Posts – Page 63 – Environmental Technical Assistance Program Newsletter

Regional GHG Emission Reduction Consortium Takes Shape

The states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, along with the District of Columbia, signed a memorandum of understanding or MOU on December 21 committing themselves to a “multi-jurisdictional program” to pursue systematic and substantial reductions in motor vehicle greenhouse gas or GHG emissions while “re-investing” $300 million annually in cleaner transportation infrastructure.

[Graphic provided by the Connecticut Governor’s Office.]

The new Transportation and Climate Initiative Program or TCI-P is the outgrowth of collaboration between 12 Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast states and the District of Columbia known as the Transportation and Climate Initiative. Originally formed in 2019, the TCI issued a nine-page draft policy proposal in December 2019 for establishing a cap on GHG emissions from transportation fuels while investing millions of dollars annually to develop cleaner transportation systems and more resilient transportation infrastructure.

The signatories said the TCI-P’s funding would result from the mandated purchase of “emission allowances” by gasoline and diesel fuel suppliers. The total number of allowances would decline each year, resulting in less transportation pollution, they said, with each participating jurisdiction independently deciding how to invest program proceeds to achieve the goals of the MOU.

In a statement, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D) said the TCI-P MOU should reduce transportation-related GHGs in his state by at least 26 percent from 2022 to 2032 and generate annual revenue due to emission allowances fees of up to $89 million in 2023 – increasing to as much as $117 million in 2032. Gov. Lamont said Connecticut would re-invest those funds in “equitable and cleaner transportation options,” creating an employment program across transit, construction, and green energy – serving as a “catalyst” for infrastructure development through the next decade and beyond.

“Engaging in this way with my fellow governors and Mayor Bowser accomplishes goals we have set for Connecticut for years,” the governor explained.

“Participating in the TCI-P will help grow our economy through a fresh injection of capital to provide for jobs and new infrastructure,” Gov. Lamont added. “This collaboration will cut our greenhouse gas emissions, and it will make our urban centers healthier, after decades of being adversely impacted by the emissions being released by traffic every day.”

“By partnering with our neighbor states with which we share tightly connected economies and transportation systems, we can make a more significant impact on climate change while creating jobs and growing the economy as a result,” added Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R).

“This first-of-its-kind program will provide $20 million annually for public transit, safe streets for bikers and pedestrians, and other green projects,” noted Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo (D). “Most importantly, it will provide much-needed relief for the urban communities who suffer lifelong health problems as a result of dirty air.”

The MOU also commits those three states and the District of Columbia to allot no less than 35 percent of annual emission allowances proceeds to assist communities “overburdened and underserved” by the current transportation system.

Environmental News Highlights – December 23, 2020

State DOTs Net $10B in Aid from COVID-19 Relief Legislation

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.

Filling Pavement Temperature Data Gaps to Prevent Overuse of Road Salt

Could more accurate and consistent pavement temperature data held reduce the overuse of salt and other ice-melting chemicals during winter operations? The Iowa Department of Transportation plans to find out via a new one-year pilot program it recently launched.

[Photo courtesy of the Iowa Department of Transportation.]

Road salt – also known as sodium chloride – is widely used as a pavement deicer in the United States and other countries, yet it is an increasing source of concern as it accumulates in lakes, streams, and other bodies of water. In 2017, the Minnesota Department of Transportation released a 128-page study that sodium chloride infiltrated pervious areas adjacent to the streets after being plowed or splashed over curbs by traffic. That report showed, in part, that reducing the amount of sodium chloride and other road-clearing chemicals deployed by snowplows depends on the broad availability and accuracy of road temperature data.

Tina Greenfield, who works in the Iowa DOT’s maintenance bureau, noted in a blog post that its highway maintenance supervisors rely on pavement temperature data to determine what treatment options to deploy during winter storms – such as granular salt or brine – and in what quantities to either pretreat the roads or break up snow and ice.

Currently, the Iowa DOT collects pavement temperature via more than 70 Roadway Weather Information System, or RWIS, stations positioned around the state – stations owned and maintained by the agency.

However, those stations cannot collect data on every stretch of highway maintained by the Iowa DOT – leaving a number of large “data gaps” throughout the system.

