Planning & Project Delivery Overview

Project delivery is critical to the success of any transportation engagement.

Table of Contents

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Background

One of the biggest challenges to environmentally sound Federal-aid transportation project development is related to the amount of time it takes to advance a project through the project development process (i.e., from the planning phase through the environmental review and approval process through final design and then through construction). Planning major transportation projects is extremely complex because of the varying legal, technical, and analytical requirements needed to meet all relevant national and state legal mandates for planning such projects. At the Federal level, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and its accompanying regulations are a means to consider the effects of a wide range of human and natural environmental issues. Meanwhile, laws including Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, Section 4(f) of the DOT Act of 1966 (23 USC Section 138), and the Endangered Species Act, also must be addressed. Each state also has its own set of environmental laws and regulations that apply to transportation projects. Many factors affect project development, both internal to transportation agencies (e.g., project priorities, staffing, funding, and communication), and external (e.g., public opposition, resource agency staffing, interagency communication, and conflicting review procedures). Major projects can take 10 years or more to advance from the planning phase to completion of construction and 20 years has been a common time frame for some complex, controversial projects. The concept of “environmental streamlining” arose in 1998 during the congressional reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. Environmental streamlining involves re-engineering the environmental review and approval process portions of the project development process to shorten their time frames while ensuring environmental protection. Environmental streamlining and project delivery provisions were included in subsequent transportation legislation. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) included provisions aimed at coordinating federal agency involvement in major highway projects under the NEPA process. The provisions were intended to address concerns about delays in implementing projects, unnecessary duplication of effort, and added costs often associated with the conventional process for reviewing and approving surface transportation projects.

SAFETEA-LU and MAP-21 Environmental Provisions

In August 2005, the Safe Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) was enacted to reauthorize TEA-21. SAFETEA-LU included numerous environmental provisions, including measures to further streamline reviews and encourage environmental stewardship for transportation projects in place of the provisions previously enacted under TEA-21. SAFETEA-LU created a new environmental review process, repealing the environmental streamlining provisions established under TEA-21. The review process established under Section 6002 of SAFETEA-LU must be followed for all highway, transit, and multimodal projects that require DOT approval and involve preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The process is optional for projects involving Environmental Assessments (EAs). These requirements were intended to promote efficient project management by lead agencies and enhanced opportunities for coordination with the public and with other Federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies during the project development process. The key provisions of Section 6002 included:
    • Establishing an environmental review process that includes a new category of “participating agencies” (i.e., Federal, state, local agencies and tribal nations that have an interest in the project).
    • Requiring the lead agency to develop a coordination plan and schedule for agency and public participation and comment.
    • Requiring the Purpose and Need and Range of Alternatives for a project to be established after an opportunity by the participating agencies and the public for involvement.
Section 6002 also provided a 180-day statute of limitations for lawsuits challenging Federal agency approvals (subsequently reduced to 150 days in MAP-21). It also authorized expenditure of transportation dollars to fund positions at resource and permitting agencies in order to expedite transportation project reviews. Other provisions of SAFETEA-LU that were intended to streamline project delivery include the following:
    • Provisions to better link transportation planning and the NEPA processes;
    • Full assumption of federal environmental review authority for five states under a pilot program (later expanded to all states under MAP-21) and assumption of federal authority for all states for categorical exclusions and recreational trails;
    • Exemption of the Interstate Highway System from inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act;
    • Provisions to simplify the processing and approval of projects that have only de minimis impacts on lands protected by Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act, i.e., public parks, recreation lands, wildlife and waterfowl refuges, and historic sites, as well as provisions calling for regulatory changes addressing the feasible and prudent standard under Section 4(f).
The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) was signed into law on July 6, 2012. In addition to its funding and policy provisions, MAP-21 included a package of measures to accelerate project delivery, including a number of new provisions as well as revisions to the SAFETEA-LU Section 6002 process. A more detailed summary of the project delivery and environmental provisions and implementation status may be accessed on AASHTO’s MAP-21 web page. For additional information on MAP-21, please see the FHWA MAP-21 website.

Stewardship and Streamlining

Federal Initiatives

FHWA and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have undertaken many initiatives to implement streamlining goals. At the same time, transportation agencies across the country worked to implement their own processes to expedite transportation project delivery while ensuring environmental protection. More information on federal initiatives may be found on the FHWA accelerating project delivery web page and Environmental Review Toolkit.

