Environmental Concerns with Estimating
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Transcript of Environmental Concerns with Estimating
Federal Lands Highway
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Environmental Concerns with Environmental Concerns with EstimatingEstimating
TEA/TUG ConferencePortland, MaineOctober 2006
Jack Van DopEastern Federal Lands Highway Division
Federal Highway Administration
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PresentationPresentation
Environmental regulations Implementation of transportation
projects Documentation and level of
environmental mitigation Examples of environmental mitigation
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Increase in environmental regulations – •Federal•State•Local
Increase in environmental issues regulated•Cultural•Natural•Social
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Increase in general public, government agency and interest group involvement in project planning, environmental review, design, construction and maintenance
Increase in enforcement of environmental requirements through fines and criminal penalties
Desire of project’s, agency sponsor to identify and include all possible costs and address reasonable public concerns prior to initiating construction
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Cost EstimateCost Estimate
Concept•Generous contingency for
environmental costs based on review of available data
Final Cost Estimate•Reduce environmental contingency
and include costs for mitigation and regulatory requirements
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In addition to the regulatory environmental requirements there is the general public, interest group and non-regulatory federal, state and local government agency involvement and input
Congress routinely legislates requirements that increase cooperation and coordination between those that manage publicly funded projects and those that pay for and live with these projects – SAFETEA - LU
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• FHWA Vital Few Goals•Safety•Congestion Mitigation•Environmental Stewardship and
Streamlining• Utilizing a Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS)
process for developing and delivering transportation projects is a cornerstone of meeting this FHWA goal
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Why could projects subject to the CSS process result in more environmental requirements and different costs than what may have been included in a project developed without a CSS process?
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How do you determine what environmental requirements, mitigations and promises were made for a project?
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Read and Review the NEPA Read and Review the NEPA DocumentDocument
Look for proximity to:•Water and Wetlands•Historic Properties•Endangered Species•Unique Natural Features•Federal Lands•Etc.
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Read and ReviewRead and Review
Project Memorandums of Agreement Project Newsletters and Public
Information file Public, Interest Group and Agency
comments on the NEPA Document Comment responses by the project
agency sponsor Project Permits including mitigation and
conditions
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Many times the estimator can serve as a “new set of eyes and ears” for a project by asking questions regarding how a particular issue was resolved and the associated cost.
Meet with and discuss the project with the environmental project manager. Many times the design is completed and funding obtained many years after the NEPA document and its commitments are completed – these commitments may have been overlooked in the construction plans.
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Pennsylvania AvenuePennsylvania Avenue
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Pennsylvania AvenuePennsylvania Avenue
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Pennsylvania AvenuePennsylvania Avenue
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Great Smoky Great Smoky Mountains TunnelsMountains Tunnels
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Great Smoky Great Smoky Mountains TunnelsMountains Tunnels
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Great Smoky Great Smoky Mountains TunnelsMountains Tunnels
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Average Peak Hourly Volumes by DateNovember 1999 to April 2000
NovemberDecemberJanuary FebruaryMarch April
80 Days
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Great Smoky Great Smoky Mountains TunnelsMountains Tunnels
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Great Smoky Great Smoky Mountains TunnelsMountains Tunnels
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North Shore RoadNorth Shore Road
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North Shore RoadNorth Shore Road
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Questions?