The following information has been prepared in response to inquiries from Division Offices for a fuller explanation of the intent of the Environment VFG performance objective that calls upon FHWA to promote the use of integrated approaches at the systems level, and for some practical ways to advance that measure. When considering how to assess a State's practices and what targets to establish for your Division, bear in mind that this performance measure was intended to be a measure of quality; one that results in improved transportation decisions. Obviously, the Division Offices are in the best position to determine what that means for their States and partner agencies. Therefore, it is up to the Division Offices to gauge needs, progress, and future improvements against a current baseline of practice. The extent of the efforts will be shaped by the current interagency practices, organizational structure, and institutional priorities of the State DOT, MPOs, and other key partners and stakeholders. That is why this measure has been defined to include a wide range of approaches at either the program or project level. The goal is full integration, but there are many ways to reach that endpoint.

In States where the program emphasis is on system preservation rather than new construction, it may make sense to improve the quality of project decisions for individual projects through an emphasis on context sensitive solutions, as opposed to trying to over-define or reinvent a planning process that may be fairly basic but sufficient for the needs of that particular State. Conversely, States experiencing rapid growth, new construction or reconstruction in complex and highly urbanized environments with a multitude of transportation partners may have more of an opportunity to examine the overall project development process and to define opportunities for fuller integration of planning, environment, right-of-way, or design process elements. These States may also be interested in looking at ways to incorporate context sensitive solutions for individual projects or certain types of projects.

Regardless of the basis for deciding to advance the quality of transportation decisions through integrated approaches, the choices ought to be compatible with the Division Office's work program and goals that have been established with each State. We are simply offering some clarifications and tips for reference and to guide the development or redefinition of unit performance objectives for this Environment VFG measure. FHWA field offices and HQ have jointly set this standard that we are trying to achieve through our performance measures. How the Divisions choose to meet those measures is left up to each office. The Federal aid Division Offices will provide self-evaluations of their progress toward full integration to their respective Directors of Field Services, who will screen the submissions and make recommendations to HQ with respect to each state's achievements in meeting this vital few performance measure. The Federal Lands Divisions will provide self-evaluations to Federal Lands HQ, who will screen the submissions and provide a consolidated recommendation to FHWA HQ with respect to Federal Lands' achievement in meeting this vital few performance measure.

Carol Adkins is the HQ contact for Integrated Approaches. She may be reached at 202-366-2054 or by e-mail at carol.adkins@fhwa.dot.gov .

1. What is an integrated approach?

Processes, systems, or specific methods that incorporate environmental and community values into transportation decisions at an early point in planning, and all the way through project design and construction can be considered "integrated" and will most likely:

Encourage and seek early and consistent involvement of environmental, regulatory, and land management agencies, beginning with the planning process.
Recognize the needs of the community, and fairly assess the burdens and benefits to the environment, thereby reducing the redundancies of current processes and practices.
Be supported through institutional arrangements and organizations that have strong communication and coordination among the planning, environment, and preliminary engineering and construction staffs, and their counterparts in other agencies.
Demonstrate commitment at the staff and management levels. Ideally, this commitment should be evidenced by the appointment of champions at each level.

Some integrated approaches will emphasize internal integration, in which the various transportation development functions are reconfigured to work better together. Others will emphasize external integration, in which transportation agency, environmental agency, and land management agency processes are cross-fertilized.

2. What will these processes, methods, or systems look like?

At the maximum end of the integrated approaches scale, you may have a process like Florida's ETDM process. The Florida DOT's Efficient Transportation Decision Making (ETDM) process provides linkages between land use, transportation, and environmental issues to improve the quality of transportation planning and project development within current statutes. The ETDM process relies heavily on technology, public involvement, interagency and interdisciplinary coordination, to successfully guide a transportation project.

Another excellent example of an integrated approach is Oregon's Collaborative Environmental and Transportation Agreement for Streamlining (CETAS). CETAS defines implementation and concurrence points to guide the merger of the NEPA/404 process. CETAS is an example of the agency's commitment to milestone management and consensus among regulating agencies and staff throughout the project development process in order to prevent rework in later stages of the process.

The Ohio DOT recently initiated an approach to developing and implementing transportation projects, entitled the Project Development Process (PDP). The PDP is a team-oriented approach to developing a transportation project from concept to completion. It is an effort to streamline the planning and environmental processes, improve the quality of construction plans and reduce delays in overall project delivery.

The North Carolina DOT has adopted an organization-wide strategy for incorporating environmental stewardship into all aspects of its operations. This vision of what environmental stewardship meant to the state DOT was implemented through a variety of organizational changes designed to emphasize a continual commitment to enhancing environmental quality. This commitment is exemplified by the NCDOT's "Ecosystem Enhancement Program", which involves a partnership with state and federal resource agencies to develop a statewide program of compensatory ecosystem mitigation projects that would be in place before project-level impacts were identified.

These are just a few examples, another source of information and case studies is the NCHRP Report 8-38, Consideration of Environmental Factors in Transportation Systems Planning.

