Agenda Sessions

Air Quality
The focus of this session will be an interactive discussion among participates about how to address air quality in NEPA documents. This facilitated discussion will be based on the results of a short survey sent to the field environmental specialists about what important issues they would like covered during this session. Other topics covered during the session will be new standards for criteria pollutants and emerging issues in the area for project level air quality analyses.

Climate Change
Attendees will hear the latest thinking on how to address climate change in the transportation sector. This session will start with some background information on climate change and its implications for the transportation section. Attendees will hear from CEQ to learn what they are doing in this area and their thoughts on addressing climate change in NEPA. The session will also get more in depth on information presented during the plenary session the day before. This includes FHWA Headquarters' perspective and other initiatives FHWA and DOT are doing to address climate change, including planning and environmental linkages, impacts on projects, mitigation, adaptation, research and other current activities.

Closing Remarks
The 2008 Environmental Conference will be brought to close with a summary of the main topics covered during the 3-day session and parting remarks.

CSS
This session will focus on FHWA's national CSS efforts. Speakers will discuss the nationwide state of practice; the CSS Virtual Team and its action plan for the future; AASHTO efforts with CSS; current research, training and education activities; and where to go to get the CSS resources you need.

Emergency Permitting Procedures
This session will use the I-35W Bridge Collapse in Minnesota and the response to Hurricane Katrina in the Southeastern States to facilitate a discussion of expediting NEPA process compliance in response to natural disasters or emergency situations.

Forecasting
Forecasting is central to many aspects of the NEPA process including purpose and need, alternative analysis, and indirect effect analysis. Increasingly forecasting methodologies have been the subject of disagreements among agencies and the public, and have been the focus of multiple project litigations. This session will highlight experiences in addressing travel and land use forecasting in the NEPA process, and will contain an overview and update on the effort to create "Guidance on the Application of Travel and Land Use Forecasting in NEPA." Legal issues in forecasting and NEPA will be addressed. The session will also include project experiences from FHWA Divisions.

Habitat
A description of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and a discussion of compliance will be presented. Ecosystem crediting systems and invasive species issues will also be discussed. The crediting system is similar to that used to determine credits in wetland mitigation banks but would include habitat, Threatened and Endangered species, impacts on biological communities and populations, and other ecosystem characteristics.

Historic Preservation
Programmatic approaches to Section 106 compliance can reduce costs and review time while focusing on substantive issues that result in predictable project and preservation outcomes. Learn the latest in programmatic approaches to cultural resource identification, mitigation and linking with planning. Discussion will include an update on recent historic preservation case law and a report out on the Bridge Summit.

If you want to know what your neighbor is up to, this session will also include a summary of Division Office responses to the National Park Service survey on Archaeological Activities. So find out what other states are doing in terms of mitigation and outreach activities and come prepared to share your success stories and challenges.

Indirect and Cumulative Impacts
Ensuring that environmental impact information is useful and adequate requires Division Office staff to maintain a sound appreciation of how direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts interact, are generated, and are documented. Recent case law demonstrates that the bar has been raised in terms of adequacy, coverage, and level of detail. This session will present recent case law, and explain the relationships between direct/indirect and cumulative impacts.

Legal Panel
This panel of FHWA attorneys will discuss legal sufficiency, including risk analysis and common problems in environmental documents. The panel will also focus on keys to winning court challenges and will describe important recent FHWA cases.

Managing the ROW - Environmental Benefits
For several years FHWA has emphasized the integration of the Environmental and Planning processes. The presentation demonstrates that Right of Way is the third leg of this integration. With a PowerPoint as background, it explores the ways the three disciplines have always been interdependent. The presentation uses project examples to show how Right-of-Way integration is critical to transportation planning, NEPA document development, environmental mitigation, public involvement, wetlands banking, design decisions, and the implementation of Context Sensitive Solutions. The presentation discusses how a Division Office has reorganized to integrate the Planning, Environment, and Right of Way functions.

Market Place/Exhibit Hall
This session will include a variety of round table discussions hosted by subject area experts and exhibit booths and tables for participants to visit.

Mitigation of Environmental Impacts
Mitigation of natural resource impacts is often mandated by law and ensuring that the mitigation appropriately compensates for impacted ecosystem functions is a collaborative effort between the various Regulatory Agencies and the permit applicant such as a State DOT. However, the mitigation of impacts to the human environment does not share the same regulatory framework. This session will discuss the mitigation of human and natural resource impacts resulting from our projects and provide case study examples. It will also discuss innovative ways of tracking and ensuring mitigation commitments are implemented.

NEPA Nuts and Bolts
This round robin session will explore various aspects of the NEPA process and provide insight into current guidance and state-of-the practice. The goal of the session is to make recommendations for keeping documents simple (to the point), high quality, and clearly written. Topics to be addressed include: How to write a good purpose and need statement; conducting alternatives analysis; advancing analysis solely on a preferred alternative prior to completion of NEPA; and addressing construction impacts in NEPA documents.

