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Appendix A: Glossary

AASHTO: American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials. Provides policy, training, and technical standards, for all highway system development. Supports a relationship between the federal government and state departments of transportation.

Administrative Record: If the department is sued or lawsuit is threatened, department attorneys will select a subset of decisional documents from the project File of Record to create an Administrative Record.

BATIC: Build America Transportation Investment Center. U.S.DOT single point resource center for transportation partners and project sponsors to obtain federal transportation expertise.

CFR: Code of Federal Regulations. Federal regulations. Implements federal laws passed by Congress (USC), which regulates federal administrative agencies. Updated by the Federal Register.

Condemnation: Exercise of eminent domain power.

Core Team: Provides quality assurance (QA) function by working to build a quality deliverable. Responsibilities are shared between the district environmental project manager and an ENV project manager who may expand the team to include planners, local agency sponsor representatives, consultants, engineers, and subject matter experts.

CWA: Clean Water Act. National legislation. Basis of CWA was enacted in 1948 as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The Act was reorganized and expanded in 1972 as the CWA. Regulates activities in and around wetlands and protects our nation’s waters. Under CWA authority, EPA develops guidelines used by USACE for permit evaluations.

DSR: Design Summary Report. A dynamic document updated during development of a project. Auditable record of events and retained for the life of the project.

ECOS: Environmental Compliance Oversight System. The File of Record under state and federal law for environmental aspects of department sponsored projects.

Eminent Domain: Power granted to the department to take private property for public use. Landowner must receive compensation for the condemned property.

Engineer: Area Engineer for the project. Shown on Construction Specification Required Shop/Working Drawing Submittals matrix as “E”.

Engineer of Record: Design Engineer who signs and seals the contract plan set. Shown on Construction Specification Required Shop/Working Drawing Submittals matrix as “EOR”.

ESBD: Electronic State Business Daily. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website providing online postings for department construction and maintenance contracts and other business solicitations.

Expressway: Also known as a turnpike. It is a tolled, multilane, limited access highway built to Interstate standards. Operated by a government agency.

FAHP: Federal‑aid Highway Program. Federal-State partnership supported by a multi-year plan of federal funding for the program. Strong central control establishes uniformity in policy and administration of regulations and procedures among the states. Authorizations and annual appropriations are essential to a continuous federal highway program.; Authorizations Post Interstate (1956-1990s) era

Federal-Aid Highway: A highway eligible for federal assistance other than a highway classified as a local road or rural minor collector.

Federal Register: Daily federal business publication of executive orders, proclamations, proposed rules, federal agency regulations, and public notices. Federal agencies are required to publish notice of proposed rule-making to enable citizens an opportunity to participate in rule-making changes prior to adoption of a final rule.

FHWA: Federal Highway Administration. Federal government agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation. Provides transportation research and support to State and local agencies.

File of Record: Official file for each department project. The File of Record, stored in a secure location, is subject to state or federal audit.

FMIS: Fiscal Management Information System. Tracking program for highway projects financed with Federal Aid Highway Program (FAHP) funds.

GIS: Geographic Information System. Geospatial data used by the department for transportation-related mapping and design. A variety of datasets can be added to web-based maps.

iCX: Integrated Contractor Exchange. Web-based electronic bidding system which requires electronic bid bond.

Joint-use Agreement: Utility has a compensable interest in land occupied by its facilities and the land will be jointly occupied and used for highway and utilities. The privileges retained by the utility and the interest acquired by the department must be agreed upon, in writing, to obligations, responsibilities, and conditions of occupancy for each party.

LGPO: Local Government Project Office. Provides guidance and training to support local governments, counties, regional mobility authority transportation projects under TxDOT oversight.

MARAD: United States Maritime Administration. MARAD is to ports as FHWA is to highways; both are governed by U.S.DOT. Land-side port improvements area collaboration through MARAD’s StrongPorts program working with federal, state, and local agencies.

Megalopolis: Heavily populated urban region of continuous metropolitan areas.

Megaregion: Emerging geographical unit and network of metropolitan regions covering thousands of square miles and defined by layers of relationships such as, infrastructure systems, economic linkages, and environmental systems.

Mobility Corridor (5R): Roadways intended for long distance, high speed travel. Very controlled access. May share other high speed, long distance travel modes in the corridor.

MPA: Metropolitan Planning Area. This is an entire urbanized area. In complex areas, there could be multiple MPOs that would jointly develop planning products and performance targets.

MPO: Metropolitan Planning Organization. Local decision making body responsible for metropolitan transportation planning as required by federal law.

MS4 Operator: Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4). Systems owned and operated by a local, county, state or federal agency, or special districts in which there are storm sewers, gutters, ditches, curbs, and similar conveyances of runoff that are not connected to a wastewater collection system or treatment plant.

MTP: Metropolitan Transportation Plan. Population centers that have census populations greater than 50,000 must have an MTP. Comprehensive, multimodal, long-range (20-25 year) transportation investment plan for systems and services.

