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Closing Session

Closing Session. Highlights. Over 265 participants! 98.182% representation of Division and FLH offices Bud Wright said ... FHWA serves as an agent of change, a leader of change that can help improve the quality of life. The key to success is building relationships and trust.

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Closing Session

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Closing Session

  2. Highlights • Over 265 participants! • 98.182% representation of Division and FLH offices • Bud Wright said ... • FHWA serves as an agent of change, a leader of change that can help improve the quality of life. • The key to success is building relationships and trust. • Meeting the Vital Few Goals would leave an important legacy for us all.

  3. Highlights (cont’d) • Cindy Burbank said ... • Federal agencies, collectively, need to redesign the process to make relationships with resource agencies better. • Three focus areas: 1. Work together to improve the quality of documentation and process 2. Linking planning and NEPA is Key 3. Continue to Improve the timeliness of the NEPA process

  4. Highlights (cont’d) • From the Field... • Three important roles for FHWA, include: 1. Working for the public good 2. Striving to achieve trust 3. Building partnerships to succeed • Three tools to lead change, include: 1. Passion 2. Support 3. Communication

  5. Highlights (cont’d) • CEQ said ... • FHWA does an EXCELLENT job and will continue to improve the process.

  6. The Week in Review • Vital Few Goals and Performance Measures • Interaction of Roads and Nature • Federal Lands - State of the Practice • Making Right-of-Way Work for You • Applied Technologies/GIS • Environmental Competency Building Program • Historic Preservation

  7. The Week in Review (cont’d) • Air Quality and NEPA • Tribal Issues • Context Sensitive Solutions • Reauthorization • Legal Issues • Indirect and Cumulative Impacts • Section 4(f)

  8. The Week in Review (cont’d) • Linking Planning and NEPA • Solutions to Delays Resulting from Section 7 • Public Involvement • Earth Fill and Water • Western Session • Big States Session • NAEP • AASHTO

  9. What’s New • Effective Practices • ReTRAC Compliance tracking system • ETDM • Tools and Technology • Geographic Information Systems • Negotiated Timeframe Wizard • Linking Planning and NEPA • New approach to EIS documentation

  10. What’s Ahead • Section 4(f) Policy Paper Revision • Litigation Overview Paper • Legal Sufficiency Guidance • Beneficial Uses Programmatic • Environmental Competency Building Program

  11. What We Heard • Friendly and dedicated group of people. • We are confronted by challenges and opportunities. • Environmental Stewardship can be viewed as a litmus test on environmental progress. • Find your own environmental ethic.

  12. What We Heard (cont’d) • Emphasize the role of the agency (FHWA) – not just the individual. • Successful dialogue with partners for one project will help future projects. • Keys to working with tribes are outreach, consultation, coordination, and communication. • Extra effort to involve the community early on will save time in the long run and will help the community develop ownership of the project.

  13. What We Heard (cont’d) • Everybody has a finance problem – have to form collaborative agreements to creatively deal with funding and staff shortages. • Keep informed, engaged, and do not relinquish control of the process. • Engage legal representation and opinions as early as possible in the NEPA process, especially if a suit is anticipated.

  14. What We Heard (cont’d) • We are always asked to provide more data – try to adhere to that which is required by law and regulatory statutes. • Document for making decisions not a document of the decision. • Need better record administration. • We need guidance and technical assistance.

  15. What We Heard (cont’d) • As the state of science changes, the documents need to reflect this. • The Environmental Competency Building (ECB) Program needs to address the environmental program – “beyond NEPA”. • Incorporate NEPA training into university curriculum for engineers. • Worst Case Scenarios are not reasonable considerations and do not inform decisions.

  16. What We Heard (cont’d) • There are many lower cost Context Sensitive Solutions. • Critter crossings should be included in CSS-speak and examples. • To better mitigate transportation projects, we need to understand the ecosystem. Avoid considering mitigation as a challenge and start thinking of it as an ecological problem to solve.

  17. What We Heard (cont’d) • Guessing is not allowed. Make assumptions based on facts, trends, and modeling. • Integrating planning and NEPA takes hard work, leadership, vision and fortitude.

  18. What’s Next • Stay the course with environmental streamlining, stewardship and the Vital Few Goals. • Get to Reauthorization, (please!) • Act on recommendations of the Executive Order Task Force Work Groups. • Think about and address questions and comments raised during the Conference. • Make proceedings available.

  19. Workshop Proceedings • Available in early Fall 2004 • Will include: • Session Summaries • Presentations • Participant List • Summary of Evaluations • Available: • www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/conference • CD-ROM by request via website

  20. Next Conference • Should we do this again ? • … When? • … Where? • … What ? • …. Theme of the next Conference?

  21. Evaluation Forms Submit completed evaluation forms at the Registration Desk today by 4:00PM

  22. Thank you

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