Environmental News Highlights – June 24, 2020

A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals

FEDERAL ACTION

House T&I Advances Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill – AASHTO Journal

Federal judge denies Democratic AGs’ bid to halt Trump WOTUS rule – Politico

USDOT to Award $906M in INFRA Grants – AASHTO Journal

Delgado, Fitzpatrick Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Identify PFAS Contamination at Federal Water Infrastructure Projects – Congressman Antonio Delgado (Press release)

Trump’s push for major infrastructure bill faces GOP opposition – The Hill

Democrats unveil $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan – The Hill

COVID-19

U.S. traffic has rebounded to about 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, analysts say – The Washington Post

COVID-19’s transportation implications for people with disabilities – The Hill (Commentary)

Gov. Inslee sends letter to Pres. Trump for federal COVID-19 safety measures for airports and airlines – KNDO/KNDU-TV

Talking can spread coronavirus, so new NJ Transit commuting rules say to keep quiet – NJ.com

Pandemic Travel Patterns Hint at Our Urban Future – CityLab

NEPA

Senators introduce NEPA reforms to cut red tape – Transportation Today News

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

CA: Proposed California law would fast-track environmentally sustainable transit – San Francisco Chronicle

MDOT seeks input on long-range transportation plan – MLive.com

Expert: ‘Shovel-ready’ projects ignore important aspects of community resilience – Phys.org

AIR QUALITY

Looking Back at 50 Years of the Clean Air Act of 1970 – Resources (Blog)

Md., Other States Push EPA to Force Stricter Pollution Standards for Pa. Power Plants – Maryland Matters

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

AASHTO Hosting Environmental Justice Virtual Peer Exchange – AASHTO Journal

Philly police no longer welcome in Vision Zero as bicyclists reckon with racism – WHYY

Group targeting environmental racism relaunches amid disparities in coronavirus impact – The Hill

Murphy backs New Jersey environmental justice bill – KYW

NATURAL RESOURCES

State environmental officials fail to report critical water data, according to state audit – Boston Globe (Sign-in Required)

Ohio EPA Accepting Public Comments About Plan to Study Large Rivers – Ohio EPA (Press release)

CULTURAL RESOURCES

Georgia’s heritage bill worries preservation advocates – Albany Herald

National Trust for Historic Preservation Statement on Confederate Monument – National Trust for Historic Preservation (Press release)

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Bicycle, pedestrian path opens on Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge – WABC

Why Car-Free Streets May Be Here to Stay – Bloomberg (Video)

Scooters will return to Chicago streets this summer as the city launches an even larger pilot program – Chicago Tribune

After coronavirus, bicycles will have a new place in city lifeFortune

The High Cost of Bad Sidewalks – CityLab

Helsinki pushes off with data study on e-scooter services for sustainable mobility – Conference & Meetings World

Lyft vows ‘100 percent’ of its vehicles will be electric by 2030 – The Verge

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Reducing the complexity of decision making through a roundabout renaissance – TRB/NCHRP

TRB Centennial video on the future workforce wins three Telly Awards – TRB

Featured Centennial Paper – Transportation Demand Management: A Focus on Moving People – TRB

Commercial Space Operations Noise and Sonic Boom MeasurementsTRB/ACRP

Public Roads – Spring 2020 – FHWA

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process; Public Hearing – EPA (Notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment period and notification of public hearing)

Safety Zones: Illinois River, Miles 10 to 187, Grafton, IL to Peoria, IL – Coast Guard (Temporary final rule)

Shipping Safety Fairways Along the Atlantic Coast – Coast Guard (Advance notice of proposed rulemaking)

Environmental News Highlights – June 17, 2020

A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals

FEDERAL ACTION

As EPA Steps Back, States Face Wave Of Requests For Environmental Leniency – NPR

With transportation’s future unclear, some question spending – Roll Call

Transportation Funding Bill Part of Congress’ Summer Agenda – Transport Topics

Federal Transit Administration Announces $22.97 Million to Improve Transit Access in Selected Communities Around the Country – Federal Transit Administration (Press release)

Wyoming jumps aboard for Trump water rule – Laramie Boomerang

Outside/In: How Massachusetts v. EPA Forced the U.S. Government to Take On Climate Change – New Hampshire Public Radio

Trump Team Weighs $1 Trillion for Infrastructure to Spur EconomyBloomberg Tax

COVID-19

Transportation Industry Asks President to Support State DOT COVID-19 Relief – AASHTO Journal

