Posts – Page 74 – Environmental Technical Assistance Program Newsletter

FEMA Issues COVID-19/Hurricane Response Guidance

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued a 59-page document that provides Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial or SLTT officials – along with those of private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGO) – guidance on how to respond to both the COVID-19 pandemic and hurricanes simultaneously.

“As SLTT partners continue to prepare for hurricane season and other emergent incidents, emergency managers should review and adjust existing plans – including continuity of operations (COOP) plans – to account for the realities and risks of COVID-19 in their prioritization of life-saving and life-sustaining efforts,” FEMA said in the document.” All reviews and adjustments to plans should factor-in FEMA’s planned operational posture, social distancing measures, CDC [Centers for Disease Control] guidance, and SLTT public health guidance.”

To ensure that operational decisions are made at the lowest level possible, FEMA is organizing to prioritize resources and adjudicate accordingly, if needed:

At the incident level, Federal Coordinating Officers (FCO – in consultation with regional Administrators – will work to address incident requirements using available resources. FCOs will proactively manage and identify risks and communicate new requirements to Regional Response Coordination Center or RRCCs as they arise.
At the regional level, the RRCCs will coordinate with FEMA personnel deployed to SLTT emergency operation centers and adjudicate resource requests until operational control is ready to be transitioned to the FCO at the incident level, when designated, and will adjudicate resources within their area of operation and coordinate with other RRCCs and the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) as required.
At the national level, the NRCC will coordinate with the regions on requirements and adjudicate resources to address national priorities.

Environmental News Highlights – June 3, 2020

A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals

Hawaii DOT Studies Potential Flooding Impact on Infrastructure

The Hawaii Department of Transportation is looking at a range of studies that examine how the potential for sea level rise (SLR) due to climate change could impact transportation infrastructure.

The most recent study, published in March of 2020 examined how direct marine inundation – which is when sea water levels rising above the current land levels – could affect Hawaii’s infrastructure but also at the impact of groundwater inundation, known as GWI.

GWI describes flooding that occurs as groundwater is lifted above the elevation of the ground surface and buried infrastructure; a difficult flooding type to manage since groundwater flooding cannot be stopped by coastal barriers such as sea walls.

That study – conducted by researchers at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology – predicts that sea level rise will likely cause large percentages of Hawaiian land area to be impacted GWI, with Shellie Habel, lead author of the study, noting that the results “highlight the need to readjust our thinking regarding the flooding that accompanies sea level rise.”

Ed Sniffen, Hawaii DOT’s deputy director for highways and chair of AASHTO’s Committee on Transportation System Security and Resilience, estimated in a previous report that it would cost around $15 billion to protect all of the state’s coastal highways from the rising seas. The figure assumed $7.5 million for every mile of road that will need to escape erosion in the next 50 to 100 years and $40 million for every mile of bridge.

The agency began a vulnerability study in December 2019 to develop a comprehensive inventory of “potential extreme weather impacts” to Hawaii’s highway system; impacts that include GWI, SLR, and other natural disasters such as rockfalls and landslides.

That’s in addition to a statewide assessment of SLR impacts conducted in 2017, which resulted in the Hawaii Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report. That report predicted a 3.2-foot rise in global sea levels by 2100, one that could be reached as early as year 2060 under more recently published scenarios. Chronic flooding with 3.2 feet of SLR could result in approximately 25,800 acres of land in the Hawaii unusable, with roughly 34 percent of that potentially lost land containing a large amount of highway infrastructure in Maui, Oahu, and Kauai alone.

Currently, over 38 miles of major roads could be chronically flooded across the Hawaiian Islands, ranging from residential roads to sections of coastal highways such as Kamehameha Highway on Oahu.

And much of that flooding could be from GWI rather than just direct marine inundation, thus not stoppable by traditional sea walls, which is why the Hawaii DOT is looking closely at creative engineering mitigation strategies for all flooding mechanisms for highways and bridge foundations.

