Integrating Planning and NEPA: Linking Transportation and Land Use Planning to Indirect and Cumulative Impacts

Between 1980 and 2001 vehicle miles traveled in the United States increased 82% while the number of available roadway lane miles increased by less than 4%. These statistics provide a compelling reason for state departments of transportation (DOTs) to focus on project delivery. There are many reasons why road building is not keeping pace with the growth in travel demand— public controversy, lack of funding, and decisions to invest in other modes are just a few. However, for any complex road building project, such as new road or substantial road widening, project delays often result from the need to find better ways to plan, design and build the road project while minimizing the impacts to the natural and human environment. In response to this challenge, DOTs are looking for ways to incorporate both environmental streamlining and environmental stewardship into the project delivery process. Integrating long range planning with the project-level process required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a high-priority strategy for accomplishing these goals. However, national initiatives through the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Interagency Task Force established by Executive Order 13274 have documented that the challenges to achieving this integration are substantial. As a part of its environmental stewardship and streamlining goal, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has taken up this challenge. The goal of the multi-year Integrating Planning and Project Development Project (Integration Project) is to identify, through data-driven decision-making, long range transportation solutions that can be evaluated, detailed, and permitted for construction. The purpose of this paper is to provide a general description of the overall Integration Project; to provide a more detailed discussion of the approach and products for the integration project by using indirect and cumulative impacts as an example; and to describe how North Carolina’s work is advancing the national state-of-the-practice for integrating planning and NEPA.