COVID-19: President Trump’s Invocation of Emergency Authority to Streamline Environmental Review for Infrastructure Projects – National Law Review (Analysis)

Google Maps adding pandemic-critical information for commuters – Mass Transit

New poll shows Michigan voters rank fixing roads and infrastructure as top priority after COVID-19 economic recovery – Arab American News

Explore U.S. Mobility during the COVID-19 PandemicUS Bureau of Transportation Statistics

A Playbook for Transit Recovery from D.C. – City Lab

CDOT creates fund to help cities extend restaurants onto streets – BizWest

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Energy and Transportation Each Have a Powerful ‘Sustainable Story’ – Bloomberg (Interview)

Florida’s Flooded Future: ‘Retreat While There’s Still Time’ – The Nation

North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience PlanNCDOT

Resilience Is Good Public Policy – US Chamber of Commerce (Commentary)

Board of Trustees commits to accelerating transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, reports major reduction in fossil fuel investments – Stanford University

California Regulators Approve Changes to Support Microgrids as State Braces for Wildfire Season – Microgrid Knowledge

New Florida Law To Bring More Electric Charging Stations To State HighwaysWUFT Radio’s Fresh Take Florida

AIR QUALITY

First-of-its-kind dust detection and warning system set for monsoon – Arizona DOT

AECOM, AT&T, Toyota, and More Partner on Dallas’ First Climate Action Plan – Dallas Innovates

New Documentary Celebrates Clean Air Act, Highlights Communities Still Waiting for Clean Air – American University

Salt Lake City, Provo closer to reaching Clean Air Act compliance for first time in decade – KSL

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Study examines environmental justice impact of Senate Bill 181 in Colorado – University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Why ‘I can’t breathe’ is resonating with environmental justice activists – NBC News

Where can I learn more about environmental racism? – National Catholic Reporter

“Two different realities”: Why America needs environmental justice – CBS News

NATURAL RESOURCES

Will Trump’s EPA rule backfire on ‘energy dominance’? – E&E News

A Canal That Opened the Montana Prairie May Soon Dry Up – New York Times

Officials want Amtrak to preserve river access – Hudson Valley 360

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

2020 City Ratings: Top 5 U.S. Cities for Bikes – People for Bikes

‘Corona Cycleways’ Become the New Post-Confinement Commute – New York Times (subscription)

The Definitive Rules of the Road for Urban Cyclists – CityLab

WILDLIFE

Understanding Wildlife Behavioral Responses to Traffic Noise and Light to Improve Mitigation PlanningUC Davis National Center for Sustainable Transportation

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

RFP: The Provision of Alternative Services by Transit Agencies: The Intersection of Regulation and Program – TCRP (RFP announcement)

TRB Webinar: COVID-19 Impacts on Managed Lanes – TRB

TRB Webinar: Forecasting Zero Emission Vehicles Fleet Scenarios and Emissions Implications – TRB

TRB Webinar: Human Trafficking and Mobility of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women – TRB

Agent-based Simulation Model and Deep Learning Techniques to Evaluate and Predict Transportation Trends around COVID-19 – C2SMART Center (White paper)

MOD Webinar #6: Mobility Marketplace: Integration, Integration, IntegrationUSDOT

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process – EPA (Notice of proposed rulemaking)

Environmental Impact Statement for the Western Rail Yard Infrastructure Project in New York County, New York – Federal Railroad Administration (Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement)

Dual Disaster Handbook Offers Practical Guidance Amidst Chaos

Effectively managing a state transportation department is hard enough. Leading a state DOT through a crisis is tougher. But what about when two disasters hit simultaneously?

Dr. Shawn Wilson, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, actually had four simultaneous disasters on his plate on Friday, June 5. In addition to transportation issues related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Wilson found himself deeply engaged in a special session of the state legislature looking at serious budget cuts that could affect transportation projects. Meanwhile, civil rights protestors in the wake of the George Floyd killing had already shut down major roadways for three straight evenings in New Orleans while a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico aimed itself straight for the vulnerable Louisiana coast.

Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson with his staff. Photos courtesy Louisiana DOTD

“It’s really a juggling act and you’re juggling some very fragile crystal balls,” Wilson said.

The Louisiana DOTD’s situation is not unique, which is why the American Public Health Association and the American Flood Coalition created the “Dual Disaster Handbook” – a 25-page guide to help public officials plan “a proactive response as communities face multiple threats,” according to an APHA statement.