Part of the agency’s flood mitigation planning is based on a study conducted for the Hawaii DOT by the University of Hawaii – called State Coastal Highway Program Report – released in August 2019. That report uses a new, detailed formula developed by the university to rank nearshore roads in order of urgency. Most of its suggested mitigation efforts focus on either “hardening” the roads and bridges or relocating them all together to higher ground.

As a result, for the next two decades or so, the Hawaii DOT plans to strengthen and maintain the roadways as they are in place. For the future, it is also looking at elevating roadways and even relocating highways further inland and tunneling through parts of mountains to make that happen. For instance, elevating the highway on Oahu’s Windward side could involve raising the road as high as nine feet. An alternative solution would be to relocate the highway further inland which would likely include tunneling through parts of the Koolau mountains at greater cost, the agency noted.

Webinar Series Focuses on Community Outreach Techniques

A webinar series sponsored by Smart Growth America is examining virtual public engagement practices for community outreach, examining a range of online platforms, as well as email and social media, as means of public involvement on projects and programs.

The group is holding three webinars on the subject, the first of which was held on April 28 and is now available via recording. The next two webinars are in June and cover:

Tools & Techniques for Virtual Community Engagement: To be held June 2, speakers will take a deeper dive into the latest techniques and tools being used to conduct virtual engagement.
Equitable Inclusion in Virtual Community Engagement: To be held June 16, it will feature a discussion among top equity experts to understand the considerations that must be when conducting virtual community engagement.

“Online engagement might not be the best platform for every community to engage every citizen on every topic,” Smart Growth America noted. “But necessity is often the mother of invention and the need to stay home has exposed inequities and fostered innovations that have started many community leaders thinking about new and better ways to achieve wider and more meaningful representation in public decision-making.” For more information, registration, and recordings, click here.

Environmental News Highlights – May 27, 2020

A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals

FEDERAL ACTION

Outdoor Industry groups call on Congress to invest in outdoor recreation infrastructure – KSL

Virginia, Maryland, D.C. to sue EPA over failure to enforce pollution reduction targets in Chesapeake Bay – Virginia Mercury

EPA Clean Air Panel Chair Dismisses His Oil Industry Ties, Slams Harvard Study on Air Pollution and COVID Risks – DESMOG

Trump’s EPA must strengthen standards for deadly particle pollution – The Hill (Opinion)

AG opposes federal effort to scale back environmental regulations by replacing WOTUS rule – WNEM

Federal appeals court rules on ‘Good Neighbor’ provision of Clean Air Act – Jurist.org

A Stimulus Proposal Emerges From The Ashes With GOP Support: Infrastructure Spending – Forbes

COVID-19

Carbon emissions dropped 17 percent globally amid coronavirus – NBC News

Minnesota, other states sue EPA for ‘blanket waiver’ as nation fights pandemic – StarTribune

Coronavirus is reshaping urban mobility – Axios

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Groups Propose Tweaks to FEMA Infrastructure Resilience Guidance – Transport Topics

Disaster-heavy year risks a FEMA ‘code red’ for hurricane season – Virgin Islands Daily News

Bill Would Direct $50M Annually for Clean Energy to Low-Income Areas – NJ Spotlight

SunZia offers to move project out of White Sands – Albuquerque Journal

AIR QUALITY

Texas’ Air Quality Improved During The Stay-At-Home Order. Here’s Why It Probably Won’t Last – Houston Public Media

Pollution case against U.S. Steel dismissed – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (subscription required)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Op-Ed: Coronavirus Crisis Demands Environmental-Justice Response – NJ Spotlight (Opinion)

Op-ed: Environmental Justice Task Force reveals first draft definition – Washington State Wire (Opinion)

Report says removing state energy mandates would save consumers money – Bakersfield.com

NATURAL RESOURCES

Guest opinion: It’s not a food fight, it’s a water fight – Naples Daily News (Opinion)

Tree Deaths in Urban Settings Are Linked to Leaks from Natural Gas Pipelines Below Streets – InsideClimate News

Ripple Effect: When politics ignores science, it jeopardizes local clean water – The Hill (Opinion)

