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 CFR (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 CFR § (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 process 1.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 Matt Perlik, M.S. Assistant Environmental Administrator Ohio Department of Transportation Office of Environmental Services 1980 West Broad Street, Mail Stop 4170 Columbus, OH

Project Development Process