Federally Funded Positions and FHWA Federal Agency Liaison Contacts

Section 1309(e) of TEA-21 gave state DOTs the option to spend federal-aid dollars to fund positions at other agencies in order to meet cooperatively determined timeframes, if such amounts are “necessary…to meet the time limits for environmental review” and “if such time limits are less than the customary time necessary for such review.” SAFETEA-LU broadened the funding authority, by allowing transportation agencies to use federal-aid funds to support activities outside the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. SAFETEA-LU allowed agencies to fund “transportation planning activities that precede the initiation of the environmental review process, dedicated staffing, training of agency personnel, information gathering and mapping, and development of programmatic agreements.” SAFETEA-LU specified that funds may be directed to the DOT and tribes. As a result, many state DOTs are providing transportation funding for one or more positions at resource agencies to help expedite transportation project reviews. An AASHTO Center for Environmental Excellence Report, DOT-Funded Positions and Other Support to Resource and Regulatory Agencies, Tribes, and Non-Governmental Organizations for Environmental Stewardship and Streamlining Initiatives found that, “In general, funded positions are helping [State] DOTs in problem avoidance, early consultation and development of programmatic approaches, and trouble–shooting when problems arise.” In 2009, FHWA issued the State Transportation Liaison Funded Positions Study, which assesses trends in the use of “funded positions” and provides recommendations to State DOTs and resource agencies to support more effective uses of funded positions. FHWA also is funding federal liaison positions at the headquarters level. These FHWA liaisons focus on national initiatives and innovations in policy, process improvements, and research. In addition, they can capture lessons learned from field offices and projects around the country and share information through various outreach efforts, such as training events and web communications. FHWA has liaison positions in four federal agencies: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and U.S. EPA. For contact information, link to FHWA’s Federal Resource Agency Liaisons web page.

A collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders in providing a transportation facility that fits its setting. It is an approach that leads to preserving and enhancing scenic, aesthetic, historic, community, and environmental resources, while improving or maintaining safety, mobility, and infrastructure conditions.

Further definition of what CSS is for transportation processes, outcomes, and decision making is provided by the following core principles, qualities, and outcomes. These core CSS principles, qualities, and outcomes apply differently depending on the circumstances, scale, and type of project. The statements below can also be used as a basis for assessing whether an activity meets CSS goals.

Core CSS Principles

  • Strive towards a shared stakeholder vision to provide a basis for decisions.
  • Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of contexts.
  • Foster continuing communication and collaboration to achieve consensus.
  • Exercise flexibility and creativity to shape effective transportation solutions, while preserving and enhancing community and natural environments.

CSS Qualities

Context sensitive solutions is guided by a process which:

  • Establishes an interdisciplinary team early, including a full range of stakeholders, with skills based on the needs of the transportation activity.
  • Seeks to understand the landscape, the community, valued resources, and the role of all appropriate modes of transportation in each unique context before developing engineering solutions.
  • Communicates early and continuously with all stakeholders in an open, honest, and respectful manner, and tailors public involvement to the context and phase.
  • Utilizes a clearly defined decision-making process.
  • Tracks and honors commitments through the life cycle of projects.
  • Involves a full range of stakeholders (including transportation officials) in all phases of a transportation program.
  • Clearly defines the purpose and seeks consensus on the shared stakeholder vision and scope of projects and activities, while incorporating transportation, community, and environmental elements.
  • Secures commitments to the process from local leaders.
  • Tailors the transportation development process to the circumstances and uses a process that examines multiple alternatives, including all appropriate modes of transportation, and results in consensus.
  • Encourages agency and stakeholder participants to jointly monitor how well the agreed-upon process is working, to improve it as needed, and when completed, to identify any lessons learned.
  • Encourages mutually supportive and coordinated multimodal transportation and land-use decisions.
  • Draws upon a full range of communication and visualization tools to better inform stakeholders, encourage dialogue, and increase credibility of the process.

CSS Outcomes

Context sensitive solutions leads to outcomes that:

  • Are in harmony with the community and preserve the environmental, scenic, aesthetic, historic, and natural resource values of the area.
  • Are safe for all users.
  • Solve problems that are agreed upon by a full range of stakeholders
  • Meet or exceed the expectations of both designers and stakeholders, thereby adding lasting value to the community, the environment, and the transportation system.
  • Demonstrate effective and efficient use of resources (people, time, budget,) among all parties.