Loss of Louisiana marshes that protect New Orleans is ‘probably inevitable,’ study finds – Washington Post (subscription required)

CULTURAL RESOURCES

UO archaeologists help keep state road projects moving – University of Oregon

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Transit Is Being Drawn to an On-Demand Model in Kansas – Government Technology

Want to buy a bike? Get ready for a long wait thanks to the coronavirus pandemic – Changing America

CDC Issues Tools To Guide Reopening Of Schools, Businesses, Transit – NPR

As recycling rate drops, California should embrace innovative recycling technologies – CalMatters (Commentary)

Safe Transportation for Every Pedestrian (STEP) – FHWA Center for Accelerating Innovation

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Data sharing presents major opportunities for transportation – National Academies

TRB Webinar: How Much Will COVID-19 Affect Travel Behavior? – TRB

TRB Webinar: Transportation Experiences and Next Steps in the COVID-19 Pandemic – TRB

TRB Webinar: A Research Roadmap for Transportation and Public Health – TRB

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

Review of California Wildfire Evacuations from 2017 to 2019 – University of California (Report)

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

EPA Guidance; Administrative Procedures for Issuance and Public Petitions – EPA (Proposed Rule)

Environmental Impact Statements; Notice of Availability – EPA (Notice)

Request for Nominations for the 2020 Clean Air Excellence Awards Program – EPA (Notice)

Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Requirements for Generators, Transporters, and Waste Management Facilities Under the RCRA Hazardous Waste Manifest System – EPA (Notice)

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

National Register of Historic Places; Notification of Pending Nominations and Related Actions – National Park Service (Notice)

Environmental News Highlights – May 20, 2020

A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals

FEDERAL ACTION

Ranchers, conservation groups unhappy with the new clean water rule, but for different reasons – NM Political Report

Buffett-backed giant solar project near Las Vegas wins Trump’s blessing – Los Angeles Times

Green Groups Ask D.C. Circuit to Uphold Pollution Safeguards for Freight Trailers – Environmental Defense Fund (Press release)

Lawsuit: US plan for Indiana forest could taint water supply – Daily Independent

Trump Administration Waives Environmental Safeguards to Fast-Track 69 Miles of Border Fence Construction – Government Executive

COVID-19

Proposed Phase 4 COVID-19 Relief Bill Contains $15B for State DOTs – AASHTO Journal

More People Turning to Cars Because of Fears of Coronavirus Infection on Public Transit – Weather Channel

COVID-19 Will Exacerbate Rural Transportation Funding Needs, TRIP Finds – Transport Topics

How Will Americans Commute After Lockdowns End? – CityLab

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Approves FEMA Section 106 Emergency Procedures for COVID-19 Emergency/Disaster Response Undertakings – Insurance News Net

NEPA

Public Strongly Opposes CEQ’s National Environmental Policy Act Proposal – EHS Daily Advisor

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Illinois to ‘Fast Track’ $25M in Infrastructure Grants – AASHTO Journal

Transformative solar power agreement will help Emory reduce greenhouse gas emissions – Emory News Center

New Jersey Makes Significant Commitments to Transportation Electrification – ActNews.com

Changes for 2020 Atlantic hurricane season: New storm surge map, 60-hour forecast message – Times-Picayune

AIR QUALITY

Many cities around the globe saw cleaner air after being shut down for COVID-19. But not Chicago. – Chicago Tribune

Cleaner Air Is Actually Hobbling California’s Climate Fight – Bloomberg Green

Lawsuit Targets Arch Coal’s Illegal Air Pollution at Colorado Coal Mine – Center for Biological Diversity (Press release)

Has the pandemic cleaned up our air? Answers could lie on your doorstep – WHYY

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

House Dems’ stimulus bill aims to fight coronavirus with ‘environmental justice grants’ – Fox News

Restarting Florida’s economy by weakening water quality and growth management is a bad idea | Column – Tampa Bay Times (Opinion)

NATURAL RESOURCES

Reusing wastewater at Minnesota’s truck stations could help conserve state’s water resources – Catalyst

