Posts – Page 14 – Environmental Technical Assistance Program Newsletter

California Issues $114M for Beautification Projects

Cities and local agencies throughout California recently received $114.5 million in grants to help fund 60 litter removal as well as neighborhoods and public space beautification projects.

[Above photo by Caltrans]

That funding includes $14.5 million set aside specifically to support 18 projects for cleaning transit stations and other areas around the state’s public transportation systems.

Those grants represent the latest round of funding from the “Clean California” initiative; a sweeping billion-dollar multiyear clean-up effort led by the California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, to remove trash and help to revitalize public spaces in local communities statewide.

[Editor’s note: Caltrans is also supporting those clean-up and revitalization efforts though a public outreach campaign starring several well-known celebrities; in this case, Fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who plays for the San Francisco 49ers football team.]

According to a statement by the California Governor’s Office, the 60 projects receiving this round of “Clean California” grant funding will improve parks, tribal lands, neighborhoods, transit hubs, walking paths, streets, roadsides, recreation fields, community gathering spots, and places of cultural importance or historical interest in underserved communities.

This funding builds on the nearly $312 million in grants to 126 beautification projects along the state highway system announced by Governor Gavin Newsom (D) in April 2022. Since launching Clean California in July 2021, Caltrans has removed an estimated 1.9 million cubic yards of litter from state highways.

The program has created more than 4,000 jobs that have helped state residents overcome barriers to employment – including 357 people who had been experiencing homelessness – and drawn more than 10,000 volunteers to events ranging from community cleanups to large debris collections for appliances, tires, and mattresses.

Environmental News Highlights – October 18, 2023

Women of Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB); Notice of Public Meeting -Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (Notice of public meeting)

USDOT Advisory Committee to Draft Equity Recommendations

Following its first meeting in late September, a revived U.S. Department of Transportation equity advisory committee plans to recommend new federal policies and practices aimed at making transportation systems more equitable to more people by June 2024.

[Above photo by USDOT]

The USDOT’s 24-member Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity or ACTE – which formally relaunched in August – is made up of representatives from state departments of transportations, private industry stakeholders, and nonprofit transportation groups.

According to the USDOT, the committee’s objective is “provide advice and recommendations” about:

Practices to institutionalize equity into programs, policies, regulations, and activities;
Establishing and strengthening partnerships with “overburdened and underserved communities” that the department hasn’t reached in the past;
Offering a forum about equity concerns in local and regional transportation decisions;
Providing “strength, objectivity, and confidence” to the department’s decision-making process.

The state DOT representatives on the committee are Roger Millar – secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation and president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials – and Tunya Smith, director of Office of Civil Rights for North Carolina Department of Transportation.

USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg asked the committee at its inaugural meeting to “deliberate bold ideas…not as a theoretical exercise of what may be, but as a real opportunity to shape real work.” Buttigieg added that he wants the committee to join him in “working to change patterns of exclusion that literally have been cemented into American life for generations.”

Former USDOT Secretary Anthony Foxx – selected by Buttigieg to chair the re-constituted committee – originally established the ACTE during his 2013-2017 tenure. While the committee took no action at its first meeting, remarks from the members set the tone for committee’s work, which will include documenting past examples of inequity in transportation planning to inform future policies and practices.

“The promise of our democracy depends, in part, on correcting past mistakes,” Foxx said. “Transportation errors, as all of you know, can last a long time. Our responsibility will be not to engineer history but to tell it as pure and straight as it can be told.”

WSDOT’s Millar agreed that transportation “is not an end unto itself; it is a means to a lot of things, to economic prosperity, to social equity, to environmental justice, things that matter to our communities.” But he also reminded committee members that “the actions of transportation agencies did not happen in a vacuum…It’s really important that we remember that and we are not alone in our ability to do harm or to do good.”

Many comments from ACTE members focused more on the practical nature of the task at hand. NCDOT’s Smith, for example, said the ACTE should create dashboards and metrics “to look at how we evaluate these programs and how we frame and structure our policy decisions to lead to sustainable change.” She also said discussions of climate change should translate into actions to help communities, “particularly communities of color that are often impacted more heavily from storms, in not having proper drainage systems.”

Smith, who also manages the NCDOT Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, urged the committee to include feedback from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, and faith-based organizations “to really help us inform the work.”

The USDOT has not announced when the next ACTE meeting will take place.

Iowa DOT Details Wetlands Preservation Efforts

The Iowa Department of Transportation recently detailed in a blog post the “balancing act” required in order to minimize the impact of road and bridge construction projects on the environment.

