Environmental Policy

State departments of transportation are getting $10 billion in long-awaited emergency aid from a $900 billion COVID-19 relief measure passed by Congress late on December 21 as part of a final year-end legislative package. President Trump is expected to sign the measure later this week.

The House of Representatives passed the legislative package that included the COVID-19 rescue bill by a vote of 359 to 53, with the Senate passing it by a vote of 92 to 6.

“Since the early response to the pandemic, state DOTs have faced severe losses in state transportation revenues as vehicle travel declined. This COVID relief bill enables state DOTs to stay on track and support the efficient movement of critical goods and services as they maintain their transportation systems,” noted Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, in a statement.

“Furthermore, this timely federal support will help state DOTs to retain their institutional capacities and to be prepared to deliver future infrastructure investment driving economic recovery and growth,” he added.

The massive 5,593-page bill that includes the $900 billion COVID relief measure also includes a $1.4 trillion fiscal year 2021 omnibus appropriations package and various other pieces of pending legislation – including the reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act.

According to an analysis by AASHTO’s policy team, the $10 billion worth COVID-19 relief set aside for state DOTs must be apportioned by the Federal Highway Administration within 30 days of the bill’s enactment and will be based on each state’s share of obligation limitations within the recently extended Fixing America’s Surface Transportation or FAST Act.

AASHTO’s analysis also indicated that the relief money can be used by state DOTs to fund Surface Transportation Block Grant-eligible projects as well as for preventive maintenance, routine maintenance, operations, and personnel – including employee and contractor salaries – along with debt service payments, availability payments, and coverage for other revenue losses.

The organization added that the relief funds – available for obligation until September 30, 2024 – could be transferred to public tolling and ferry agencies for costs related to operations, personnel, salaries, contractors, debt service payments, availability payments, and coverage for other revenue losses, and are not subject to existing federal restrictions on tolling revenues.

Additionally, funds spent on maintenance and administrative expenses are not required to be included in either metropolitan or statewide long-range transportation improvement programs.

In terms of the FY 2021 Transportation and Housing and Urban Development funding approved as part of this broad fiscal package, some $46.365 billion is provided for Federal-aid Highways obligation limitation along with a nearly $2 billion in general fund supplement to help support a highway bridge rehabilitation program. That supplemental program based on 2018 National Bridge Inventory data for calculation purposes similar to prior fiscal years, AASHTO noted.

Finally, the approval of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 within this broad legislative package includes key points for state DOTs as well, AASHTO said. For starters, it fully authorizes water infrastructure and navigation programs including for dredging needs of emerging harbors, donor and energy transfer ports, commercial strategic ports, and Great Lakes Harbors. It also authorizes 46 water resources projects along with eight project modifications for previously authorized projects and allows for spending down of existing balances – amounting to roughly $10 billion in total – within the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.

The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science – a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – recently issued a notice of funding opportunity for the fiscal year 2021 Effects of Sea Level Rise (ESLR) program; one with two surface transportation focal points.

The ESLR Program is soliciting proposals to evaluate and quantify the ability of natural and nature-based features to mitigate the effects of sea level rise and inundation – including storm surge, nuisance flooding, and/or wave actions. The NOFO focused on two areas: coastal resilience and surface transportation resilience.

It aims to support research to inform adaptation planning and coastal management decisions in response to sea-level rise and coastal inundation via the advancement of models of physical and biological processes capable of evaluating vulnerability and resilience under multiple sea-level rise, inundation, and management scenarios, including evaluation of nature-based solutions. A letter of intent is required prior to submission of a full proposal and those letters are due to NOAA by October 16. For additional information, visit the ESLR website.

The 2020 annual meeting of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Committee on Environment & Sustainability will take place over five virtual sessions in October.

To register for these free meeting sessions please click here.

CES monitors national trends, promotes research on significant environmental issues, and acts as a forum to disseminate and exchange information and experiences among state departments of transportation and various other AASHTO committees and subcommittees, including the sharing of best practices and other innovations. CES also monitors federal environmental laws, regulations, procedures, and guidance related to air quality, cultural resources, environmental processes, and natural systems and ecological communities; recommending and supporting programs and initiatives to streamline the environmental review process and promote environmental stewardship.

[Above photo courtesy of Missouri DOT.]

Climate change and the swirling air of unpredictability around its effects are creating new challenges for transportation officials: dealing with damage from extreme storms that can plague the Midwest, the rise of coastal sea levels, and increased wildfire activity in the southwest.

A detailed understanding of climate threats has become essential when constructing a safe, sustainable transportation system. To that end, the Washington State Department of Transportation completed several studies on the subject, including the Climate Impacts Vulnerability Assessment Reportand theClimate Change and Innovative Stormwater Control,which help the department analyze risks and address potential hazards.

Carol Lee Roalkvam, WSDOT’s environmental policy branch manager, noted that her department initially addressed the matter of climate change in 2011 by “conducting a statewide vulnerability assessment for all of our assets, with help from the FHWA [the Federal Highway Administration]. We have relied on that assessment since concerning climate-related threats or vulnerability.”