National Highway System (NHS): Federal-aid system. The System includes the Interstate System, principal arterials (rural or urban), and other connector highways providing access between NHS arterial routes. Major strategic highway network and connectors that are important to the United States defense policy, serve regional and interregional commerce, serve major population centers, international border crossings, ports, airports, public transportation and intermodal facilities, and major travel destinations.

NWP: Nationwide Permit. USACE general permits intended to regulate with little delay and paperwork for certain activities that have minimal impact. NWPs are adopted after the public have been given an opportunity to comment or request a hearing regarding the proposal.

Off-System Roadway: Roadway not on the State Highway System (i.e. local, county/city roads) and not maintained by the Department. For federal funding, this term applies to roadways not on the Federal-aid highway system and typically located in a rural area.

On-System Roadway: State Highway System roadway maintained by the Department. For federal funding the roadway is on a Federal-aid highway system.

PASS Route: Principal Arterial State System.

PeopleSoft FSCM: PeopleSoft Financial and Supply Chain Management. Formerly known as FIMS is the accounting system used by the department.

Project Management Plan: The Plan shall document the procedures, processes, and the role of the management team that are planned to effectively manage the scope, costs, schedules, quality, and delivery of the project.

Regional Mobility Authority (RMA): A political subdivision formed by one or more counties to finance, acquire, design, operate, maintain, expand or extend transportation projects. Projects may be tolled or non-tolled. Authorized by Texas legislature.

Resurfacing: Transportation project to apply new or recycled pavement layer to existing to restore ride quality, skid resistance, and preserve pavement structural integrity.

Restoration (2R): Transportation project to restore the pavement to its original condition.

Rehabilitation (3R): Transportation project to extend the service life and enhance the safety of a roadway. Does not include added through lanes.

Reconstruction (4R): Transportation project to construct a new roadway or upgrade an existing roadway to meet geometric design criteria for a new facility. Major improvements to provide long term service.

Route Hierarchy: Interstate, US, SH, State Loops or Spurs, FM/RM, County Roads (CR), and Business Routes (BR). If bridge structures cross highways of equal hierarchy, the lower route number determines name protocol; otherwise, naming is in terms of the higher class route alignment “at” the lower class location.

Rural Area: Area in the state outside an urban area (census population greater than 5,000).

SLRTP: Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan. A 25-year multimodal plan to document funding needs for freight and public user modes to meet performance objectives.

Social Media Leverage: Using social media sites to inform the public, in selected geographic areas, about public participation opportunities, meetings, and local transportation issues.

State Highway System (On-System): Commission-designated highway(s) determined as necessary for proper development and operation of the state highway system.

STIP: Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.

STP: Surface Transportation Program. A federal-aid funding program that supports a broad range of multimodal surface transportation facilities.

SUE: Subsurface Utility Engineering. SUE is a process, not a technology. The SUE process combines civil engineering, surveying, and geophysics. It utilizes several technologies, including vacuum excavation and surface geophysics.

TAC: Texas Administrative Code. Texas agency regulations under 16 Titles of nonconsecutive‑numbered subject categories. Title 43 – Transportation. Updated through the Texas Register. Similar to the CFR.

Texas Register: A weekly publication of notices for state agency rule making. Public record of proposed, adopted, or revised rules, which are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

TFMP: Texas Freight Mobility Plan. Required by MAP-21 to provide goals, strategies, and performance measures for freight transportation.

TIFIA: Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act. Credit program for multimodal surface transportation projects of regional and national significance. Created to obtain funding credit for surface transportation projects, which had difficulty in obtaining credit based on the uncertainty of project-based revenue. Title 23 TIFIA projects are eligible for tax exempt bonding authority – Private Activity Bonds (PAB).

TIP: Transportation Improvement Program. A capital improvement program developed cooperatively by local and state transportation entities. Short-term programming document.

TMA: Transportation Management Area. A UZA with census population greater than 200,000.

Transportation Code: Statutes created and amended by Texas legislative bills and gubernatorial actions. Seven Titles of codified transportation laws.

TTP: Texas Transportation Plan. This plan documents existing infrastructure and funding needs for all passenger and freight modes in the state over a 25-year horizon.

TXDOT: Texas Department of Transportation.

UC: Urban cluster. Urban area census population between 2,500 and 49,999.

USACE: United States Army Corps of Engineers. Civilians and soldiers working to provide environmental sustainability, strengthening the economy by supporting movement of commodities along the nation’s waterways, and reduce infrastructure damage risks from disasters.

U.S.C.: United States Codes. Federal laws. Laws passed by Congress which are implemented when a regulation is issued and recorded in the CFR. USC laws cannot be enforced without regulation (CFR).

U.S. DOT: United States Department of Transportation.

UTP: Unified Transportation Program. A ten-year intermediate plan, which links the department’s long‑range planning (SLRTP) to detailed programming (STIP) and 24‑month letting schedule. Developed annually.

Urban and Rural Areas: FHWA definitions based on census population of 5,000.

UZA: Urbanized area. Census designated urban area with more than 50,000 residents.