Summer 2003, Volume 9, No. 2
AASHTO Environmental Stewardship Program Posts 2002 Program Results
The 2002 Program Results report highlights environmental
stewardship trends among the 40 projects registered by the 22 states
that participated in the first year of the Demonstration Program.
The report also outlines some of the challenges presented by the
projects, and a number of "lessons learned" that will be useful
to states considering similar efforts.
The 2002 registered projects draw from all of the Three Approaches
to environmental stewardship that AASHTO put forward as a framework
for discussing stewardship initiatives. Indeed, many states combined
two or more of the approaches in a single project. The stewardship
approach most frequently found among the 2002 projects is "institutionalizing
organizational changes." This outcome reflects the high level of
commitment that state transportation agencies have made to the integration
of environmental stewardship into their everyday business practices.
CTE and NCDOT Conduct TRB Midyear Meeting in Wilmington, NC
With the historic, coastal community of Wilmington, NC, as the
backdrop, the midyear meeting of the Transportation Research Board
Committees on Environmental Analysis in Transportation (A1F02),
and Landscape and Environmental Design (A2A05) was conducted July
14 – 17, drawing more than 130 transportation and environmental
professionals from across the country.
Co-hosted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and
the Center for Transportation and the Environment, the meeting was
titled "Partnerships for Environmentally Sensitive Transportation."
It featured opening keynotes by Roger Sheats, NCDOT Deputy Secretary
for Environment, Planning, and Local Government Affairs, and Colonel
Charles Alexander, Commander and District Engineer for the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District. Both agencies are
due to sign a memorandum of agreement by the end of the month that
will detail implementation of the state's new Ecosystem Enhancement
Program, which facilitates compensatory mitigation of wetland losses
in advance of transportation project impacts.
The meeting also featured a keynote address by Cynthia Burbank,
FHWA Associate Administrator for Planning, Environment, and Realty
Services, on the topic "Transportation Reauthorization." Ms. Burbank
summarized USDOT's reauthorization proposal, with primary emphasis
on environmental stewardship, environmental streamlining, and transportation
planning. The technical program contained 25 presentations showcasing
innovative partnerships and collaborative approaches to addressing
both human and environmental concerns in transportation planning
and project development. Presentation topics included community
impact assessment, context-sensitive design, secondary and cumulative
impacts assessment, environmental streamlining, safety and landscape
features, and wildlife habitat connectivity. The NC Ferry Division
provided transportation along the Cape Fear River to the field trip
sites showing environmental mitigation for the Wilmington Bypass
and Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard bridge projects. Corporate
sponsors and exhibitors at this event included Remote Data Systems,
Inc., HDR Engineering, Inc., Parsons Brinckerhoff, ARCADIS, URS
Corporation-North Carolina, The Louis Berger Group, Inc., Carter
& Burgess, Buck Engineering, and HNTB.
Copies of the final program and presenters' PowerPoint presentations
will be made available on CD-ROM and on the meeting
Web site.
For more information, contact James Martin, CTE associate director,
(919) 515-8620 or jbm@unity.ncsu.edu.
Registration for ICOET 2003 Underway
The 2003 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation
("Making Connections") will be conducted August 24 – 29 in
Lake Placid, New York. The conference will feature more than 100
technical presentations and posters on improving the consideration
of ecological concerns in transportation planning and project development.
New York State DOT is the host agency and coordinator of the environmental
mitigation field trips scheduled midweek during the conference in
the Adirondacks region. The conference opening session will include
remarks by Interim Chair of the Adirondack Park Agency James Townsend
and NYSDOT Commissioner Joseph Boardman.
CTE is serving as the lead organizer and a sponsor of this event.
The Federal Highway Administration is a key sponsor, along with
the USDA Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Environmental
Protection Agency, Washington State DOT, New York State DOT, Florida
DOT, Western Transportation Institute (Montana State University),
Humane Society of the United States, and Defenders of Wildlife.
ICOET 2003 is also being sponsored by the TRB Committee on Environmental
Analysis in Transportation and the AASHTO Standing Committee on
the Environment.
Registration is underway, and space is limited. For more information,
please visit the conference
Web site or contact Katie McDermott, CTE technology transfer
director, (919) 515-8034, kpm@unity.ncsu.edu.
CTE Bids Farewell to Two Staff
Janet Myers, J.D., CTE senior fellow, left the Center
in May 2003 to accept a position in the right-of-way section of the
Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty Services at the Federal
Highway Administration in Washington, DC. As an attorney and former
right-of-way director for Maine DOT, Janet came to CTE in September
2000. In three short years, she helped to launch exciting new initiatives
that have left an indelible impression on CTE's education and outreach
programs. Janet was an instrumental partner to the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials during the early meetings
that outlined the development of AASHTO's business plan for the new
Center for Environmental Excellence. After the establishment of the
center, Janet assisted with administering AASHTO's environmental stewardship
demonstration program and building the program Web
site, which CTE continues to host.
Along with her work for AASHTO-CEE, Janet participated in the
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 25-24,
Monitoring, Analyzing, and Reporting on Environmental Streamlining
Projects.