Why is CSS Important to Transportation Agencies?

CSS is important to transportation agencies because it can lead to better relations with their stakeholders and it can result in expedited program delivery, which can save time and money. CSS is a business approach that responds to the growing interest of the public to be meaningfully engaged throughout the transportation decision-making process. Simultaneous with this demand for more involvement from communities and other stakeholders, most transportation agencies are being asked to do more with less; therefore, it is more critical than ever that decision-making result in timely and cost effective solutions that work for the transportation agency and their stakeholders (doing the right thing the first time). Another goal of CSS is to develop partnerships with stakeholder groups such as local governments, non-profits, and other state and federal agencies which result not only in shared decision-making but shared financial responsibility.

Other benefits of CSS include:

  • CSS solves the right problem by broadening the definition of “the problem” that a project should solve and by reaching consensus with all stakeholders before the design process begins.
  • CSS conserves environmental and community resources. CSS facilitates and streamlines the process of NEPA compliance.
  • CSS saves time. It shortens the project development process by gaining consensus early, and thereby minimizing litigation and redesign, and expediting permit approvals.
  • CSS saves money. By shortening the project development process and eliminating obstacles, money as well as time is saved.
  • CSS builds support from the public and from the regulators. By partnering and planning a project with the transportation agency, these parties bring full cooperation and often additional resources as well.
  • CSS helps prioritize and allocate scarce transportation funds in a cost-effective way, at a time when needs far exceed resources.
  • Group decisions are generally better than individual decisions. Research supports the conclusion that decisions are more accepted and mutually satisfactory when made by all who must live with them.
  • CSS is the right thing to do. It serves the public interest, helps build communities and leaves a better place behind.

Source: ContextSensitiveSolutions.org.

Additional Benefits of CSS

A range of additional benefits may be gained from implementation of CSS. For example, CSS is a great risk management strategy because the process requires early identification of issues through efforts to define the context. The CSS approach can be used to ensure compliance with federal, state and local statutes, regulations and policies. Methods to quantify the benefits of CSS are outlined in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program NCHRP Project 15-32, Quantification of CSS Benefits.

What Steps Can Help Institutionalize and Integrate CSS?

Integrating CSS into day-to-day work activities requires that transportation agencies understand and manage agency-wide organizational change and implement specific changes that impact policies, processes, functional areas, and relationships. Aligning organizational and procedural goals with CSS principles and concepts is critical to optimum success.

Key Topics for CSS Process and Project Integration

To fully institutionalize CSS, it is critical for current processes to align with CSS principles and concepts. The key topics for CSS integration for projects are listed below:

  • Effective and efficient decisionmaking: Understanding how the pieces of decisionmaking from purpose and need to implementation fit together seamlessly is a key success factor for CSS. NCHRP Report 480: A Guide to Best Practices for Achieving Context Sensitive Solutions provides a good explanation of effective decision-making (see chapter 3). The presentation on CSS and Project Delivery at the national Peer Exchange in 2006 provides a high level process chart for integration at the project level.
  • Comprehensive understanding of context: Understanding quality of life considerations early in the process – including links to land use and multi-modal options – is critical for efficient and effective decision-making. Properly defining the context is a major consideration in developing a problem definition that is owned by stakeholders. One example of a state DOT that has developed a context screening tool is Pennsylvania DOT. The tool is called a Community Context Audit and it is intended to be a guide to identify various community characteristics that make each transportation project location unique to its residents, its businesses and the public in general. Project for Public Spaces (PPS) created a Placemaking Audit for New Hampshire DOT as part of their CSS training program. This tool helps transportation practitioners work along side with the public to define the problem using context information. Another resource for defining context is titled, Community Culture and the Environment: a Guide to Understanding a Sense of Place. This is an EPA resource that offers a process and set of tools for defining and understanding social and cultural aspects of a community, especially as related to environmental issues.
  • Flexibility in Design: Understanding the design choices available to transportation professionals is key to developing solutions that fit the context. AASHTO’s publication, A Guide to Achieving Flexibility in Highway Design, provides useful information about the flexibility inherent with AASHTO’s Geometric Design Guide (a.k.a., The Green Book).
  • Stakeholder involvement: Engaging stakeholders in the decisionmaking process is fundamental to CSS. CSS is marked by a collaborative process that brings together individuals representing the project’s context in order to develop a solution. Several state DOTs have impressive public involvement manuals.
  • Interdisciplinary teams: Bringing multiple disciplines together to utilize their knowledge and skills is the cornerstone of developing solutions that reflect the context. NCHRP 25-05 Synthesis Project 37-01, Multi-Disciplinary Teams in Context Sensitive Solutions, discusses these concepts.