[Above photo by the Iowa DOT]

That “balancing act” can also result in environmental revitalization as well, the agency stressed, such as for wetland areas that improves wildlife viewing, hunting, and other outdoor activities.

“By law, we are required to avoid and minimize impacts to water resources if we can. If that’s not possible, we will work to mitigate any impacts, often going above and beyond what is required if there is a cost-effective way to get that done,” explained Brandon Walls, a project manager in the water resources section of the Iowa DOT’s Location and Environment Bureau.

“In a nutshell, it means we can’t avoid impacts to water resources in the construction area, so we make up for the damage to the wetlands or streams in the construction area somewhere else,” he said.

Walls pointed to an Iowa DOT-constructed wetland mitigation site near Steamboat Rock in Hardin County as an example of the agency’s mitigation efforts. That site, called Hoover Ruby Wildlife Area, is owned by the Hardin County Conservation Board and was constructed to offset wetland impacts associated with two U.S. 69 Bridge replacement projects in Wright and Hancock counties.

“Because the impacted areas contained both emergent and forested wetlands, we [Iowa DOT] were responsible for re-creating those types of wetlands in this area owned by Hardin County,” he noted.

“We also work with the Army Corps of Engineers on mitigation sites to ensure we are developing enough wetland areas of a certain quality to meet the permit requirements,” Walls pointed out. “This specific permit required us to build 1.76 acres of emergent wetland and 0.4 acres of forested wetland, but we thought it was necessary to go beyond those baseline requirements to provide an area that would be more useful.”

He said that a successful forested wetland can be particularly challenging to reconstruct. Although the emergent wetland at Steamboat Rock is thriving, the trees originally planted in the forested wetland portion didn’t survive after they were planted, so Walls and his team engaged in a second round of seedling planting.

[Editor’s note: The Wyoming Department of Transportation is engaged in a similar wetlands restoration effort as part of its Snake River channel project.]

“We’re trying to keep as much of this work in-house to replant the forested wetland so we can to keep the costs down,” he explained. “We worked with the State Forest Nursery to get seedlings, which cost less than $300. I asked for volunteers from our bureau to help me plant the seedlings. Nine of us planted 225 trees of four species that like to have their feet wet.”

In another cost-saving measure, Walls and the team recycled tree tubes used to support the young saplings and protect them from being eaten by deer. “The saplings are very small and hard to see,” he added. “We went out and collected protective tubes from another wetland mitigation site that had grown up enough to not need them anymore.”

Walls will be responsible for monitoring this site for the next few years to make sure it succeeds and grows into a successful wetland area. “I have trail cameras out there and one of the coolest things I’ve seen is a pair of Sand Hill Cranes,” he said. “They haven’t been spotted much in Hardin County, so seeing them use our site is exciting.”

Once the entire wetland is functioning as it should, the Hardin County Conservation Board will take over the monitoring and maintenance long-term. “This is going to be a really nice resource for the public to hunt and view wildlife,” Walls noted.

Environmental News Highlights – October 11, 2023

FEDERAL ACTION

Active Transportation Reshaping Communities -AASHTO’s ETAP Podcast

USDOT Equity Committee Working on Recommendations -AASHTO Journal

Senators Propose EV Fee for Highway Trust Fund -Transport Topics

USDOT Announces New Climate and Transportation Research Funding -USDOT (media release)

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

NCDOT’s flood-warning system up for national award, $10K for charity -Port City Daily

Congestion Pricing: Current Status and Key Policy Choices -Regional Plan Association

In Santa Monica, Calif., officials will pay you not to drive your car -Los Angeles Times

Amtrak switching to fuel made from cooking oil for Pacific Surfliner service -KSWB-TV

MTA says New York’s mass transit is in dire need of climate resilience upgrades –Gothamist

The Quest for the Low-Budget Park –Bloomberg

AIR QUALITY

Texas sues EPA over emissions standards -Axios Texas

Virginia begins crafting new plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions -Virginia Mercury

How the Seattle Department of Transportation plans to reduce travel emissions -KING-TV

Proposed wildlife crossing in Southern Oregon seeks federal funding -Jefferson Public Radio

TxDOT urges drivers to be extra vigilant about protecting pedestrians -TxDOT (media release)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

US DOT Launches Awareness Campaign On Disabled Rights -Simply Flying

Iowa DOT changing restroom accessibility in state -WOI-TV

Potential for hazmat transport accidents higher in low income areas in Midwest -WYSO Radio

