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The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) planning regulations posed some significant challenges to Metropolitan Planning Organization staffs with a compliance deadline of July 1, 2007 and Final planning regulations not effective until March16, 2007. The immediate challenges included drafting a revised participation plan and modifying the Transportation Improvement Program and Transportation Plan to ensure SAFETEA-LU compliance. Of the various changes in planning regulations, I want to focus on one of the more involved challenges to implement, the environmental mitigation activities associated with the Transportation Plan.

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) specified that metropolitan transportation plans must include a discussion of potential environmental mitigation activities/strategies, to be developed in consultation with Federal, State and Tribal wildlife, land management, and regulatory agencies. The strategies are to be at the policy and/or strategic-levels, not project specific. While Transportation Plan development in Northeastern Indiana has always considered environmental and social impacts, specific assessments of potential adverse impacts between planned projects and environmentally sensitive areas were not well documented.  

The Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council approached the environmental mitigation requirement by reviewing the planning regulations and researching reports from other metropolitan planning organizations. An appropriate process was developed suitable for Northeast Indiana with the intent of not just meeting, but exceeding the SAFETEA-LU requirements. The first step, conducted in parallel with the Participation Plan, was identifying environmental and cultural resource agencies to engage in the consultation process. A comprehensive list of agencies and agency contacts was developed and consultation was initiated.

Staff also reviewed published materials and maps of the most common environmental and cultural features. The features identified include: streams, rivers and potential wetlands; threatened and endangered species including favorable habitats; public park and recreation land, wildlife and waterfowl refuges, and historic sites; cultural resources; and other sensitive environmental sites such as active and inactive land fills, brownfields, superfund sites, and public wellhead protection areas. Maps were prepared utilizing GIS for each of the identified features.   

As the features were mapped, potential mitigation strategies were drafted for each area of environmental and cultural features. The general theme that prevailed for each environmental area was to apply a hierarchy of strategies that promote avoidance, minimization, and if needed, mitigation as a last resort. A final step was conducted to analyze the number of transportation plan projects that may impact, based on proximity, the identified sensitive environmental and cultural sites.

 It is important to remember that this process is intended to provide an initial review of projects, based upon their conceptual nature at the Transportation Plan stage, identify potential environmental issues, and start early discussions on potential mitigation strategies when necessary. As projects advance to implementation, additional study and design is conducted. Early in the project development phase, a thorough and extensive environmental review is prepared as a component of the preliminary engineering and assessment activities. The combination of these reviews provides a multilayered process that through consultation with resource agencies and interested parties, serves to protect sensitive environmental and cultural sites. The NIRCC Environmental Mitigation documentation is provided at our website (accessible at NIRCC.com).

In closing this letter I want to address a totally different topic on behalf of all Indiana Metrololitan Planning Organizations, and that is to acknowledge appreciation for a recently retired Indiana Department of Transportation employee, Carter Keith.  Carter has worn numerous hats throughout his career with INDOT, but was always in some fashion, associated with the planning process and assisting the Indiana Metropolitan Planning Organizations. I have personally worked with Carter for over twenty-five years and have grown extremely fond of his embracing sense of humor and not-always-so-subtle sarcasm. He is respected by his friends and peers, and is considered by many as a long-time friend of planning. He will be missed at MPO Council meetings, UPWP and Certification Reviews (actually nobody is missed at Certification Reviews), annual public district meetings and simple hallway encounters at INDOT.  Thanks for the many years of service and support of the transportation planning process, and more importantly for your friendship. All the best with your new adventures and I hope our pathways will continue to cross.