In a First, Renewable Energy Is Poised to Eclipse Coal in U.S. – New York Times (account required)

Utah Inland Port Authority signs deal with Rocky Mountain power for renewable energy – Salt Lake Tribune

Navigable Waters Protection Rule (formerly the Clean Water Rule) – JD Supra

Panel to consider petition seeking Pecos River protections – KOB

For the first time, Washington will regulate Columbia-Snake River dams if they violate federal pollution rules – Inlander

CULTURAL RESOURCES

What’s a historic district, anyway? – Greater Greater Washington

How Historic Preservation Shaped the Early United States – Smithsonian Magazine

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Coronavirus News: 58 days since last pedestrian killed in NYC; longest stretch ever recorded: Officials – WABC

Transportation Ushers In A New Age Of Agile Experimentation – Forbes

Ten Cities Recognized with “Walk Friendly” Designation – Walk Friendly Communities

Uncharted Territory: Building New Pathways To E-Mobility Resilience – Forbes

Boston is planning to repurpose streets for pedestrians during the coronavirus outbreak – Boston.com

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Paths to biking, walking improvements supported by wealth of research – TRB

TRB Webinar: Traffic Trends and Safety in a COVID-19 World – TRB

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List: Partial Deletion of the Omaha Lead Superfund Site – EPA (Proposed Rule)

Withdrawal of Certain Federal Water Quality Criteria Applicable to Washington – EPA (Final Rule)

Final Flood Hazard Determinations (LA & WA) – FEMA (Notice)

Proposed Flood Hazard Determinations (MI) – FEMA (Notice, correction)

Changes in Flood Hazard Determinations (AR, CO, CT, FL, KY, GA, MA, MS, OK, NC, TX, VA) – FEMA (Notice)

Emergency Management Priorities and Allocations System (EMPAS) – FEMA (Interim Final Rule)

National Wetland Plant List – Army Corps of Engineers (Notice)

Allocations of Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Allowances From New Unit Set-Asides for 2020 Control Periods – EPA (Notice of Data Availability)

Pine Tree Poisoning Provides Lessons for Oregon DOT

The Oregon Department of Transportation is approaching the end of a multi-year environmental and public relations ordeal in which a seemingly routine herbicide-spraying project in a national forest poisoned 2,300 towering Ponderosa pine trees that eventually had to be cut down.

By June, the agency should be grinding down the last of the stumps left by its massive 2019 logging of herbicide-poisoned trees along U.S. 20 in the Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon.

Aside from the wood chips, what will remain are valuable environmental lessons the Oregon DOT is taking to heart.

The problem began when the Oregon DOT contracted with Jefferson County Public Works in 2013 to spray the herbicide aminocyclopyrachlor – also known as Perspective – along a 12-mile stretch of U.S. 20 to kill vegetation that could pose a fire hazard.

In 2014, U.S. Forest Service rangers noticed some trees were stressed, but no one linked it to the herbicide until the spraying was completed in 2015. By then, the damage was done and the Oregon DOT determined the trees – some of which were 36 inches in diameter – were safety hazards and had to be removed.

Environmental groups and residents criticized the agency, its contractor and the U.S. Forest Service for using the herbicide. Although a review of the decision-making process did not fully put the blame on the Oregon DOT, “at best, it wasn’t clear,” explained Joel McCarroll, Oregon DOT’s District 10 manager.

“We took full responsibility. It was not a comfortable decision, but I felt it was an easy decision,” he emphasized. “It just didn’t make sense to lay the blame off on someone else. It was just easier to go forward and get this done.”

To that end, the agency held open houses for public discussion of its remediation plan because “we needed to be transparent with the public – we had more than 2,000 trees that had to come down,” McCarroll noted. “We were very clear about the criteria and the process we were using. And, people were fine. I’ve had people come unglued on me for other things at public meetings, but these crowds were respectful.”

Although Perspective was legal to use, a warning label about its use around pine trees was added before the project ended, but no one caught the change. “We overlooked a warning label, and that’s one of the process-improvement changes we’ve made,” McCarroll said.