Opening Remarks
Senior FHWA leaders will kick off the 2008 Environmental Conference and set the context for the 3 days. Leaders will share perspectives on status and future direction of FHWA's environmental stewardship and streamlining goals. Other policy issues of key interest to FHWA environmental specialists will be highlighted including: reauthorization Activities; the SAFETEA-LU Commission Report; and organizational Issues affecting the environmental program (Core Function Study and Resource Sharing).

PEL and Eco-Logical
PEL represents an approach to transportation decision-making that considers environmental, economic, and community goals early in the planning stage and that carries these goals through project development, design, and construction. PEL leads to a seamless decision-making process that minimizes work duplications, promotes environmental stewardship, advances integrated transportation planning, and reduces implementation delays. In particular, this session will address multi-agency publication and initiatives, FHWA participation, awards, progress, and the role of FHWA field staff. In addition, the Eco-Logical approach will also be discussed in depth, and a case study demonstrating the existing effort using the Eco-Logical approach and the use of existing available funds that have been underway for years will be presented.

Planning/Fiscal Constraint
There is a series of planning, fiscal, conformity, and other requirements and procedures that govern the transportation planning process. These critical elements can shape a significant portion of the NEPA outcome. This session will provide an overview of important SAFETEA-LU planning requirements that must be met before any formal NEPA action can be taken, will share applicable examples and relevant information, and will further focus on various financial management topics such as fiscal constraint and controlling cost of environmental studies as they pertain to NEPA.

Priority Issues
This session will focus on several issues of priority affecting the delivery of FHWA's environmental program. These areas have the potential to significantly shape the way in which we conduct business in the coming years. Issues to be discussed include: Climate Change, Section 4(f), Planning/Fiscal Constraint, and NEPA Document Quality. Each topic will be introduced in this plenary session and will be addressed in more detail in subsequent breakout sessions.

Regional Environment Network
Each of the three FHWA Regional Environmental Networks will convene to discuss current challenges and opportunities. The agendas of each network meeting will be set by network leadership.

Section 4(f)
This session will address two new areas in the 4(f) arena: Section 6009 nuances and how the new 4(f) rule will change your world. Discussion of Section 6009 nuances will include 1) a presentation of the Section 6009 Implementation Report; 2) Division staff lessons learned about the programmatic inventory; and, 3) general discussions about what is working well, challenges, and additional guidance needed. Lastly, the session will highlight changes in the Section 4(f) Final Rule, which was published in March 2008.

Section 6002
It has been almost three years since SAFETEA-LU was passed. How have the environmental review process provisions in Section 6002 impacted the way in which you do business? This session will focus on the implementation of key provisions such as: development of coordination plan and schedules; involvement by public on purpose and need and range of alternatives; coordination on methodologies and level of detail with participating agencies; and publishing of SOL notices. An overview of the GAO study into 6002 will also be provided.

Shifting the NEPA Documentation Paradigm
Does an EIS have to be 1000 pages long? Important components of improving document quality involve telling the story, keeping it brief, yet meeting all legal requirements. This session will explore ways to separate the development of the environmental document from the supporting documentation (reports, comments, letter, appendices, etc.).

Tolling, Pricing and PPPs in NEPA
Given budget shortfalls and the need the manage congestion, many States are exploring the opportunities afforded by tolling, pricing and public-private partnerships in developing transportation infrastructure. This session will provide insight into the challenges associated with considering these funding and management strategies in the NEPA process; discuss current guidance and state-of-the practice; and provide case studies to elicit discussion amongst attendees.

Tribal Consultation
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act requires consultation with tribes with historic ties to the geographic area of a proposed federal project. This session will highlight proactive approaches to tribal consultation, including the development and implementation of a programmatic agreement that promotes timely and effective consultation with multiple tribes and the vital role of cultural sensitivity in tribal consultation. The session will also include an overview of the "Working Effectively with Tribal Governments" training for federal employees.

Water and Ecosystems
The presentation will summarize the results of the wildlife-vehicle collision Congressional report. The presentation will present the WVC problem and discuss the most effective mitigation measures to reduce WVC. The session also will include efforts to design effective passage for all types of aquatic species, construction noise impacts on wildlife, invasive species issues within highway right-of-ways and mitigation areas, and an update on water quality issues and research.

Wetlands
The wetlands session will include a discussion of the Rapanos Supreme Court decision and subsequent Guidance released by the EPA. New or proposed changes to the Guidance will be discussed as will challenges encountered during its implementation. The Wetlands session may also include highlights of the new Compensatory Mitigation regulations and any other pertinent wetland issues. Examples of existing DOT banking agreements may be given that coincide with the current mitigation focus on the watershed or ecoregion scale.