EPA 910-F-00-001
AEPA
Transportation Planning
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Framework
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January, 2000
United States Environmental Protection Agency
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A Message for Transportation
and Land Use Decision Makers
Region 10's involvement in transportation projects has traditionally begun with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. EPA is required to review NEPA documents to rate
the environmental impacts of the project, and to ensure that the document itself meets the
requirements of NEPA. In fulfilling our NEPA responsibilities, we identify major federal projects
with high potential for environmental impacts and then work with the project's sponsors and
lead agencies to eliminate unacceptable environmental impacts of the project, maximize
environmental benefits, and develop sustainable solutions to the issues being addressed by
the project.
Transportation projects, and in particular road building
projects, have emerged repeatedly in Region 10 as major federal
actions with a high potential for significant environmental impacts.
We have found that road building, as the solution to transportation
problems, is often treated as a foregone conclusion in NEPA
documents and, in fact, is often accepted as a given by society
in general. There are other solutions to many of our transportation
needs; solutions that are sustainable, minimize or eliminate the
environmental impacts intrinsic to road building, meet the trans-
portation needs of the affected communities, and do not require
the construction of new roads.
Chuck Clarke, Regional Administrator
The purpose of this transportation message is to fuel the creative efforts of transportation
agencies and the public to develop these more sustainable solutions. It is not our intent to say
that roads should never be built. We recognize that roads may represent the best solution to
some transportation problems. However, in shaping the future of our communities, it is important
to enter the NEPA process with a willingness to explore a variety of options and approaches,
and to allow the NEPA process to do what it is intended to do: foster excellent decision making
and action to "prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the
health and welfare of man." (PL 91-190, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347) The Environmental Protection
Agency intends to work as much as possible with land use and transportation planning entities
from the earliest planning stages to help this to happen.
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work toward sustainable transportation
iitions, ERA asks Northwest transportation
d land use decision makers; to: 111 ^H
plan
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>le to change. Achieving this integration and tt
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new roads are often enoWnous, and freqfes Sly n^ejpt
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Acknowledge aid discuss the escalating
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