To close those gaps, the agency is conducting a pilot project to purchase “data as a service.” The project will collect data recorded by smaller, privately owned battery-operated units using infrared technology to sense pavement temperatures and relay the data over a cellular connection.

“This is very similar to the sensor technology we have in our snow plow trucks,” Greenfield explained “Since we’re just purchasing the data, we don’t incur any of the cellular or power costs,” she added. “By using infrared technology, there are no sensors in the pavement to install or maintain.”

[Want to know more about snow and ice fighting tactics? Check out the winter operations podcast put together by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Snow and Ice Pooled Fund Cooperative Program, known as “SICOP.”]

She noted that the pilot project also allows her agency to choose the vendors supplying and maintaining this data collecting and reporting equipment “We simply purchase that data that equipment gathers,” Greenfield emphasized. “If these work out, this can be a very affordable way to get the data. This allows us to gather more data without having to invest in hardware and technology.”

Video: Caltrans Using Special Saws for Safer Tree Removal

The California Department of Transportation and its contractors are deploying a new tool to safely speed up the removal of dead, dying, and diseased trees throughout the state: Telescoping grappling saws.

[Photo courtesy of the California Department of Transportation.]

The agency said in a statement that such saws allow its crews and contractors to take trees down at a faster pace than traditional tree removal processes; completing that process with greater safety from the ground via remote control, well outside the fall zone for trees being removed.

Kansas DOT Seeks Feedback on Active Transportation Plan

The Kansas Department of Transportation is seeking public feedback in the state’s first Active Transportation Plan or ATP in 25 years. Funding for active transportation – which refers to “human-powered” modes of transportation such as walking or cycling – is included within the state’s 10-year Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program, or IKE, signed into law in early April.

[Photo courtesy of the Kansas Department of Transportation.]

The Kansas DOT said it is seeking public input through January 31, 2021, on its ATP via an online survey. Meanwhile, it said the planning process for the ATP will continue through 2021 and will involve national and local experts in planning, design, and safety. The final plan will also serve as a “key tool” for agency staff and local officials on how to include active transportation infrastructure when planning roads, bridges, and various improvement projects.

“We know that over the last several months, many people have discovered walking, cycling, rolling and other forms of active transportation are fun and healthy ways to get around,” noted Julie Lorenz, Kansas DOT secretary, in a statement.

“For others, active transportation has long provided an essential need, an affordable way to get to work, school, transit, the store and other destinations,” she added. “We are committed to providing transportation options that help people travel safely and conveniently – and to do that well, we need to hear from Kansans.”

“Providing access to safe, direct, continuous and pleasant routes whether driving, walking or cycling is essential for a healthy multi-modal transportation system,” added Matt Messina, Kansas DOT’s comprehensive planning unit manager. “Our intent is for Kansas residents to have a direct voice in development of the ATP.”

Environmental News Highlights – December 16, 2020

A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals

FEDERAL ACTION

Congress Passes One-Week Extension of CR – AASHTO Journal

Report urges Congress to reform surface transportation funding – Transportation Today

Final WRDA package leaves clean water out – WaterWorld

Transit systems nationally – including UTA – beg Congress for emergency pandemic aid – Salt Lake Tribune

The Emergency Funding Ideas That Could Help Keep Transit Alive – CityLab

EPA Announces $17.7 Million in Grants to Support Water Systems Rural and Small Communities – EPA (Press release)

COVID-19

FedEx, UPS to ‘split country into two’ for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, UPS exec says – USA Today

‘Very High Risk’: Longshoremen Want Protection From the Virus So They Can Stay on the Job – New York Times

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

How Disasters Can Spur Resiliency in the Gulf – National Academies

Congress Eyes Support for Busy Ports – Transport Topics

Nashville mayor proposes $1.6 billion transportation plan – WKRN-TV

Benefits of Ports-to-Plains hailed – Amarillo Globe-News

International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure Celebrates Growth in First Year – American Society of Civil Engineers (Press release)

AIR QUALITY

Trucking Takes Initial Steps Toward a Zero-Emission Future – Transport Topics

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Xavier Becerra Brings Environmental Justice to Forefront – New York Times

Biden can’t move the needle on environmental justice without these 2 things – Vox

Growing Opposition To Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) From Environmental & Social Justice Groups In New Jersey And Nationally – Insider NJ (Press release)

