CDOT Environmental Stewardship Guide

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Environmental Stewardship Guide (Guide) documents it's environmental ethic and describes the process by which social, economic, environmental, and engineering considerations are integrated in all aspects of transportation decision-making, including policy development, systems and project development, and the design, construction, maintenance and operations of the system.

CDOT Environmental Ethic

A multidisciplinary CDOT task force developed an environmental ethic for the department to recognize their commitment to environmental protection and enhancement. This environmental ethic was adopted by the CDOT Commission and states that CDOT will go beyond environmental compliance and strive for environmental excellence. The ethic promotes a sense of environmental responsibility for all employees in the course of all CDOT activities and helps to ensure that measures are taken to avoid or minimize the environmental impacts of construction and maintenance of the transportation system and that mitigation commitments are implemented and maintained.

ITD Context Sensitive Solutions Guide

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) commissioned the preparation of a CSS Guide for its employees and con- tractors that recognizes and addresses the wide societal impacts of transportation and utilizes a Context Sensitive Solutions approach. This Guide emphasizes that CSS is more than just processing environmental clearances and ensuring regulatory compliance for transportation projects. It embodies the notion of "going beyond" legal requirements and being responsive to community desires.

ADOT Environmental Management and Compliance Plan

The Environmental Management and Compliance Plan (EMCP) provides a roadmap for the Arizona Department of Transportation and its new Office of Environmental Services for both achieving and exceeding environmental compliance requirements. The EMCP describes an expanded program of environmental services, organizational responsibilities and an effective management program. The EMCP addresses the roles, responsibilities and relationships of the various OES programs and activities and the important communications among internal and external stakeholders.

ADOT Environmental Organizational and Resource Assessment

The Resource Gap Analysis was prepared with the support of an internal ADOT Steering Committee. This analysis included over forty interviews with both potential ADOT users of environmental services and in-house environmental service providers. The primary purpose of this Resource Gap Analysis was to identify the additional manpower resources required to address those ADOT activities in greatest need of environmental oversight and compliance along with an implementation strategy and schedule. This assessment formed the basis for a new Office of Environmental Services.

CDOT NEPA Pilot Project

The project was designed to tailor the application of selected streamlining practices sanctioned by the Federal Highway Admin- istration (FHWA) and the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and their applicable NEPA regulations to produce a NEPA document in size, clarity and timeliness to serve as an example for future CDOT EISs and EAs. The selected environ- mental streamlining techniques are applied to a typical transportation improvement project and then evaluated for their effectiveness at the conclusion of the NEPA document preparation process. This project is a collaborative effort of the CDOT, FHWA, local sponsoring agencies and selected resource agencies.

Integration of Environmental Stewardship Principles into Engineering Manuals

This effort involved the inclusion of environmental stewardship principles into selected engineering manuals to ensure that CDOT directives and manuals are consistent with and do not countermand the principles, responsibilities and processes adopted in the Environmental Stewardship Guide. The work was accomplished with internal CDOT working groups comprised of head- quarters and regional representatives who reviewed the manuals and proposed new language incorporating the environmental stewardship principles.