Transportation for Communities - Advancing Projects Through Partnerships
- User Portals
- Applications
Transportation Phases
- Long Range Transportation Planning
- Integrated Programming and Fiscal Constraint
- Corridor Planning
- Environmental Review Merged with Permitting
Check out the Understanding the Decision Guide page
COR-4
Reach Consensus on Scope of Environmental Review and Analysis
Description: In order to provide a clear linkage to the environmental review process, this key decision defines the acceptable level of detail for the corridor study analysis. This establishes a common understanding between the planning partners (primarily transportation and resource agencies) about what decisions and analyses will be transferable to the merged environmental / permitting process.
There is information developed in prior key decisions that informs this step.
Purpose
To determine the data, information, and level of analysis needed for the environmental review, which includes social, cultural, and natural environment.
Outcome
Agreement on the data needs and level of analysis required for the planning process. This agreement should be well documented so that it can be carried into the NEPA process.
Partner Roles | ||
|---|---|---|
FHWA |
Advisor |
Ensures state and federal agencies are appropriately included in the environmental review scope and analysis |
MPO |
Decision Maker (urban), No Role (rural) |
Provides supporting information to assist in scoping of the environmental review and analysis in order to streamline project implementation |
Resource Agency |
Decision Maker |
Agree to a scope that provides a clear understanding of what will be needed in and relevant to the environmental review phase. |
State DOT |
Advisor (urban), Decision Maker (rural) |
Ensures that the study is adequate to support environmental review |
Process |
Integration Type |
Integration Description |
|---|---|---|
| Land Use and Smart Growth | Analysis | Assess whether there is data available from land use plans to support the scope of environmental review and analysis. |
| Air Quality Conformity | None. | None. |
| Natural Environment and the IEF | Analysis From IEF Step 8 - Implement Agreements, Adaptive Management & Deliver Projects | Availability of data from the ecological plan to support the scope of environmental review and analysis. |
| Capital Improvement | Data | Current economic sensitivities |
| Safety and Security | None. | None. |
| Human Environment | Data | • Data needed to implement the agreed to scope of the environmental review and analysis, where applicable • Current social sensitivities |
| Economic Development | Analysis | Availability of economic development data to support the detailed analysis required for environmental review |
| Greenhouse Gas | Data | Potential GHG reduction impacts and information needed for analysis at the corridor and project levels. |
Linkages to other Phases of Transportation Decision Making | ||
|---|---|---|
Key Decision |
What is Linked? |
Purpose of Linkage |
To Environmental Review |
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ENV-1 - Reach Consensus on Scope of Environmental Review |
Information on the scope of the environmental review and analysis process |
To confirm that the information and analysis transferred is adequate for the merged environmental review / permitting process. |
ENV-4 - Reach Consensus on Study Area |
Information on the scope of the environmental review and analysis process |
To determine whether or not the geographic study area for the corridor planning study is sufficiently broad enough to meet the requirements for the NEPA study area. |
ENV-6 - Approve Full Range of Alternatives |
Agreement reached on the scope of the environmental review and level of analysis required |
To support solutions eliminated in corridor planning during the NEPA process |
Policy Questions |
|
|---|---|
Questions about purpose and roles |
Have any private sector stakeholders provided recommendations? |
What partners were involved in developing the recommendation? | |
What role do private sector stakeholders desire in the environmental review process? | |
Questions about stakeholders |
What stakeholders were involved in developing the recommendation? |
Questions about the transportation process supporting the decision |
Are data and analyses available from the private sector to help clarify the potential scope of environmental impacts, including equity and other indirect and cumulative impacts? |
If a P3 is under consideration, is there consensus on assumptions for future land use and socioeconomic growth between the public and private sectors? | |
Is the scope comprehensive enough to evaluate accessibility, equity, and other impacts that may result from a P3 project (e.g., toll roads)? | |
Is the scope comprehensive enough to evaluate potential risks to the public and private sectors? | |
Is the scope of analysis comprehensive enough to sufficiently recognize and evaluate impacts related to problems and opportunities in the study corridor? | |
Questions about other phases |
Are partners who execute the merged NEPA/Permitting process sufficiently satisfied that this scope of analysis will allow outputs from corridor planning to be used in NEPA? |
Is the recommendation comprehensive enough to allow consideration of programmatic solutions? | |
Is the recommendation comprehensive enough to incorporate the range of data and information needed to inform project level NEPA documentation? | |
Questions about non-transportation sectors/processes |
Is there agreement on the types of information needed in order to perform a spatial analysis of potential cumulative effects at the corridor and project-specific levels? |
Is there data available from integrated transportation and ecological planning to support the scope of environmental review? | |
Is there data on current and future socioeconomic growth and other information available from economic and land use plans to support the scope of environmental review? | |
What is the acceptable level of detail for analysis of GHG reduction strategies to be transferred between the corridor study and environmental review? | |
What is the expected timescale for GHG emissions impacts? | |
Will GHG emissions be included as an element of environmental review? | |
Questions to Gather Stakeholder Interests |
|---|
None. |
Questions to Incorporate Stakeholder Interests |
|---|
None. |
Case Study Example(s): |
|---|
None. |
Supporting Data for the Key Decision |
|
|
|---|---|---|
From other phases of transportation decision making |
Long Range Planning |
GIS data from the long range transportation planning process. | Programming |
No Specific Data |
Corridor Planning |
No Specific Data |
Environmental Review |
No Specific Data |
From other sectors and processes |
Land Use and Smart Growth |
Data from land use planning | Air Quality Conformity |
No Specific Data |
Natural Environment and the IEF |
No Specific Data |
Capital Improvement |
Current economic sensitivities |
Safety and Security |
No Specific Data |
Human Environment |
Current social sensitivities |
Data needed to implement the agreed to scope of the environmental review and analysis, where applicable |
Economic Development |
Data from economic planning |
Greenhouse Gas |
Analysis requirements for considering GHG during environmental review |
From the transportation technical process supporting this key decision |
Analysis that has been done to reconcile or validate existing data | |
Field survey data that is available for the corridor | ||
GIS layers available for the corridor | ||
Source, type and magnitude of current and anticipated future impacts affecting identified sensitivities including existing land uses, allowable or planned land use, predicted or forecast land use | ||
Potential P3 risk factors | ||
Private sector input on scope of environmental impacts, where applicable | ||
From stakeholder collaboration |
No Specific Data | |
From public private partnership |
No Specific Data | |
The following is a list of data needed to support the key decision. Practitioners collect this information for decision makers to consider. You may add to this list using the comment box at the bottom of the page. Supporting Tools and Technology | |
|---|---|
Category |
Detail |
Analysis |
• Landscape Analysis Tools, e.g. ReGAP |
Gathering |
GIS Tools: Used to establish the corridor study area. Can supplement or replace windshield surveys as a tool for gathering site data. Can be used to determine if further field surveys are warranted and the appropriate survey scope. |
Key Decision Relationship to Other Topics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic | Description | ||
| Visioning and Transportation |
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| Public-Private Partnerships |
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