NATURAL RESOURCES

How one city plans to recover from losing most of its trees – National Geographic

The North Carolina hog industry’s answer to pollution: a $500m pipeline project – The Guardian

Senate passes priority bill improving water quality, sustainability – Sentinel-Tribune

Eroding coast paves the way for ‘managed retreat’ – Los Angeles Times (Link to video)

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

To Rethink the School Run, Get Rid of the Cars – CityLab

Area universities, Texas Research Alliance to provide innovative transportation assistance – Blue Ribbon News

Research recommends additional support for innovative shared-mobility services in Minnesota – University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies

DelDOT Launches Report a Pedestrian Issue Feature on Website & App – DelDOT (Press release)

MnDOT invites public comment on first Statewide Pedestrian System Plan – MnDOT (Press release)

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Permissible Uses of Airport Property and Revenue – TRB

Protecting Wildlife Habitat is a Robust Slice of Transportation Planning – TRB

Register for UC ITS and TRB Webinar on COVID-19, Transit, and Shared Mobility – TRB (Webinar)

Pedestrian Resources to Help Talk the Walk – TRB

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

National Standards for Traffic Control Devices; the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways; Revision – FHWA (Proposed rule; notice of proposed amendments)

Environmental Impact Statement: Collin County, Texas – FHWA (Federal notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement)

Adoption of the Federal Highway Administration’s Nationwide Section 4(f) Net Benefit and Historic Bridges Programmatic Evaluations – FRA and FTA (Notice)

State Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Action Plans – FRA (Final rule)

Applying the Supreme Court’s County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Decision in the Clean Water Act Section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Program – EPA (Notice of availability of draft guidance and request for comment)

Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of CCR; A Holistic Approach to Closure Part B: Alternate Demonstration for Unlined Surface Impoundments; Correction – EPA (Final rule; correction)

Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities; Legacy CCR Surface Impoundments; Extension of Comment Period – EPA (Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment period)

Air Plan Approval; Pennsylvania; Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) Under the 2008 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) – EPA (Final rule)

Criminal Negligence Standard for State Clean Water Act 402 and 404 Programs – EPA (Proposed rule)

Technical Mapping Advisory Council; Meeting – FEMA (Committee Management; Notice of Federal Advisory Committee meeting)

Minnesota DOT Unveils Statewide Pedestrian System Plan

The Minnesota Department of Transportation unveiled its first Statewide Pedestrian System Plan, which provides policy and investment guidance to improve places where people walk across and along Minnesota highways.

[Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.]

The agency said the plan “identifies priority areas for investments” and lays out specific strategies to improve walking availability and accessibility now and for the next 20 years to help Minnesota’s communities plan for the future. It will be accepting public feedback on this plan through January 11, 2021.

“Our state’s quality of life depends on creating safe places for people to walk—to work, to the doctor, to the grocery store, anywhere. We know safety is a priority every time you walk,” explained Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Minnesota DOT’s commissioner, in a statement. “MnDOT’s first Statewide Pedestrian System Plan serves as a framework for how we plan to meet pedestrian needs and interests in our state, and we welcome public feedback on the plan.”

The agency said it began work on its Statewide Pedestrian System Plan in February 2019, building it in part on two public engagement efforts that reached 2,700 people statewide. The Minnesota DOT said it also installed seven pedestrian safety demonstrations projects across Minnesota to highlight specific pedestrian safety measures in action, with “all of that feedback” going through an internal process of evaluation to help the agency achieve “better outcomes” for people when walking.

Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation

“This effort will help MnDOT identify opportunities and implement the right strategies on projects to make walking safer and more convenient for Minnesotans,” added Jake Rueter, pedestrian and bicycle planner for the agency. “The plan doesn’t tell us exactly what to do in every situation, but it provides the tools we need to make those decisions and create better places for people to walk statewide.”

Meanwhile, on the national level, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued what it is calling a “first-of-its-kind” Pedestrian Safety Action Plan on November 23 – a plan that will be overseen by the Federal Highway Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“This unprecedented comprehensive safety effort is focused solely on protecting pedestrians because crossing a street should not be lethal for thousands of adults and children every year,” noted U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in a statement – adding that USDOT’s plan will promote the expanded use of countermeasures, technology, and data-driven practices to address pedestrian fatalities and injuries.