The handbook is a “practical publication” predicated on the assumption that spring and summer flooding will occur across the country as states are still grappling with COVID-19 related issues. However, the recommendations and checklists are relevant for any crisis management situation, APHA said.

Included in the handbook are several real-world situations that arise during a disaster, such as: the top five procurement mistakes that may lead to an audit; examples of how some agencies properly prepared for and executed plans through a disaster; and checklists of recommended actions for agency leaders who are facing simultaneous disasters.

For example, Louisiana DOTD’s Wilson said that enacting emergency storm operations and evacuation plans became “twice as complicated” because of the ongoing COVID-19 precautions.

“We’re planning for evacuation buses and mobilizing our people, but from a pandemic perspective, we’re also having to take into account screening people and providing PPE,” he explained. “Someone may not want to get on the bus because of COVID-19 and we have to prepare and train our employees to deal with that kind of situation.”

Wilson added that he welcomes the publication of the Dual Disaster Handbook and plans to distribute copies of it to his fellow committee members on the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Transportation Resilience Metrics.

“When we’re organizing an evacuation, we usually can put at least 46 people on a bus,” he noted. “But during this pandemic, we can only have about 13 people on a bus. When you factor in families and pets, it gets complicated. Sometimes you’re looking at what is the best of the bad choices you have. Dual disasters can be messy work.”

AASHTO Hosting Environmental Justice Virtual Peer Exchange

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials is holding an Environmental Justice Virtual Peer Exchange on July 10. 

Hosted by the Center for Environmental Excellence at AASHTO, the two-hour virtual peer exchange will be broken up into two panel discussions – one focused on the connection between health and transportation and the other on Planning and Environment Linkages or PEL. The topics for the event were selected based on a recent survey of the AASHTO Environmental Justice Community of Practice.

The goal of this virtual peer exchange – which is being conducted in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration and the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations – is to provide an opportunity for transportation practitioners to learn about environmental justice, PEL, and health in transportation resources.

FHWA, state departments of transportation, and MPOs will share best practices and lessons learned related to projects and programs associated with health and transportation and PEL protocols.

The register for this exchange, click here.

Of Bats, Bridges, Culverts: Part 2

As the Texas Department of Transportation works its way through a three-year study to determine why bats make their homes in certain types roadway bridges and culverts, other states are engaging in similar bat-preservation endeavors as well – especially in terms of mitigating the impact of bridge demolition and construction activity on bat populations.

For example, the southern region of New Mexico is home to year-round bat activity and Jim Hirsch, District 4 environmental analyst with the New Mexico Department of Transportation, said bats commonly hang out under bridges that span perennial waterways, such as the Rio Grande and Pecos rivers. 

Top photo by Diane Winterboer for the U.S. Dept. Of Agriculture/Washington State and Oregon DOTs; Above photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

“However, they also [hang out] under bridges that span ephemeral waterways, especially those near irrigated agricultural fields,” he added. “Most bat species are not protected by federal or state law, but the New Mexico DOT recognizes their importance in the ecosystem and the benefits they provide to the agricultural industry.” 

In addition, he said, New Mexico DOT “would rather manage bats with flexibility and adaptability, rather than by strict protocols and measures. It is in New Mexico DOT’s best interest to avoid listing of a bat species under the Endangered Species Act.”

Generally, Hirsch explained that the New Mexico DOT will install bat boxes under new bridges if the previous bridge supported daytime bat roosting activity. His agency will also perform bat exclusion measures if a bridge is scheduled for demolition or major rehabilitation during the “active season” for bat colonies.

“The active bat season usually coincides with the migratory bird nesting season in northern New Mexico,” he noted. “Therefore, avoidance and exclusion efforts usually protect both migratory birds and bats.”

A recent challenge faced by the agency is the cost of undertaking bat exclusion measure, as funds for such measures usually come from the limited resources of the New Mexico DOT’s environmental bureau budget. To change that, he said the department is evaluating cost effective partnerships with universities as well as with other state and federal agencies.

Research by the Texas DOT is creating a clearer picture of what specific types of bridge and culvert structures best buoy bat populations. The agency surveyed hundreds of bridges and culverts in West Texas over the last two years and found that state highway type pre-stressed concrete girder bridge designs situated near evergreen forests, deciduous forests, and standing water had a positive correlation to bat presence. Texas DOT also found that interstate highway and square box girder variables had a negative correlation on bat presence. 

