (specifically, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) when using PEL approaches. For more information, link to the webinar. (July 2020)

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• FHWA Posts PEL Peer Exchange Summary

  A summary of an August 2019 peer exchange on planning and environment linkages, held in Austin, Texas, has been posted by the Federal Highway Administration. Under a PEL approach, information and analysis completed during planning can be used during project development and in the environmental review process, improving efficiency and accelerating project delivery. Using a PEL approach may involve early public involvement and early coordination with resource agencies. The summary describes areas of discussion at the exchange, including an overview of PEL, a demonstration of the PlanWorks PEL application, and state implementation overviews from Texas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, and Florida. For more information, link to the report. (1-15-20)

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• FHWA Issues Examples of State Practices on Planning and Environment Linkages

  Examples of Planning and Environment Linkages (PEL) approaches in state DOTs has been posted by the Federal Highway Administration. The report is a compendium of interviews regarding their PEL implementation. The DOTs provided valuable insights and lessons learned that informed the development of the FHWA’s PEL Guidebook. These summaries provide highlights and key takeaways from FHWA’s discussions with nine states, including: AR, AZ, CO, MT, MI, NC, PA, UT, and WA. For more information, link to the report. (1-8-20)

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• NCHRP Issues Guide on Transportation Performance Management

  A guide book on setting and achieving transportation performance targets has been issued under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. The guide book (NCHRP Report 920), provides practical guidance to transportation agencies to help improve their use of data for performance management of safety, pavement, and bridge conditions; transit asset state of good repair; system performance; freight; and mobile source emissions. The guide book is organized around six data life-cycle stages and includes a discussion of what is involved in implementing each step and some of the critical choices to be made. It also provides a framework for assessing current data management practices and a source of ideas for practice improvement. For more information, link to the guide book. (11-5-19)

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• FHWA Provides Update on Maine DOT’s Atlantic Salmon Programmatic

  The Federal Highway Administration has posted an updated case study on the Maine Department of Transportation’s Atlantic Salmon Programmatic Consultation. Maine DOT reported that its monitoring of completed projects has improved regulatory compliance and ensured beneficial environmental outcomes, while adaptive management has allowed the agency and its partners to incorporate new information to adjust the program to meet efficiency and conservation goals. The in-lieu fee program, which was finalized at the end of 2018, has added flexibility to the programmatic consultation process. For more information, link to the case study. (10-29-19)

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• Updated Briefing Book Describes Transportation Planning Process

  An updated guide that explains the transportation planning process for transportation officials has been issued by the Federal Highway Administration. The briefing book covers the basics and key concepts of metropolitan and statewide transportation planning and provides references for additional information. It has been updated to reflect the most recent legislative changes concerning transportation planning. For more information, link to the guide. (10-29-19)

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• FHWA Clarifies Eligibility for Use of Planning Funds

  The Federal Highway Administration has issued a memo reminding its division offices about eligibility requirements for use of metropolitan planning funding. In particular, the memo addresses eligibility for management systems and performance planning, bicycle-pedestrian counting equipment, and Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) versus National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The memo includes examples of recent eligibility issues and whether activities are eligible as direct or indirect costs, or not eligible. For more information, link to the memo.

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• Fiscal Constraint Flexibilities Clarified by FHWA

  Clarifications regarding flexibility of fiscal constraint requirements in statewide transportation improvement programs (STIPs) and transportation improvement programs (TIPs) are discussed in a memo issued by the Federal Highway Administration. The memo addresses how to include advanced construction in the STIP/TIP and provides advice on determining whether a future funding source is "reasonable." For more information, link to the memo. (9-23-19)

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• FHWA Issues Planning, Environment Linkages Peer Exchange Reports

  The Federal Highway Administration has issued summary reports for three peer exchanges held in various locations regarding Planning and Environment Linkages (PEL). Peer exchanges in Maryland, Illinois, and Colorado were held in December 2017, December 2018, and April 2019, respectively. The purpose of the events was to discuss approaches and effective practices for state transportation departments regarding PEL. PEL uses transportation planning to inform the environmental review process required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The reports include discussion of PEL approaches and PEL products, PEL’s relationship to NEPA process, regulatory requirements for taking advantage of PEL approaches, and PEL approaches in peer states. For more information link to the reports for Colorado, Illinois, and Maryland. (9-16-19)

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• FHWA Issues Report on Freight and Land Use Travel Demand

  The Federal Highway Administration has issued a report that identifies best practices and tools for better understanding how land use, local economic development, and demographic factors drive freight movement, trip generation, and freight demand analysis. The report looks at the changing definition of what constitutes freight, a broader audience for freight decision making, and some of the emerging topics in freight. Some of the recommendations from the project will be incorporated into an update to the Quick Response Freight Manual (QRFM). For more information, link to the report. (July 2019)

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• New Performance-Based Planning Case Studies Issued by FHWA

  The Federal Highway Administration has issued four new case studies that provide lessons learned with regard to performance-based planning and programming, a strategic approach to planning in which data supports decisions that ultimately help to achieve performance goals. The new case studies discuss the data collection strategies, the selection of performance measures, and interagency collaboration practices from the Maricopa Association of Governments, San Diego Association of Governments, Lewis Clark Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization, and Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Organization, in Arizona, California, Idaho, and New Hampshire, respectively. For more information, link to the case studies. (6-17-19)

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• Researchers Develop Tool to Measure Effectiveness of Public Involvement

  A toolkit to measure the effectiveness of public involvement in transportation have been developed under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP Research Report 905, Project 08-105). The toolkit, which includes survey instruments, a scoring tool, and guidelines for use, is designed to collect feedback from the public on several indicators of effectiveness and compare that feedback with the transportation agency’s perceptions. The combined responses then can be used to compare the effectiveness of different public involvement strategies over time. For more information, link to the report. (5-6-19)

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• Newsletter Highlights Use of Eco-Logical for Project Delivery

  The state of the practice in use of the Eco-Logical landscape approach to infrastructure planning is outlined in the Jan. 2019 issue of Federal Highway Administration’s Successes in Stewardship newsletter. The issue provides examples of the Eco-Logical approach and its benefits, agencies that are using the approach, and ways it can be used to accelerate project delivery. For more information, link to the newsletter. (1-8-19)

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