According to NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, pedestrians comprised 17 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2019. In 2019 – the most recent year in which data is available – 6,205 pedestrians died in traffic crashes, which is 44 percent more compared to 2010.

Concurrently, the Transportation Research Board released a new National Cooperative Highway Research Program report – Availability and Use of Pedestrian Infrastructure Data to Support Active Transportation Planning – that documents the ways state departments of transportation are collecting, managing, sharing, and analyzing pedestrian infrastructure data.

The group said case studies in the report cover a diverse group of states, such as Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Utah, and Washington State. By looking at current practices, TRB said in a blog post that state DOTs “can move forward in tailoring the data collection process to build infrastructure that will lead to more consistent and efficient planning and management of pedestrian infrastructure.”

TRB Provides Support Resources for Butterfly Conservation Efforts

The Transportation Research Board recently highlighted a bevy of resources available to state departments of transportation to support monarch butterfly habit and migration support efforts.

[Photo courtesy of the Virginia Department of Transportation.]

A new report from the TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program – Evaluating the Suitability of Roadway Corridors for Use by Monarch Butterflies – provides guidance for roadside managers to determine the potential of their roadway corridors as habitat for monarch butterflies.

The report also includes several tools and decision-support mechanisms to optimize habitat potential in a manner that is compatible with the continued operation and maintenance of the roadside.

TRB noted in a blog post that a 2014 Presidential Memorandum “influenced” its recent research on monarch butterfly conservation – a memorandum that encouraged the Federal Highway Administration to work with state DOTs, transportation associations, and roadside managers as part of a holistic approach to promote the health of pollinators.

TRB added that forthcoming research from NCHRP will help craft a “guidebook” to help decision-makers tailor programs to maximize insect pollinator habitats along roadways. That guidebook will consider additional public benefits, roadway characteristics, and safety, as well as the geographical, adjacent land use, and ecological contexts. Butterflies and other pollinators are only a small subset of the wildlife benefiting from informed transportation planning.

In April, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Illinois-Chicago signed what they called a “historic agreement” to encourage transportation and energy firms to voluntarily participate in monarch butterfly conservation by providing and maintaining habitat on potentially millions of acres of rights-of-way corridors on both public and private lands.

Both signed an integrated, nationwide candidate conservation agreement (CCA) and candidate conservation agreement (CCAA) for the monarch butterfly on energy and transportation lands throughout the lower 48 states.

The USFW noted that those formal yet voluntary agreements between the agency and both public and private landowners aim to conserve habitats that benefit at-risk species. It also “integrated” both CCA and CCAA programs so energy and transportation partners and private landowners can provide conservation seamlessly throughout their properties where there may be a mix of non-federal and federal lands.

Virginia DOT Launches Second Major Anti-Litter Initiative

The Virginia Department of Transportation recently began its second major anti-littering effort on December 7 – the Beautify Virginia program – that is part of its support for keeping Virginia’s roadways litter-free.

[Photo courtesy of Virginia Department of Transportation.]

Through the new Beautify Virginia program – which is part of the agency’s broader Environmental Stewardship Initiative – the Virginia DOT said it seeks to engage community and civic organizations, businesses, non-profit companies, and residents that can sponsor litter pickups along segments of eligible highways and interstates, with an approved contractor performing the work on their behalf. To support this effort, the agency will place signage with the respective sponsor’s name and official logo along the sponsored roadways.

“Across Virginia’s transportation sector, we are integrating environmental stewardship and creating sustainable policies that support mobility, access, and our quality of life,” explained Shannon Valentine, Virginia’s secretary of transportation, in a statement. “Investing in safe, healthy communities is our commitment to all who call Virginia home.”

“The value of the partnerships created by the Beautify Virginia program is twofold,” added Rob Cary, Virginia DOT’s chief deputy commissioner. “There is value in forging new and sustaining existing relationships within our communities and also in leveraging the strength of those relationships to serve as good stewards of our environment.”

The Beautify Virginia program follows the Virginia is for Lovers, Not Litter public outreach campaign launched by the agency in September to raise awareness about Virginia’s roadway litter problem. The Virginia DOT noted that it spends nearly $3.5 million annually to remove litter from Virginia’s roadways, with more than half of that litter coming from motorists with another 25 percent from pedestrians.