DEP Announces Public Comment Meetings Series for Interim Final PA Environmental Justice Policy -Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (media release)

NATURAL RESOURCES

Arizona DOT Hosts Highway Litter Cleanup Event -AASHTO Journal

They Dredged the Mississippi River for Trade. Now a Water Crisis Looms –CityLab

The costs of wildlife vehicle collisions in the West are astounding. These crossings could help -Deseret News

WYDOT to host ribbon cutting on Dry Piney wildlife crossing project -Oil City News

EPA Finalizes Cleanup Plan for Lehigh Valley Railroad Derailment Superfund Site in Genesee County, New York -EPA (media release)

CULTURAL RESOURCES

US government agrees to help restore sacred Native American site destroyed for Oregon road project –AP

Seats are for butts not bags’: MTA’s cheeky message encourages subway ‘courtesy’ -WNBC-TV

Scenic Los Angeles Raises Concerns Over Metro’s Transportation Communication Network -City Watch

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Tampa Bay Area students skip the bus to pound the pavement on National Walk to School Day -WTVT-TV

Building a bike-friendly city -Smart Cities Dive

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Collective and Individual Actions to Envision and Realize the Next Era of America’s Transportation Infrastructure: Phase 1 -AASHTO and NCHRP

Travel Time Reliability Reference Guide –FHWA Office of Operations

Rebound effects undermine carbon footprint reduction potential of autonomous electric vehicles –Nature

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

Request for Nominations for the Federal System Funding Alternative Advisory Board to the Federal Highway Administration -FHWA (Notice)

Approval of Air Quality Implementation Plans; New York; Emission Statement Program -EPA (Proposal rule)

Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) and Small Communities Advisory Subcommittee (SCAS) Meeting -EPA (Notice)

National Chemical Transportation Safety Advisory Committee; November 2023 Meetings -U.S. Coast Guard (Notice)

Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the December 2016 Record of Decision Entitled Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan -Bureau of Reclamation (Notice and request for comments)

Forest Service Proposed New Recreation Fee Sites -Forest Service (Notice)

Regional Meeting of the Binational Bridges and Border Crossings Group in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico -Department of State (Notice)

Meeting of the Regional Energy Resource Council -Tennessee Valley Authority (Notice)

AASHTO Comments on CEQ’s Proposed NEPA Revisions

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently submitted a six-page comment letter to the Council on Environmental Quality or CEQ regarding proposed revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA.

[Above photo by AASHTO]

The CEQ issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in July in which the agency seeks to create a more “effective environmental review process” that promotes better decision making; ensures full and fair public involvement; provides for an efficient process and regulatory certainty; and provides for sound decision making grounded in science, including consideration of relevant environmental, climate change, and environmental justice effects.

AASHTO noted in its comment letter that it “shares CEQ’s goals” of providing for efficient and effective environmental reviews, ensuring full and fair public involvement, providing regulatory certainty, promoting better decision-making grounded in science, and protecting the environment.

To that end, AASHTO offered a slate of comments regarding CEQ’s proposed rule:

The group supports provisions in the 2020 regulations that modernized the NEPA process, improved efficiency, enhanced accountability, and encouraged interagency coordination on compliance with NEPA and the requirements of other environmental laws and supports their retention in CEQ’s proposed rule.
AASHTO said CEQ’s NEPA regulations should be legally sound, grounded in the statute – as recently amended by the Fiscal Responsibility Act and recent case law – and build upon well-established principles developed through decades of agencies’ experience implementing NEPA. “The significant regulatory changes over the past few years have caused uncertainty, additional work, delays in project delivery, and litigation risks for projects,” the group said in its letter. “Another significant upheaval to the NEPA process and regulatory requirements will only compound these problems.”
AASHTO noted that there should be no “one-size-fits-all” way to comply with NEPA. “Each transportation project is unique,” the group pointed out in its letter. “Flexibility [is needed] to tailor the NEPA process based on a particular project’s circumstances [so] agencies should be able to meet NEPA’s requirements in a way that minimizes the financial and administrative burdens, informs public decisions, protects the environment, and avoids unintended consequences such as public or agency uncertainty and increased litigation risk.”
AASHTO said CEQ’s NEPA regulations should provide clear direction to agencies, project sponsors and applicants, and the public. “To improve agency and public understanding of the regulatory framework, CEQ should be clear about which aspects of the regulations are statutorily required,” the group emphasized. “AASHTO is concerned that CEQ’s proposed regulations introduce new undefined terms and create new vague requirements, which will lead to delays in project delivery and increase litigation risk for projects. For example, in various areas throughout the regulations, CEQ proposes to replace the term ‘significant’ with the ambiguous and undefined terms ‘important’ or ‘substantial.’”

