Other Federal Legislation

Natural Environment

The Clean Air Act – The Clean Air Act is a federal law that regulates stationary and mobile sources of air pollution to protect human health and the environment.

The FHWA maintains an Air Quality website that provides information on FHWA’s air quality programs, including transportation conformity, air toxics, and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program.

The Clean Water Act – The Clean Water Act is a federal law that regulates discharging pollutants into the waters of the United States to protect human health and the environment. Under the Clean Water Act, state environmental agencies and the Environmental Protection Agency employ a variety of regulatory and non-regulatory tools to reduce direct and indirect pollutant discharges into waterways.

The Endangered Species Act – The Endangered Species Act is intended to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend.

Land and Water Conservation Fund Act – The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act is a federal program that provides fund matching to federal, state, and local governments for the acquisition of land and water, and easements on land and water. It is intended to protect national natural treasures in the forms of parks and protected forest and wildlife areas.

Marine Mammal Protection Act – The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits harassing, feeding, hunting, capturing, collecting, or killing any marine mammal or part of a marine mammal.

Migratory Bird Treaty Act – The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA) prevents the taking of birds listed as “migratory birds,” including all common songbirds, waterfowl, shorebirds, hawks, owls, eagles, ravens, crows, native doves and pigeons, swifts, martins, and swallows. Federal-aid highway projects that are likely to result in take of birds protected under the MBTA require the issuance of take permits.

Mitigation of Impacts to Wetlands and Natural Habitats – Policy and procedures for the evaluation and mitigation of adverse environmental impacts to wetlands and natural habitat resulting from Federal aid projects are in place under Mitigation Impacts and Natural Habitats.

Wild and Scenic Rivers Act – The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was created to preserve rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations.

ADDITIONAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS

Subject/Title	Resource URL
Noise
Noise Control Act of 1972	Statute
FHWA Noise Regulations at 23 CFR Part 772	Final Rule
Wildlife
Anadromous Fish Conservation Act	Statute
Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act	Statute
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, as amended	Statute
Invasive Species	E.O. 13112
Water Resources and Wetlands
Location and Hydraulic Design of Encroachments on Flood Plains	Statute
Coastal Barrier Resources Act	Statute
Coastal Zone Management Act	Statute
Safe Drinking Water Act	Statute
Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899	Statute
Emergency Wetlands Resources Act	Statute
Wetlands Mitigation	Statute
FHWA Wetland and Natural Habitat Mitigation Regulations at 23 CFR part 777	Final Rule
Flood Disaster Protection Act	Statute
Protection of Wetlands	E.O. 11990
Floodplain Management	E.O. 11988
Programmatic Mitigation
Programmatic Mitigation Plans	Statute

GUIDANCE

Subject/Title	Resource URL
Water Resources and Wetlands
Additional Guidance on 23 CFR 650A – Participation Options for Limiting Flood Damage	Guidance
Additional Guidance on 23 CFR 650A – Procedures for Coordinating Highway Encroachments of Floodplains with FEMA	Guidance
Compensatory Wetland Mitigation	Message
Federal Guidance on the Use of In-Lieu-Fee Arrangements for Compensatory Mitigation Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act	Guidance
Federal Guidance on the Use of the TEA-21 Preference for Mitigation Banking to fulfill Mitigation Requirements Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act	Guidance
Guidance on Developing Water Quality Action Plans	Guidance
Funding for Establishment of Wetland Mitigation Banks	Memorandum
Jurisdictional Coverage of Isolated, Non-Navigable Intrastate Waters	Message
Legal Analysis of New Supreme Court Case on Wetlands, Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. US Army Corps of Engineers, No. 99-1178	Memorandum
Section 404 Nationwide Permits	Message
Supreme Court Ruling on Isolated Wetlands	Message
Use of Private Wetland Mitigation Banks	Memorandum
Use of Private Wetland Mitigation Banks as Compensatory Mitigation for Highway Project Impacts	Memorandum
Wetlands Mitigation Action Plan and Corps RGL	Message
Wetland Mitigation and Banking Agreements	Memorandum
Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Guidance Letter on Jurisdictional Determinations	Memorandum
Federal-aid Eligibility for Long-Term Management Activities in Wetland and Natural Habitat Mitigation	Memorandum
Federal-aid Eligibility of Wetland and Natural Habitat Mitigation	Memorandum
The Endangered Species Act
Management of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Environmental Analysis and Consultation Process	Memorandum
Endangered Species Act	Memorandum
Wildlife
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act Does Not Prohibit Incidental Take	Memorandum

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Subject/Title	Resource URL
The Clean Air Act
Air Topics	Webpage
Mobile Source Pollution and Related Health Effects	Webpage
Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES)	Tool
State and Local Transportation Resources	Webpage
Transportation, Air Pollution, and Climate Change	Webpage