Volpe provides transportation agencies with tools and resources to help them introduce environmental considerations early in planning and to use documented planning information to inform the environmental review process.

The Challenge

Federally funded highway and transit projects must flow from metropolitan and statewide transportation planning processes. However, oftentimes the environmental analysis produced to meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is disconnected from the analysis used to develop long-range transportation plans or planning-level corridor and subarea studies.

When the NEPA and transportation planning processes are not well coordinated, the NEPA process may lead to the development of information that is more appropriately developed in the planning process, resulting in duplication of work and delays in transportation improvements.

The Solution

Volpe provides transportation agencies with tools and resources to help them introduce environmental considerations early in planning and to use documented planning information to inform the environmental review process.

Since the inception of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Planning and Environment Linkages (PEL) program in 2006, Volpe has provided ongoing program management support and developed technical assistance and outreach materials for FHWA stakeholders.

Specific activities include the following:

• Responding to critical FHWA policy changes and initiatives, including MAP-21, SAFETEA-LU, Every Day Counts, and the Second Strategic Highway Research Program.
• Designing and facilitating peer exchanges on using corridor planning to inform NEPA, environmental consultation, and applications of geographic information systems for PEL.
• Developing web-based trainings that explain how to implement the PEL approach to transportation decision making.
• Documenting case studies that summarize the experience of states and metropolitan areas that implement the PEL approach.
• Creating and maintaining the PEL website, a comprehensive resource for transportation agencies and their stakeholders to learn more about PEL.

The Impact

With ongoing Volpe support, FHWA’s PEL program has increased development and dissemination of resources to support stakeholders in understanding and implementing a more efficient and informed approach to transportation decision making.

Integrating transportation planning and the environmental process enables state and metropolitan transportation agencies to form programs and projects that serve the community's transportation and environmental needs effectively, while at the same time minimizing duplication of effort and streamlining project delivery.