Lessons Learned: Continuing to share lessons learned among state DOTs is critical to advancing CSS, including case studies on this website. Additional lessons learned are documented on FHWA’s CSS/D website.

Performance Measurement

Some transportation agencies are in the process of developing CSS related performance measures but little guidance or resources are available. The most noteworthy reference for CSS performance measures is NCHRP Document 69: Performance Measurement for CSS: A Guide for state DOTs. This document stresses that performance measures should reflect process, outcome, organizational and project goals. The guide clarifies that no one size will fit all transportation agencies. Furthermore the guide, states that measures for CSS should be consistent with any strategic planning efforts within an agency. The following is an excerpt from the guide:

“Developing performance measure requires strong leadership and day-to-day management to place a program on the right footing. Allocation of the proper resources and commitment is critical for making sure that performance measures get put into practice. Equally important, measurement programs need a day-to-day champion capable of orchestrating and managing daily activities, both during the program establishment phase and during program implementation. In the measure development phase, a working group should be created to develop measures and an implementation framework. The working group will likely include both internal participants and external stakeholders. Who to involve will depend on agency-specific political and operating environments.”

AASHTO-FHWA Strategic Planning Effort

As a follow up to the Peer Exchange held in September 2006, key staff from FHWA and members of the AASHTO CSS Task Force developed strategic goals for mainstreaming CSS into all transportation agencies. Four strategic goals along with 14 accomplishments were identified by this working group.
Below is a list of the four strategic goals:

  • Making the case for CSS: The intent of AASHTO/FHWA is to improve the understanding of CSS, including its benefits, and to correct widely held misperceptions.
  • Building CSS knowledge and skills: The intent of AASHTO/FHWA is to help support CSS education through research, training, and the sharing of best practices.
  • Promote flexibility in standards application to facilitate CSS through revision of standards and/or better understanding and utilization of inherent flexibility: The intent of AASHTO/FHWA is to encourage the integration of CSS principles in all phases of project development, especially in the design of transportation projects.
  • Support leadership and coalition building: The intent of AASHTO/FHWA is to leverage the financial, technological, and organizational resources necessary to help CSS champions and the stakeholder community to implement CSS and to evaluate measures of success.

Where Does CSS Apply In Program and Project Delivery?

CSS is a business philosophy that spans across all functional areas of program and project delivery from long range planning through to maintenance and operations.

CSS in Planning

Long range planning, if done in a way that is responsive to CSS principles and concepts, can streamline project development by establishing a strong basis for purpose and need of a project. FHWA provides a good resource for explaining how CSS and transportation planning can work together in its Q and A’s document. In 2007, FHWA’s Office of Planning released Integration of Context Sensitive Solutions in the Transportation Planning Process, which documents efforts to integrate context sensitive solutions into the transportation planning process. The report includes a literature review, an assessment of how CSS is being used in planning and related principles, development of a tool kit for the public and planners, and findings and recommendations. Other good resources for CSS in planning can be found in FHWA materials related to linking NEPA and planning activities.

CSS in Project Development

Project development is where most of the emphasis on CSS originally began with environmental planning and design taking center stage in most discussions on CSS. As the original term context sensitive design implies, there was an early focus on location decisions that rely on environmental and design controls. Fortunately, NEPA provides an excellent framework for decision making that is highly reflective of CSS principles and concepts. However, many projects are funded without federal funds and most states do not have state-NEPA type laws. CSS bridges this gap by focusing on all projects developed regardless of funding sources.

CSS in Construction, Operations, and Maintenance

Transportation professionals working within construction, operations and maintenance can reflect daily on activities that represent CSS principles and concepts. The very nature of the work demands constant interaction with stakeholders, particularly the general public. Construction, operations, and maintenance staffs work daily in the communities they serve and they often have the best insight in how to meet the needs of these communities. CSS is expanding into construction, operations, and maintenance activities, illustrating that CSS is critical to all transportation activities. NCHRP Project 25-25 (04), Environmental Stewardship Practices, Procedures, and Policies for Highway Construction and Maintenance, is an excellent resource for transportation agencies looking for strategies for incorporating CSS related concepts into construction and maintenance activities.

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