1. Ronald Poe Gabe Robertson Planning and Project Development Division

2. NDOR’s Districts

3. Environmental Section  Environmental Permits Unit o Wetlands/404 Permitting o Threatened & Endangered Species  Environmental Documents Unit o NEPA Document Delivery  Technical Documents Unit o NEPA Support Document Delivery  Roadside Stabilization Unit o Stormwater Permitting o Erosion Control & Landscape Design o Vegetation Management o Environmental Compliance (Construction & Maintenance)

5. RSU Program Goals  Restoration & Re-Vegetation o Roadside compliments surrounding landscape  Water Quality Initiatives o Erosion & Sediment Control o Water Quality Treatment  Environmental Compliance o Ensure Commitments are being upheld  Research o Yard waste compost o Wildflowers o Fertilizers o Vegetation longevity

6. Water Quality Permits  MS4 - Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System o Programmatic Water Quality Permit  NPDES Construction Stormwater Permit o Construction Sites – 1 acre or more  NPDES Concrete Slurry Discharge Permit o Specific to Diamond Grinding  NPDES Dewatering Permit o Pumping Groundwater  NPDES Pesticide Application Permit o Spraying weeds near waterways

7. Compliance Timeline  1998 – First Construction Stormwater Permit  2003 – FHWA Temporary Erosion Control Process Review o Temporary Erosion Control was subsidiary prior to review  2005 – Construction Stormwater Program o NDOR/NDEQ meet to discuss stormwater program  2007 – NDEQ Approves NDOR’s 1st MS4 Permit o NDOR proposes to write permit for NDEQ’s signature  2008 – NDEQ Implements Revised Construction Stormwater Permit  2013 – NDEQ Approves NDOR’s 2nd MS4 Permit

8. Training  Erosion Control Basics for Inspectors  Erosion Control Basics for Designers  Post Construction Design

9. Inspector Training  All NDOR employees with responsibilities on construction projects o Project Managers, Technicians, Maintenance Staff  All contractors responsible for installing a BMP for controlling erosion o Prime, Erosion Control, Culvert, Grading Contractors, etc…  Any NDOR employee or consultant with site inspection responsibilities o Environmental staff, DECs, Management

10. Inspector Training  5 year certification  Certification Requirements o Attend NDOR’s E&SC class o Pass Exam  NDOR accepts national Certifications o CISEC, CESWII, etc… o Considering neighboring states

11. Site Inspections  Originated with interest in reviewing erosion control BMPs  Formalized with Construction Stormwater Permit requirements  NEPA Process Review Action Plan  Environmental Stewardship and assurance that commitments are being met

12. Site Inspections  Green Sheet Review Process o Prior to letting o Environmental staff review commitments o Ensure commitments are communicated o Generate questions in ECO-Database  Prior to Construction o Supply project staff with SWPPP o Create a report detailing questions  During Construction o Inspectors complete ECO-Database reports o Goal of resolving “Corrective Actions” within 7 days

13. Site Inspections  Multi-level inspection process o Places inspection emphasis on project staff o Provides levels of oversight to ensure commitments are being met  ECO Database Inspection Software o Helps to streamline communication o Allows the ability to query reports  NDOR Environmental Stewardship Goals o To be 100% in compliance with Environmental Commitments o To resolve “Corrective Actions” within 7 days

14. Site Inspections  Routine Inspections o Occur every 2 weeks at a minimum o Conducted by District Construction Staff  Environmental Oversight Inspections o Occur monthly on projects with SWPPPs o Conducted by District Environmental Coordinators  Environmental Oversight Audits o Occur at a predetermined frequency o Conducted by RSU, Consultants & other Environmental Staff

15. Site Inspections  Findings are to be corrected within 7 days Immediate Action issues are to be corrected within 24 hours  Tools for Compliance o Incentives and Disincentives NDOR’s answer to “multiple mobilizations” Associated with Rain Event Inspections o Withholding Estimates o Job Shutdowns

18. Environmental Compliance Oversight Database (ECODatabase or ECOD)

19.  What is ECODatabase  Identifying Commitments to Track (Pre-Construction) o Project Setup o Project Review o Inspection Summary Sheet  Documenting Commitments in the System (Construction) o Logging Inspections o Inspection Report Distribution o Corrective Actions o Inspection Reminders/Past Due Notices o Threatened and Endangered Species/Migratory Bird Surveys  Reporting Commitments when Completed (Post-Construction)  NDOR Certified Erosion Control Inspector List Overview