In response to the tree killing, Oregon became the first state to prohibit the use of aminocyclopyrachlor in numerous applications on May 9, including along rights-of-way. Additionally, each Oregon DOT district now has an integrated vegetation program, and personnel within the district are cross trained to prevent a loss of institutional knowledge, McCarroll noted.

“Learn from our experience – you still have to have the expertise internally, even if you’re contracting out spraying,” he explained. “If you’re dealing with highways that are on federal lands, make sure the decision-making is clear. And it’s important to be public about your process.”

FHWA Unveils New CMAQ Emissions Calculator

The Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement or CMAQ program offered via the Federal Highway Administration provides funding to state and local governments for transportation projects and programs that reduce emissions and help improve air quality and congestion. And to help those agencies track the emissions benefits of their projects, the FHWA developed and is now rolling out a new CMAQ Emissions Calculator Toolkit.

“CMAQ project justification as well as annual reporting require the development of reliable air quality benefit estimates,” the agency explained. “Realizing that every potential project sponsor may not have the capacity for developing independent air quality benefit estimates, the FHWA has undertaken the initiative of developing a series of spreadsheet based tools to facilitate the calculation of representative air quality benefit data.”

There are 10 tools currently available which cover a wide range of CMAQ-eligible project types, including: bicycle-pedestrian improvements; transit service and fleet expansion; alternative fuels and vehicles; diesel retrofit/repower; and traffic flow improvements.

More information about the new CMAQ tools can be found by clicking here.

Environmental News Highlights – May 13, 2020

A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals

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FEDERAL ACTION

Senate Committee Approves Water Infrastructure Measures – Transport Topics

Chairs DeFazio, Napolitano Introduce Legislation to Block Implementation of Trump’s Dirty Water Rule – House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Press release)

The Trump administration is planning to protect fewer waterways. New Jersey is suing to stop that.– NJ.com

National Transportation Groups Call on Congress to Fast-Track Investments in Transit and Active Transportation – Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

Agency leans on 1870s ‘housekeeping’ law to block science – E&E News

Lawmakers Still Eyeing Highway Bill Despite Coronavirus Relief Efforts – Transport Topics

The Trump Administration Is Reversing Nearly 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List. – New York Times (subscription required)

COVID-19

Transportation Fallout from COVID-19 Pandemic Continues – AASHTO Journal

Coronavirus cuts transportation funding, puts major road and bridge projects on hold – USA Today

Apple, Google ban use of location tracking in contact tracing apps – Reuters

Mobility Trends in New York City During COVID-19 Pandemic: Analyses of transportation modes throughout March 2020 – University Transportation Research Center (Report)

Coronavirus: Environmental Savior or Devastator? – Fordham Observer

IPATH Recorded Webinar: Transport Impacts And Innovations: COVID-19 – IPATH

A Pandemic That Cleared Skies and Halted Cities Isn’t Slowing Global Warming – Bloomberg (subscription required)

NEPA

Public Strongly Opposes CEQ’s National Environmental Policy Act Proposal – EHS Daily Advisor

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Multiple flooding sources threaten Honolulu’s infrastructure – University of Hawai’i

Fortress Charleston: Will Walling Off the City Hold Back the Waters? – Yale Environment360

AIR QUALITY

NOAA Researchers: Air Quality In Colorado Improving, Some Other States Not So Much – KCNC

New data shows how much cleaner Utah’s air is during the pandemic. Will it drive future decisions? – Salt Lake Tribune

NATURAL RESOURCES

EPA’s Clean Water Act rollbacks must be stopped – Orlando Sentinel (Commentary)

Louisiana DOTD Launches Highway Cleanup Effort – AASHTO Journal

CULTURAL RESOURCES

National Trust urges Congress to support historic preservation efforts during coronavirus crisis – The Architect’s Newspaper

Historic downtown San Jose building could pose issues for Jay Paul’s proposed mega campus -Mercury News (subscription required)

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Bike detection sensors installed at busy Saanich intersection – Victoria (B.C.) News