3. Are we only interested in integrating planning and environment project development functions?

No. Although our focus has been on a seamless handoff between planning and environment, the current initiative also emphasizes integration of right-of-way, construction and civil rights process elements and requirements into the decision-making mix. This use of interdisciplinary talents and skills helps to ensure that community impacts, economic impacts, and constructability of proposed projects, including avoidance and mitigation measures, are considered as part of the project decision-making process. Likewise, carrying over environmental expertise into the construction phase is critical to successful implementation of environmental commitments, resulting in an environmentally sound project. In order to qualify as an integrated approach, the integration does not have to be comprehensive across the organization to start, but it must be systematic, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and institutionalized. Integrated approaches may include any combination of interdisciplinary elements, such as planning, project development, right-of-way, design, construction and maintenance and operations.

4. How does an integrated approach promote better environmental decision- making?

Integrated approaches involve collaborative efforts among transportation and environmental resource agencies, tribal governments, and the public, to better coordinate the transportation development process with established and emerging environmental protection and enhancement processes. For example, some States have natural resource plans that map out land targeted for environmental preservation and land that is appropriate for environmental mitigation and/or restoration. State DOTs in those States have an opportunity to explicitly compare plans and coordinate transportation and environmental improvements in a systematically-integrated fashion.

5. Can a State be both a Context Sensitive Solutions State and an Integrated Approaches State?

Yes. The two processes are closely related and complementary. Elements common to both CSS and integrated approaches include collaborative decision-making, the use of interdisciplinary teams, sensitivity to effects on human and natural environmental resources, and maintenance of operational safety and mobility. It does not have to be one or the other.

6. What activities or policies are reflective of an Integrated Approaches State?

There is no checklist for reaching the end state of being an Integrated Approaches State, but there are a number of activities that illustrate progress toward achieving the end state. The following is by no means an all-inclusive list, but presents some good examples. The example activities are meant to be self-evaluation tools, to measure progress towards achieving an integrated approach. While this is not a prescriptive list, to be considered fully integrated, there must be evidence that activity "K" is an institutionalized process within the State, and is supported by at least one other activity listed in the fully integrated section below.

Early integration activities:

Management at the State agency has expressed interest in training, peer exchanges, or pilot efforts to integrate one or more elements of multimodal planning, the environmental process, and project development.
The State has held a leadership summit to promote integrated approaches. Summits might be with internal DOT leadership only, to initiate the process, or might involve external leaders of resource and regulatory agencies and other process stakeholders.
The achievement and maintenance of at least one aspect of an integrated approach is an element of the agency's strategic plan or quality initiative.
One or more champions have been designated to promote the development of integrated approaches.

Intermediate integration activities:

There is a documented process for achieving integration. This process is supported by performance measures that emphasize and promote integration.
The organizational structure of the State DOT reflects common staff, interdisciplinary teams, or crossover positions between one or more disciplines. Staff resource allocation reflects integration concepts.
Managers and staff in positions other than environment, such as project development engineers, systems planners, and construction engineers have environmental stewardship and integration as one of the success criteria for their performance.
The state has a documented process for effective outreach to:
1. Environmental resource and regulatory agencies,
2. Communities,
3. Regional planning agencies,
4. Environmental interest groups, and
5. Tribal governments
This outreach begins with input on the statewide and metropolitan plans and programs, and continues through project development and construction and operations.
Pilot integrated approaches initiatives are underway in one or more areas of the state.
A GIS database has been initiated and is supported for interdisciplinary use.

Activities reflecting full integration:

Interdisciplinary teams (internal and external) are established, trained and operating, throughout the planning, project development, right-of-way, and construction phases.
The State agency has a management system in place that emphasizes integration at many levels of the organization. Involvement of interdisciplinary teams is documented and measurable. There may be a written policy statement committing to continuous improvement in integrating all aspects of the organization. Environmental management systems, similar to those described in the ISO 14001, are one example of an evaluation system, but by no means the only approach. (Environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 must be in place throughout the organization, in all districts, in order to be considered an aspect of full integration.)
There is a fully operational GIS database, shared with resource agencies, that identifies current and planned transportation facilities, key human and natural resources, and planned development.
There is an operational evaluation system for assessing improvements achieved by enhanced integration (time savings, cost savings, better outcomes or better public acceptance, demonstrated opportunities for more effective mitigation, more effective internal and external communication, etc.) and identifying opportunities to improve or modify the operation of the integrated approaches.

7. How does this guidance on Integrated Approaches apply to Federal Lands Highway Divisions?

The Federal Lands Divisions perform project development and construction management activities in a manner similar to State DOT's, and should become fully integrated by operating in accordance with the concepts in this guidance. The Federal Lands Divisions should also encourage and promote integrated approaches by their client agencies.

8. Do all of the activities have to be present in order to meet the fully integrated end state?

No, the activities are merely examples of various approaches to integration. There may be many other types of activities that reflect similar levels of interest, investment, and implementation that are not listed here. Each State and Division should be able to use the activities as examples to gauge their progress.

9. What is the "bottom line" requirement for a state to be considered fully integrated?

As stated above, full integration is based on the concept of interdisciplinary teams or groups (may be internal or with external stakeholders) operating at many levels from planning through project development and construction. To be considered fully integrated, there must be evidence that activity "K" is institutionalized within the organization, and is supported by one other activity similar to those listed as "L" through "N."

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