“These results corroborate and refine anecdotal observations from decades of Texas DOT work to attract and maintain healthy bat populations on bridges, including the placement of artificial roosts on bridges that are not the right type, but are in the right ecological setting,” noted Dr. Stirling Robertson, the biology team lead in Texas DOT’s natural resources management section.

He added that those variables differed between species of bats, which is allowing Texas DOT to target species-specific bridge design solutions.

With a better understanding of the variables attracting bats to bridges and culverts, as well as the demonstrable success of artificial roost design and placement, Texas DOT is looking for future success by applying this knowledge where appropriate across the state.

“Bridges that are in the appropriate ecological setting and that are being replaced or rehabilitated give us ideal opportunities to enhance or preserve bat colonies,” Robertson pointed out. “We can also retrofit existing structures with artificial roosts if the existing design is not bat friendly.”

EPA Issues Clean Water Act Section 401 Final Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule on June 1 that it said increases the transparency and efficiency of the Clean Water Act Section 401 certification process in order to promote the timely review of infrastructure projects.

“EPA is returning the Clean Water Act certification process under Section 401 to its original purpose, which is to review potential impacts that discharges from federally permitted projects may have on water resources, not to indefinitely delay or block critically important infrastructure,” explained EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in a statement.

He noted that EPA finalized this rule pursuant to the President’s Executive Order 13868 to help spur construction of important energy infrastructure projects. 

The EPA said this final rule overhauls the text, structure, and legislative history of Section 401 for the first time in 50 years in several areas:

  • It specifies statutory and regulatory timelines for review and action on a Section 401 certification—requiring final action to be taken within one year of receiving a certification request.
  • It clarifies the scope of Section 401, including clarifying that 401 certification is triggered based on the potential for a project to result in a discharge from a point source into a water of the United States. When states look at issues other than the impact on water quality, they go beyond the scope of the Clean Water Act.
  • It reaffirms the agency’s statutory responsibility to provide technical assistance to any party involved in a Section 401 water quality certification process.
  • It promotes early engagement and coordination among project proponents, certifying authorities, plus federal licensing and permitting agencies.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, endorsed the EPA’s move in a June 2 statement as a way to allow important energy infrastructure projects to “get done faster.”

By contrast, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, noted in a statement on June 5 that removing environmental review processes “will not be the magic cure to our nation’s economic downturn” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Environmental News Highlights – June 10, 2020

A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals

FEDERAL ACTION

House T&I Releases Five-Year $494B Surface Transportation Bill – AASHTO Journal

AASHTO’s Statement on House Surface Transportation Bill – AASHTO Journal

Proposed Rule: Increasing Consistency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process – EPA (Announcement)

Trump seeks to scale back environmental reviews for projects – Associated Press (see Federal Register Notices below)

Gateway Tunnel opposed by Trump could get funding from new House bill – NJ.com

Conservation bill clears one Senate hurdle, but more remain – Roll Call

COVID-19

Transportation Industry Asks President to Support COVID-19 Funding Relief for State DOTs – AASHTO Journal

RTD taps national medical researcher for insights on recovering from COVID-19 – Regional Transportation District (Press release)

How COVID-19 could speed up smart-city visions – Deutsche Welle

The pandemic response slashed traffic; what did it teach us about transportation planning? – Wisconsin State Journal

NEPA

What Trump’s permit order means for NEPA, energy and race – E&E News

Outdated NEPA needs modernizing. Just ask Warren Buffett – Utility Dive (Opinion)

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Michigan DOT Assesses Needs, Starts Repairs After Extensive Flooding – Transport Topics

North Texas Innovation Alliance Consortium Launches to Create the Most Connected, Smart and Resilient Region in the Country – North Texas Innovation Alliance (Press release)

Environment Report: Climate Plans Across the Region Are Hitting Roadblocks – Voice of San Diego

U.S. Water Infrastructure Has One Dam Big Problem – Triple Pundit

Siting Board Approves Its Largest Wind Farm to Date – New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment (Press release)

With Fewer People in the Way, Transportation Projects Speed Ahead – New York Times (subscription)

Issues Of The Environment: Prioritizing Urban Planning In Combatting Impacts Of Climate Change – WEMU

Environmental Protection and Infrastructure Investments Are Necessities, Not Luxuries – Earth Institute/Columbia University (Opinion)

AIR QUALITY

Carbon Neutral vs Carbon Negative: What’s the Difference? – Business News Wales

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

EPW Hearing: Infrastructure Vital to Economic Recovery, Social Equity – AASHTO Journal