New York Offers $165 Million for Community-Based Projects

Governor Kathy Hochul (D) recently announced $165 million in new funding is available to support community-based investments designed to strengthen the cultural, aesthetic, and environmental aspects of local and regional transportation systems while promoting safety and mobility.

[Above photo by NYSDOT]

Those funds come from the Federal Highway Administration and will be administered by the New York State Department of Transportation through its Transportation Alternatives Program or TAP, the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program or CMAQ, and the Carbon Reduction Program or CRP.

Gov. Hochul said in a statement that funding will support projects that create new and enhance existing bicycle and pedestrian facilities, improve access to public transportation, create safe routes to schools, convert abandoned railway corridors to pedestrian trails, and help reduce congestion and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.

In addition, these funds may be used by municipalities to support activities that meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the governor’s office noted.

“These community-based projects reaffirm New York’s nation-leading commitment to the environment while facilitating local economic development and improving public health,” Gov. Hochul said. “It’s imperative that we continue to make investments in clean, environmentally-friendly transportation alternatives.”

“[These] smart transportation policies afford all New Yorkers safe and environmentally sound opportunities for work, recreation, and social connectivity,” added NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez. “These critical community-based investments will provide positive impacts for regions all across New York, enhancing the overall safety and quality of life for residents and visitors, while continuing the fight against global climate change.”

NYSDOT will accept project applications for that funding through January 9, 2024; noting that projects applying for funding must be related to the surface transportation system and provide full access to the public. They’ll also be rated based on established criteria that include public benefit, air quality improvements, cost-effectiveness, and partnerships, the agency noted.

NYSDOT added that TAP-CMAQ-CRP project awards will amount to no less than $500,000 and no more than $5 million for any single project, with the agency providing up to 80 percent of the total eligible project costs with a minimum 20 percent match provided by the project sponsor.

FHWA Seeks 2024 EEA Program Entries

Now through November 3, the Federal Highway Administration will be accepting nominations for its 2024 Environmental Excellence Awards or EEA program.

[Above image via FHWA]

Since the program started in 1995, the biennial EEA program has recognized outstanding transportation projects, processes, and organizations that incorporate environmental stewardship into the planning and project development processes using FHWA funding sources.

[Editor’s note: The FHWA pointed to the 2022 EEA program winners to show how such projects exemplify the agency’s priorities of climate change and sustainability, equity and environmental justice, complete streets, economic strength, and safety for all road users.]

The EEA program is coordinated with FHWA’s Offices of Human Environment, Natural Environment, plus Project Development and Environmental Review to reflect the notion that “environment” means a connection to both human and natural environmental systems.

FHWA noted that it accepts nominations for any project, process, group, or individuals involved in a project or process that has used agency funding to make an “outstanding contribution” to both transportation and the environment.

All nominations must be submitted electronically using the online submission form available via the award’s web portal, FHWA said, but if for any reason the electronic submittal of entries is not possible, faxed and mailed copies are acceptable. For more information about the submission of entries, please contact EEAwardsNomination@dot.gov.

RIDOT Helps Support ‘Gotham Greens’ Path Project

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is helping support – in concert with various federal, state, and local agencies – the new “Gotham Greens” off-road multi-use path along the Woonasquatucket River Greenway via stormwater mitigation efforts.

[Above photo by RIDOT]

This new path, located behind the Gotham Greens building in Olneyville, offers new access to the Woonasquatucket River and will serve as a connector between the Greenway and the Washington Secondary Bike Path – helping “knit together” a “patchwork of pathways” in the City of Providence to promote active transportation use while protecting the local environment from stormwater flooding.

The nonprofit Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, the City of Providence, and Gotham Greens jointly built the new path, while RIDOT – in concert with the Environmental Protection Agency, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program – will work to mitigate the potential for future flooding along the pathway.

“Urban flooding and resilience are complex issues that demand collaborative, innovative, and targeted responses,” explained Governor Dan McKee (D) in a statement.

This second phase of improvements to the pathway – currently under RIDOT’s supervision and supported in part by the National Coastal Resilience Fund – focuses on streambank restoration and “green infrastructure,” which is the installation of plants, soil, and other natural materials to manage stormwater and prevent flooding and pollution.