In addition to representing CTE on national projects, Janet proved
to be an expert facilitator at home. She led a series of workshops
that helped NCDOT and its partner agencies re-design the permitting
process in North Carolina. She also facilitated a series of roundtables
involving more than 12 stakeholder agencies and organizations focused
on developing a collaborative approach to achieving transportation
conformity in North Carolina in response to EPA's new standards
for ozone and particulate matter. The North Carolina Air Quality
Roundtables, as they have come to be known, continue to convene.
The series was the recipient of the 2002 Innovation Award by the
National Association of Development Organizations.
Janet has been a tireless advocate for the effective integration
of environmental issues in transportation planning and project development.
She is also an inspiring professional and colleague, and we wish
her the best in her new position.
Lisa Terwilliger, CTE program specialist, will be
leaving CTE at the end of July 2003, but – fortunately for CTE
– will not be going far. Lisa has served as editor of CTE News
& Notes for the last two years, and as information coordinator
for CTE's role in developing and maintaining the Web sites and other
print materials for the AASHTO environmental stewardship demonstration
program and NCHRP 25-24 environmental streamlining project. She also
provided logistics support for the International Conference on Ecology
and Transportation, for which CTE serves as lead organizer.
Lisa has brought an enthusiasm and resourcefulness to her work
that has drawn the admiration of not only her colleagues at CTE,
but also the Center's many clients. She will be applying her creative
design and writing talents to her new position as an Information
and Communications Specialist in the Communications Office of the
Institute for Transportation Research and Education at North Carolina
State University. ITRE serves as home base for CTE's operation and
for five additional work groups, including public transportation,
pupil transportation, highway operations and safety, municipal technical
services, and the NC Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP).
Lisa will continue to be actively involved in the development of
many of CTE's Web- and print-based materials, as well as providing
support for these additional work groups. We wish her the very best
and look forward to continuing to work with her in her new position.
AASHTO Online Highlight: Colorado Shortgrass Prairie Initiative
The AASHTO Environmental Stewardship Demonstration Program
highlights different projects registered with the program throughout
the year. This is an excerpt from a recent "Online Highlight" detailing
Colorado's Shortgrass Prairie Initiative.
The Shortgrass Prairie Initiative is a cooperative effort between
the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA), US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), The
Nature Conservancy, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources
and the Colorado Division of Wildlife. This memorandum commits these
agencies to identify mitigation opportunities in the Colorado shortgrass
prairie ecosystem. The partners will work with local communities
and landowners to preserve thousands of acres of shortgrass prairie
in eastern Colorado. This initiative covers anticipated impacts
(approximately 22,000 acres) to thirty-six species and habitats
in CDOT right-of-way from CDOT projects identified in their 20-year
transportation plan. It is hoped that mitigating these anticipated
impacts will result in the preservation of critical species habitats,
thus reducing the likelihood that they will require protection under
the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In addition, ESA requirements
will be addressed on a system wide basis resulting in an expedited
project processing time.
The impact of the loss and decline of herbivores such as bison,
elk and prairie dog, combined with water and wind erosion, development
of dams and irrigation systems, invasive species, fire suppression,
and declining water availability, have contributed to the shortgrass
prairie's status as one of the most imperiled ecosystems in North
America. Many of the species associated with the shortgrass prairie
ecosystem are listed as threatened or endangered. Some are deemed
sensitive or declining. Under CDOT's ecosystem plan, thirty-six
species will be protected. Affected species include the mountain
plover and the black-tailed prairie dog. Associated species that
will benefit are the burrowing owl, the swift fox, and the ferruginous
hawk.
There were two primary components to the impact analysis: 1) identification
of range and distribution and 2) calculation of impacted acres based
on defined impact zones. The operating assumption was that, if a
species was known to utilize a given vegetative community for any
part of its life cycle, the species was presumed present and impacted
and CDOT would make plans to "mitigate." The impact assessment approach
and conservation concept were crafted in partnership with public
interest and research organizations, including The Nature Conservancy,
the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, and the Rocky Mountain Bird
Observatory. The Farm Bureau, the Colorado Cattleman's Association,
and local governments fed into the process and were consulted at
various points. Environmental organizations such as the National
Wildlife Federation, Audubon, and the Sierra Club were also consulted.
After an initial species list was developed, all existing information
was collected and assembled in a geographic information system.
CDOT met with experts in the state to identify range and potential
impacts from CDOT projects, and types of mitigation that would benefit
the species and ecosystem. Approximately 100 declining animal and
plant species within that area were identified.
This project is unique for several reasons, including its habitat-based
analysis and ecosystem recovery goals, its focus on species not
yet listed as threatened or endangered, the coverage of major as
well as minor projects, and the scale of the conservation effort.
The initiative has been designed to satisfy Section 7 requirements
under the Endangered Species Act for listed and non-listed species
and will help CDOT avoid potential project and process delays while
protecting and enhancing the environment. While CDOT has budgeted
up to $5 million for conservation of property, land easements, long-term
management and reporting requirements to FWS, costs ultimately will
be reduced because the proposed plan invests funds for long-term
preservation of entire ecosystems instead of spending significant
sums to offset minor environmental impacts through mitigation projects
scattered across the plains.
