Chapter 5: Environmental Compliance
Anchor: #i1004077Section 1: Introduction
The Environmental Compliance phase of any transportation project occurs throughout the planning, development and execution of the project, and runs concurrently with other associated phases of a given project. Environmental compliance issues should be identified early in the project by the local government (LG) in cooperation with the TxDOT district’s environmental coordinator since requirements may impact project initiation tasks, including the details included in the advance funding agreement. State and federal regulations may require a project to be included in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, Metropolitan Transportation Plan and/or Transportation Improvement Program. These requirements need to be identified by the LG through coordination with the TxDOT district’s environmental coordinator. In many projects, the preliminary design (30% complete design) is performed concurrently with the Environmental Compliance phase. The Environmental Compliance phase must be completed prior to right-of-way acquisition and/or utility accommodation.
There are many aspects to the environmental compliance process for a TxDOT project. The environmental documentation defined within the TxDOT Environmental Toolkit web page supersedes any description of the documentation requirements discussed in the related chapters of the Local Government Project Management Guide (LGPM Guide). Public involvement is a critical element of the environmental process, and the Environmental Handbook for Public Involvement should be utilized by the LG to ensure all appropriate and required measures are met. All federal-aid transportation projects and projects on the state highway system must have an environmental clearance in the form of a categorical exclusion (CE) determination, environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI), or environmental impact statement (EIS) and record of decision (ROD) prior to final design, letting, and construction. For a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) project, TxDOT has been assigned responsibility for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other environmental laws under a 2014 memorandum of understanding with FHWA, which was renewed in 2019 (except for projects that cross the state boundary). This means that TxDOT is authorized to issue the CE determination, FONSI, or ROD, on FHWA's behalf.
This chapter provides guidance for the LG and TxDOT district to properly perform project scoping, to prepare a categorical exclusion or other appropriate environmental document, and to identify and comply with the environmental permits, issues and commitments for construction transportation projects. Additional information related to overall project initiation, preliminary engineering and other transportation project development and implementation tasks are discussed in detail in other chapters of this Local Government Projects Policy Manual (LGPP Manual) and related chapters of the LGPM Guide.