Why communities fighting for fair policing also demand environmental justice – Los Angeles Times (subscription)

NATURAL RESOURCES

Planners who want to restore East Bay marshland seek public input – East Bay Times

Australia’s Water Is Vanishing – Bloomberg

CULTURAL RESOURCES

Amid Protest and Pandemic, Urban Parks Show Their Worth – CityLab

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Trails for two-wheelers: A look at the United States Bicycle Route System – MultiBriefs

Michigan moves to overhaul its waste industry to favor recycling over landfills – Lansing State Journal

Cities criticized for shutting down bikeshare amid protests, pandemic – CNN

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy: “INVEST in America Act” Goes Far To Deliver the Transportation Infrastructure America Needs – Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (Press release)

House draft transportation bill contains $6.3B for biking and walking infrastructure – Bicycle Retailer

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

“Tell Us ‘Our’ Story”: “What is your vision for the Transportation Research Board 100 years from now?” – TRB

TRB 2021 Annual Meeting: Paper submissions due August 1 – TRB (Announcement)

RFP: Emergency Response: Organizational and Operational Models Used by State DOTs – TRB (RFP availability)

TR News: Implications of the California Wildfires for Health, Communities, and Preparedness TRB (Publication Announcement)

Asset Management Approaches to Identifying and Evaluating Assets Damaged Due to Emergency Events – NCHRP (Publication Announcement)

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

EO on Accelerating the Nation’s Economic Recovery from the COVID-19 Emergency by Expediting Infrastructure Investments and Other Activities – White House (Executive Order)

Bighorn National Forest; Wyoming; Invasive and Other Select Plant Management – Forest Service (Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement)

Forest Service Manual 2750; Special Uses Management Manual; Leasing Forest Service Administrative Sites – Forest Service (Notice of availability)

Of Bats, Bridges, and Culverts: Part 1

There may be a new mammal vying for the title of man’s best friend – and a new study is looking into how Texas Department of Transportation bridges may be key to this profitable mammal-human connection.  

Dr. Stirling Robertson, the biology team lead within Texas DOT’s natural resources management section, explained that bats help preserve the health of natural ecosystems and also provide substantial economic impacts by pollinating plants, spreading seeds and eating pests such as moths, beetles, mosquitoes, stinkbugs and termites. Some have been documented to consume as much as 85 percent of their body weight in insects every night – and bats can weigh anywhere from an ounce and a half to north of two pounds.

“Such voracious foraging on insects has definite economic impacts, especially for agricultural production,” he explained. “More than 100 million Brazilian free-tailed bats can fly nightly from caves and highway structures, like bridges and culverts, eating up all kinds of crop pests.”

In Texas’ Winter Garden Region southwest of San Antonio, a single Brazilian free-tailed bat will eat 20 insects a night. That translates to two cents per bat, per night, of ecosystem services as farmers do not need to apply additional pesticides to achieve the same yield of cotton. When extrapolated across that region, it translates to an annual “agro-economic value” on cotton ranging from $121,000 to more than $1.72 million. That’s compared to the total value of the crop in this region of $4.6 million to $6.4 million per year.

To obtain firm numbers on the economic benefits bats provide Texas and how bridge structures contribute to that benefit, the Texas DOT and Texas A&M University are in the midst of a three-year field study expected to last through May 2021 – though, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that study may need to be extended as stay-at-home orders has shelved the agency’s field research for two months.

“Finding places to hang during the day can be a critical limiting factor for many of these temperate bat species,” Robertson pointed out. “This is why learning more about how and why bats interact with our bridges is important to the distribution and abundance of these important species.”

He said that, of the 33 species of bats that live in Texas, 18 have been documented and six potentially use Texas DOT highway structures as day roosts.

Based on several scattered records, a number of different bat species use bridges and culverts statewide in summer and winter, with studies of sites and species combinations indicating that many highway structures house more than 1,000 bats. 

“This sample is undoubtedly an underestimate of highway structure roost use in the state, but currently the frequency of this bat-highway structure interaction is unknown,” Robertson noted. That’s why Texas DOT began this study in partnership with Texas A&M; conducting a systematic inventory of bridges and culverts in the state to compare sites that have bats and those that don’t so experts can find what attracts bats to these structures.