The plan has not been without challenges. "Not only do you have
to work creatively with agencies and non-profits," commented George
Gerstle, Manager of Transportation Planning Branch with CDOT. "You
have to work to re-design internal procedures and concerns within
the DOT as well." CDOT and FHWA staff are using agency policies
supporting a proactive ecosystem and outlining the DOT's ability
to work with quasi-public resource conservation entities to accomplish
the plan's objectives. Of particular use was FHWA's July 1995 Guidelines
for Federal-aid Participation in the Mitigation of Impacts to Upland
Ecosystems and the Establishment of Ecological Mitigation Banks.
These guidelines establish minimum conditions and requirements for
Federal-aid funding of ecological mitigation, including development
of ecological mitigation banks along the same general concepts as
wetland banks. The approaches outlined in the guidance are especially
useful when mitigating impacts to endangered species.
NCHRP Posts Interim Research Report
The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project
25-24 has posted its First Interim Report. The Report provides an
intermediate review of the research project and its results to date
and covers the research approach and initial findings. The report
also provides an interpretation of the pilot project intermediate
findings and results.
The ten projects selected by AASHTO, FHWA, and EPA for the pilot
program on environmental streamlining involves seven states: California,
Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin.
CTE/NCDOT Environmental Research Profiles
Methodology to Assess Soil, Hydrologic and Site Parameters
that Affect Wetland Restoration Success
Principal Investigator: Michael J. Vepraskas
Soil Science Department, North Carolina State University
(Project Period: July 1, 2000 – June 30, 2007)
Project Abstract:
Many wetland restoration efforts in North Carolina have failed to
meet the relatively limited restoration goals imposed by U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (Corps) permits due to multiple shortcomings
in: site assessment, identification of potential functions, methodologies
to restore wetland functions, and effective assessment of the progress
of functional restoration. This research will address these shortcomings
in a study of restoration success in Juniper Bay, a converted Carolina
bay depressional wetland in Robeson County, NC. The restoration
efforts will include:
- Plugging or filling of drainage ditches as necessary to restore
historical hydrologic functions;
- Reestablishing the forest community in accordance with community
types in the reference ecosystem; and
- Managing soil as needed to assist in hydrologic function restoration,
forest community establishment, and nutrient cycling processes.
This study will evaluate whether or not the restoration effort
strategies are sufficient to restore appropriate wetland functions
in Juniper Bay, and identify other factors and methods that must
be addressed in implementing wetland restoration in depressional
wetlands that were previously converted to agriculture.
For more information, visit CTE's
Research Web site.
Evaluation and Implementation of Best Management Practices
(BMPs) for NCDOT's Highway and Industrial Facilities
Principal Investigator: Dr. Jy Wu
Department of Civil Engineering, University of North Carolina at
Charlotte
(Project Period: July 1, 2003 – December 31, 2004)
Project Abstract:
Under the provisions of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES), NCDOT is required to perform the evaluation of BMP
effectiveness from industrial facilities and highway sites owned
by NDOT. The undertaking of BMP assessment requires an enormous
effort of engineering design, installation, field monitoring, synthesis
of literature information, analysis of monitoring data, and evaluation
of BMP performance and effectiveness. While NCDOT has researchers
working on field monitoring and sample collection and in BMP design
and drawing, with fourteen divisions requiring BMP design, installation,
and monitoring, there is a need for further assistance still. Therefore,
in this study, the team will provide evaluation and technical assistance
for the ongoing BMP implementation activities pertaining to equipment
washing/maintenance facilities and highway BMP monitoring sites.
Potential Benefits of the Project:
Results of BMP monitoring performance will support NCDOT in keeping
in compliance with its NPDES permit requirements. NCDOT will be
able to develop in-house technical competence in designing new BMPs
or retrofitting existing ones. NCDOT will also benefit from the
research experience that will provide potential cost savings in
the design and implementation of innovative BMP ideas.
For more information about this project, visit CTE's
Research Web site or contact the principal investigator at
jwu@uncc.edu or 704-547-4178.
Mark Your Calendar
August 24 – 29, 2003
International
Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET)
(Lake Placid, NY)
September 5 – 9, 2003
AASHTO Annual Meeting
(Minneapolis, MN)
September 6 – 10, 2003
The Wildlife Society
10th Annual Conference
(Burlington, VT)
September 9 – 12, 2003
2003
Regional Community Impact Assessment (CIA) Workshop
(Indianapolis, IN)
September 19 – 24, 2003
Mid-America
Trails & Greenways Conference
(Indianapolis, IN)
September 28 – October 2, 2003
Annual Meeting of
the America Public Transportation Association
(Salt Lake City, UT)
November 13 – 15, 2003
International Conference
on Habitat Fragmentation Due to Transport Infrastructure
(Brussels, Belgium)
November 17 – 20, 2003
2003 Joint
Ventures: Partners in Stewardship Conference
(Los Angeles, CA)
For more information, please visit CTE's CONVERGE
Web site.
For more information about CTE News and
Notes, contact Katie McDermott,
Editor
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