20. Web Based Headquarter Module District PC Consultant Laptop Project Manager Laptop District PC  Electronic reporting software used to identify, document, and report environmental commitments on NDOR construction projects.  Consists of inspection software loaded on field machines and a web based headquarter module that manages the data.  A sync process exchanges data between user machines and headquarters. What is ECO-Database? Project Data Inspections

21.  Projects are manually created within the ECODatabase system and then additional project information is automatically pulled in from the SiteManager database on a regular basis: o Project Name/Number/Control Number o Project Description/Location o Project Manager/Responsible Charge o Prime Contractor o Key Dates (Letting, Notice to Proceed, Start & Completion) Identifying Commitments – Project Setup

22.  ECODatabase sign-off incorporated into existing Environmental Review Process within Planning and Project Development Division o Roadside Stabilization Unit Manages the ECODatabase System Reviews for stormwater and erosion control conditions o Environmental Permits Unit Reviews for wetland and 404 permit conditions Reviews for threatened and endangered species conditions o Environmental Documents Unit Reviews for NEPA related conditions  After reviews are completed, an ECOD Inspection Summary Report is generated and sent to the construction project manager. Identifying Commitments – Project Review

24. ECOD Inspection Summary Report  Sent to Construction Project Manager and District Environmental Coordinator before construction begins. o Contains Project Review Status o Outlines Required Inspections in ECOD o Highlights Species Conditions

25. ECOD Inspection Tool  Software installed on user machines  Inspection reports are tailored to each project: o Commitments become inspection questions in the field o Inspectors only have access to projects they are responsible for and inspections that they may conduct.  NDOR environmental inspections are recorded using the ECOD system o Routine Environmental Inspection (Construction Phase) o Routine Environmental Inspection (Establishment Phase) o Environmental Compliance Oversight Inspection o Environmental Compliance Audit o Stormwater Permit Close-Out Inspection o Threatened and Endangered Species Survey o Migratory Birds Survey Documenting Commitments – Logging Inspections

26. Corrective Action Button will glow if items are pending Inspectors only have access to projects they are responsible for. Documenting Commitments – Logging Inspections

27. Erosion Control Certification Number auto-populates the report. Documenting Commitments – Logging Inspections

28. Questions are generated from environmental commitments and are specific to each project. Answering “No” requires an action to be logged, and then the system will generate a corrective action that must be addressed. Documenting Commitments – Logging Inspections

30.  Sign and Seal button makes the reports final and un-editable.  Inspectors can make a draft of the report before signing.

31. Documenting Commitments – Inspection Report Distribution Completed Inspection Report Other Inspectors Project ManagerContractorsHeadquarters  Completed inspection reports are automatically distributed (email) to pre-defined groups for review.  Email contains web links to both the inspection report and corrective action log for the project. o PDFs of the report and corrective action log can be generated and printed using the included links.

32. Documenting Commitments – Corrective Actions

33.  A “Corrective Action Punch List” can be printed and filled out by contractor or inspector as things are completed.  Inspectors then date-out each completed action within the system and items are removed from their to do list.

34.  ECODatabase allows NDOR to schedule inspections and send out inspection reminders/past-due notices. o One day before an inspection is due, an “inspection reminder email” will be sent out to project inspectors. o Likewise one day after an inspection should have been logged in the system, an “inspection past-due notice email” will be send to project inspectors as well as select upper management personnel within the District.  These are auto-generated by the system based off of the inspection frequency and phase of the project.  Currently programming email notices for Threatened and Endangered Species Surveys….. Documenting Commitments – Inspection Reminders/Past Due Notices

35. Documenting Commitments – Logging Inspections  Threatened and Endangered Species/Migratory Bird Surveys also logged using ECODatabase.  Surveys are submitted on a weekly basis.  Species are specific to each project and the time of year the survey is being completed.  Reports are automatically sent to Headquarters for review and are then made available to Partner Agencies such as FHWA and USFWS.

36.  ECODatabase has the ability to query data in the system and generate summary reports. Reporting Commitments when Completed

37. DRAFT

38.  NDOR requires inspectors to be certified in the Erosion Control Inspector Certification Program.  The list of certified inspectors is managed through ECODatabase. A link to the database is available on NDOR’s Environmental Website.  Inspector ID’s automatically populate the inspection report.  The system issues notifications to individuals through email when their certification is about to expire. The notice contains a web link to the UNL-LTAP training site so they can re-certify. NDOR Certified Erosion Control Inspector List Online Training is Now Available.

39. Gabe Robertson Highway Stormwater Specialist Nebraska Department of Roads (402) 479-4685 gabe.robertson@nebraska.gov Questions? Ronald Poe Highway Environmental Program Manager Nebraska Department of Roads (402) 479-4499 ronald.poe@nebraska.gov