Current research indicates that culverts that cross divided highways usually range about 200 to 400 feet long and are about 5 to 10 feet underground; creating “thermal qualities” that simulate the thermal qualities of caves, which could be a factor in the bat’s preference. By contrast, bridges provide numerous nooks, crannies and expansion grooves that offer tight spaces for bats to roost in.

A previous study by researchers at Boston University compared the development of Brazilian free-tailed pups raised in a cave to those raised under a bridge and found that the increased temperature of those bridges during the spring and summer resulted in pups that developed faster, weaned quicker, and had larger body sizes than those in a cave.

Undoubtedly, not all bridges or culverts are used by bats, thus Robertson hopes that Texas DOT’s ongoing study will help better illuminate the factors that attract bats to nest in them. “Better information on which bridges serve as important roosts for bats will also be extremely useful for the planning and timing of maintenance and construction of highway infrastructure,” he said.

Part 2 of this story will examine the work New Mexico DOT is doing to make its bridge structures more “bat friendly.”

ETAP Podcast: Minnesota DOT’s Margaret Anderson Kelliher

In this episode of the Environmental Technical Assistance Program or ETAP podcast, host Bernie Wagenblast interviews Margaret Anderson Kelliher, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, about her state’s perspectives on environmental sustainability.

Anderson Kelliher, who serves as chair of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Committee on the Environment and Sustainability, explains on the podcast that Minnesota looks for the “triple bottom line” when evaluating sustainability: how sustainability efforts affects the health of people, how it impacts the environment, and how it impacts the economy.

To listen to this podcast episode, click here.

New Jersey DOT’s Role in State Transportation Electrification Plan

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) has set forth an aggressive goal of achieving 100 percent clean energy by 2050 for the state – and the New Jersey Department of Transportation will play a key role in helping attain that goal.

The agency is part of a broad statewide transportation electrification effort in line with the Rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI; a multi-state, market-based program that establishes a regional cap on carbon dioxide or CO2 emissions.

In mid-April, the governor announced that RGGI auction proceeds will provide $80 million each year to programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with a new, more all-inclusive Energy Master Plan outlining several state investment strategies that aim to electrify New Jersey’s transportation sector. 

Along with the Master Plan, the RGGI Strategic Funding Plan details how to move toward the goal of a greener transportation system. New Jersey’s plan for its RGGI revenue is designed to support legislation signed in January that calls for the state to have 330,000 registered electric vehicles or EVs by 2025 and 2 million by 2040. It also plans for 400 fast charging stations at 200 locations along major highways and communities by 2025.

To that end, the New Jersey DOT and several other state agencies –  NJ TRANSIT, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Community Affairs, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and the Economic Development Authority – will work together within their respective areas to achieve the RGGI’s strategic goals. 

The specific strategies laid out for the New Jersey DOT within the plan include:

  • Promoting the use of the Logo Sign Program and Tourist-Oriented Directional Signing or “LOGOS” program to display the locations of EV charging stations on blue state highway exit signs. The state will also work collaboratively with local governments on transportation planning and land use/housing planning that will enable multi-modal transportation and EV-ready infrastructure.
  • Working to prioritize multi-modal accommodations in projects located in low- and moderate-income and environmental justice communities to promote more pedestrian and bicycle traffic as those two modes are part of the RGGI’s emission reduction strategies.
  • Looking at re-evaluating “Level of Service” metrics that measure the quality of transportation services and traffic flow and develop plans to mitigate congestion and reduce idling time for vehicles. 
  • Working with local governments to promote implementation of “Complete Streets” policies in municipalities, possibly with additional grants and incentives. As part of these efforts, the New Jersey DOT and NJ TRANSIT will continue to lead a multi-agency “Smart Growth” program called the Transit Village Initiative, which helps municipalities redevelop or revitalize their downtowns into dense communities within a half-mile of transit centers.
  • Deploying Transportation Systems Management & Operations or TSMO strategies to relieve road congestion through signal optimization technology; an effort funded via the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program to make traffic patterns more efficient and further reduce idling.

Yet even as New Jersey begins moving towards electrifying its transportation sector, the unintended consequences of funding shortages must also be considered.

The draft fiscal year 2020 New Jersey Transportation Capital Program, which funds both the New Jersey DOT and NJ TRANSIT for a total of $3.679 billion, depends on motor fuels tax revenues for funding – already significantly reduced due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As New Jersey encourages use of electric-powered vehicles, the state is also considering a replacement for lost fuel tax revenue and is participating in the I-95 Coalition Mileage Based User Fee study to see how such fees would affect different communities and how they would be collected.