She highlighted one large project that included extreme weather considerations: State Route 520, a 13-mile highway that connects Seattle to Redmond and includes the new Evergreen Point Floating Bridge; the longest floating bridge in the world. That bridge, which opened in April 2016, is built to withstand sustained winds of up to 89 mph. “We used the best available science to brace for changes projected for the future,” Roalkvam said of the construction.

Another example is WSDOT’s Fish Passage Barrier Correction Program. To date, the department has completed 345 fish passage barrier corrections, allowing access to approximately 1,155 miles of potential upstream habitat for fish. Eventually, it will guide the replacement of hundreds of small culverts to provide more access to fish attempting to reach habitat. The new fish-friendly culverts are designed to realign and restore stream channels for fish migration while simultaneously providing more resilient water crossings.

Another concern at WSDOT is the issue of sea level rise and its impact on ferry terminals and coastal highways. At the Mukilteo Multimodal Terminal Project, in the town of Mukilteo, the department projected sea level rise out to the year 2100, with the project team also examining the impact of upland stormwater runoff. Examining saltwater and freshwater flooding risks during the lifespan of the terminal were part of the planning.

 There are similar concerns in Utah, where the Utah Department of Transportation just released information concerning a variety of projects that are being built with addressing climate change in mind. The two largest are the U.S. 89 Farmington to I-84 – a $489 million projectthat encompasses converting a 9.5-mile section of U.S. 89 to a freeway by widening the road to three lanes in each direction – and the Bangerter Highway Three Interchanges; a $222 million project that calls for the replacement of existing intersections with freeway-style interchanges along the highway at three new locations.

“We always take into account extreme weather conditions when designing and building our road construction projects,” explained John Gleason, a Utah DOT spokesperson. “In Utah, we see it all: blizzards, ice, flooding, mudslides, and scorching summer heat. We have to use durable and sustainable materials and design our projects to stand up to the elements.”

WSDOT’s Roalkvam thinks planning for such events has been taken to a new level, as she “definitely” sees “an increased understanding among her agency’s technical employees and planners of how their work can influence long-term transportation system resilience, especially related to climate change.”

The idea of tackling sustainability from a state department of transportation perspective can evoke as many questions as ideas; what should be done, who should do it, and how can anyone tell if it’s working?

DOTs in at least two states – Arizona and Minnesota – have been addressing sustainability issues for a few years now, but each is taking a different approach to altering traditional transportation activities’ impact on the environment.

“Climate change is happening in Minnesota, and we want to do our part,” explained Tim Sexton, assistant commissioner and chief sustainability officer of the Minnesota DOT.

A Minnesota state law – The Next Generation Energy Act – put the onus on the MnDOT to lead the state’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote transit, biking and walking. “There was some work done here prior to 2014, but it was not coordinated between departments,” Sexton said. Though the department lacked specific resources dedicated to the effort, “we started a high-level strategic planning committee on sustainability, and we saw it as an opportunity to be more strategic.”

The committee created an initiative called Pathways to Decarbonizing Transportation, began working with experts to create sustainability models and held a series of meetings around Minnesota to get public feedback. Out of that exercise, MnDOT developed incentives of up to $250 in toll credits for new EV buyers and planned a $2 million clean transportation funding pilot program.

MnDOT also created a Sustainable Transportation Advisory Council, an 18-member group of executives from the public, private and non-profit sectors tasked with overseeing and evaluating Minnesota’s sustainability efforts and making recommendations to MnDOT. Its first meeting is scheduled for March 2020.

While Minnesota focused on the user-end of the sustainability spectrum – reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting greener transportation modes – Arizona put its efforts into its core functions.

“There are a number of different approaches to sustainability” said Steven Olmsted, Arizona DOT’s NEPA assignment manager. “If you look at the material from AASHTO, it runs the gamut. We’re still adding a lot of new highways because of our growth so it made sense to look at sustainability from that point of view.”

ADOT began partnering with construction groups and industry and “really tied the effort to design engineering, construction and maintenance,” Olmsted said. “We’ve also gotten into design guidance and scoping considerations.”

Olmsted said many sustainability efforts can be justified from an economic standpoint, “but it still remains that you must make a qualitative business case.

“At the end of the day, we are not going to spend ten times the cost of a unit just to be sustainable,” he said “We’ve tried to address the social pillar of what sustainability means in a DOT. At the same time, there really has to be a business case.”

In a recent report ADOT filed on its sustainability efforts, Olmsted and his staff noted that integrating such a program inside a DOT is “a particularly complex undertaking” and “a daunting effort.”

“It’s not for the faint of heart; I guess I’m a glutton for punishment,” Olmsted said. “But at some point, one person or a group of persons has to decide, ‘What’s the lowest hanging fruit where we can gain some traction?’ That’s how you get started.”

Sexton with MnDOT agreed that “there’s a ton of opportunities for states to take advantage of lowering emissions and saving money,” but he said the issue goes beyond dollars and cents. “We really view this as a crisis,” Sexton said. “This is a scientific issue and a moral or even an existential issue. We want our kids to enjoy the wonderful things Minnesota has to offer. There’s a culture in Minnesota that is committed to our environment. For us, it’s not a political issue.”