Safe Transportation For Every Pedestrian – FHWA’s EDC News

Seattle to permanently close 20 miles of streets to traffic so residents can exercise and bike on them – CNN

What do ATA’s peer organizations across the country think of open streets? – Streetsblog Chicago

The Pandemic Will Mean Big, Lasting Changes for Urban Mobility – Government Technology

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

TRB Webinar: Enhancing Monarch Butterfly Habitats Along Roadway Corridors – TRB

TRB Webinar: Evolution of Project Delivery Information Systems – TRB

TRB Straight to Recording for All: Landscape Design Practices for Roadside Water Management – TRB

Telework transportation research in light of the COVID-19 pandemic – TRB

Agencies Capture Value From Transportation Improvements – Innovator (FHWA)

Webinar: Impact Of Covid-19 On Mobility And New York’s Response – Intelligent Transportation Society of New York (link to registration)

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Southern Bighorn Solar Project on the Moapa River Indian Reservation, Clark County, NV – Bureau of Indian Affairs (Notice of Intent)

Draft Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Fisheries Research Conducted and Funded by the Southwest Fisheries Science Center – NOAA (Notice)

Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Lake County, OR; Notice of Intent To Prepare a Bighorn Sheep Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement – Fish and Wildlife Service (Notice)

Dos Osos Reservoir Replacement Project, Contra Costa County, California; Draft Categorical Exclusion and Draft Habitat Conservation Plan – Fish and Wildlife Service (Notice)

West Virginia Regulatory Program – Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (Final Rule)

Notice of Lodging of Proposed Consent Decree Under the Clean Air Act – Justice Department (Notice)

Colorado DOT taking a lead role in state’s EV plans

Colorado is embarking on an ambitious program to have 940,000 electric vehicles (EVs) registered by 2030, and the Colorado Department of Transportation is tasked with helping to lead the charge within the department and throughout the state.

The Colorado Electric Vehicle Plan 2020 also looks beyond 2030, setting a “long-term goal of 100 percent of light-duty vehicles being electric and 100% of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles being zero emission.” The plan taps Colorado DOT as one of the main players to develop the state’s strategy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by replacing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with EVs.

According to Sophie Shulman, the agency’s chief of innovative mobility, the Colorado DOT’s role in the state’s EV plan is two-fold. First, it must begin replacing its current fleet of ICE vehicles to zero emission vehicles (ZEV) whenever practical. The second – and bigger – task for the department is to work on several fronts to increase ZEV use among private, commercial, and transit entities and to support further growth of the state’s EV charging infrastructure.

The plan’s goals “complement and build upon our existing work in the field of vehicle electrification, such as our management of transit electrification grants, our planning coordination through the public-private Freight Advisory Council and our support of charging infrastructure and vehicle grant programs,” Shulman said.

While Colorado’s 28,722 EVs on the road represent a 25 percent increase from August 2019, the state will have to consistently post a 40 percent annual increase to hit the 940,000 EV mark by 2030. In addition, the Colorado DOT and other agencies have until 2021 to “establish timelines, identify strategies and dedicate sufficient resources” to convert the entire state transit fleet to an all-ZEV fleet by 2050, with at least 1,000 ZEV transit vehicles on the road by 2030.

An added challenge is that the electrification of medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, which make up the vast majority of transit vehicles, has lagged behind the development of passenger EVs for a host of reasons, including battery issues, range problems and cost barriers.

However, a recent report from Atlas Public Policy determined that purchasing such EV vehicles can be cost-effective if low-cost charging and vehicle incentives remain in play.

Developing strategies and plans for EV infrastructure and purchasing incentives also are on Colorado DOT’s to-do list as well, noted Shulman. She explained that the agency has “a long history” of supporting EV incentive programs and charging projects, including the agency’s work on REV West, a multi-state effort to build an EV charging network through the Intermountain West states. The EV plans are “ambitious and will push us further than ever before,” Shulman added. “We are excited by this challenge and eager to partner with industry, state, and local agencies and Coloradans to make the plan’s vision a reality.”