Environmental News Highlights – October 4, 2023

FEDERAL ACTION

Buttigieg Reiterates USDOT Support for EVs at Hearing -AASHTO Journal

Several State DOTs Salute National Roundabouts Week -AASHTO Journal

Reconnecting Communities Summit Slated for October -AASHTO Journal

Gabe Klein, Executive Director, US Joint Office of Energy and Transportation: Moving Transportation Electrification Forward in the US -ITE Talks Transportation (podcast)

MapLab: The Secret History of GPS –Bloomberg

Environmental groups push to clamp down on coal dust from trains -Yahoo Finance

COVID-19

SEPTA CEO Leslie Richards on public transit, safety and how the pandemic altered travel -WPVI-TV’s Inside Story (video)

Not Just a Fad: Biking Activity Remains Strong Post-Pandemic -Government Technology

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

City of Phoenix has temporarily stopped installing Cool Pavement, here’s why -KTVK/KPHO-TV

New Minnesota task force to focus on infrastructure resiliency in face of more severe weather -WCCO-TV

MORPC wants to hear from public on sustainability and the environment –WSYX-TV

Streetlights Are Mysteriously Turning Purple. Here’s Why -Scientific American

New Mexico plans to expand electric vehicle infrastructure -KOB-TV

Sensor And Drone Technologies Help Maintain Minnesota’s Aging Bridge Infrastructure –University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies

EV chargers will return to the Mass. Pike after months with no juice -Telegram & Gazette

EV Charging Is Coming to Truck Stops and Curbsides -Government Technology

AIR QUALITY

FAA Announces Nearly $300 Million for Projects to Reduce Carbon Pollution from Aviation as Part of Investing in America Agenda -FAA (media release)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

‘Environmental justice’ rules may hurt Wyoming’s bid for federal support -Wyofile.com

USDOT Announces that United Airlines Will Implement Industry-Leading Improvements for Passengers Using Wheelchairs -USDOT (media release)

EPA and U.S. Senator Tom Carper Announce Historic Investments Advancing Environmental Justice for Underserved Communities -EPA (media release)

NATURAL RESOURCES

Native Florida plants could be part of the solution to state’s flooding and water quality problems –WMFE

BLM welcomes public input on draft management plan for northwest California public lands -Ukiah Daily Journal

CULTURAL RESOURCES

Welcome to Route 20: America’s longest road stretches from Boston to Oregon –WBUR

Truck Stops Upgrade to Recharge Electric Vehicles (and Their Drivers) -New York Times

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

TxDOT launches pedestrian safety campaign for month of October -Fort Bend Herald

Bikeshare Pittsburgh To Add New, Adaptive Bicycles Around City -KDKA-TV

US Bike Trips Have Soared Since 2019 –CityLab

Pedesting app aims to open Calgary to people with mobility challenges -LiveWire Calgary

City of Rochester, NY on new ‘Active Transportation Plan’ -WROC-TV

UNLV to Launch Tourist Safety Institute Within Greenspun College of Urban Affairs -UNLV (media release)

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

TRB Webinar: Pop-Up Power – Research and Practice on Quick-Build Bike Facilities –TRB

TRB Webinar: Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety in BRT and High-Priority Bus Corridors –TRB

TRB Minority Student Fellows Program Strengthens the Transportation Community –TRB

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

Proposed Second Renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Assigning Certain Federal Environmental Responsibilities to the State of Arizona, Including National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Authority for Certain Categorical Exclusions (CEs) -FHWA (Notice of proposed MOU, request for comments)

Designation of Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary; Delay of Effectiveness -NOAA (Final rule; delay of effectiveness)

Petroleum-Equivalent Fuel Economy Calculation -DOE (Notification of ex parte communication; request for comment)

Air Plan Approval; Washington; Southwest Clean Air Agency; Emission Standards and Controls for Sources Emitting Gasoline Vapors -EPA (Final rule)

Air Plan Approval; Washington; Southwest Clean Air Agency, General Air Quality Regulations -EPA (Final rule)

Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Review Document for Amended Arrival Routes at Los Angeles International Airport -FAA (Public comment period for the FAA’s draft environmental review document)

Restoring Healthy and Abundant Salmon, Steelhead, and Other Native Fish Populations in the Columbia River Basin -White House (Administrative Order)

Public Meeting of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Advisory Council -Bureau of Reclamation (Notice of public meeting)