STEP Environment Fact Sheet (July 2012)
This publication was superseded November 2012.
Planning Cooperative Research Program (STEP)
"Conducting Research That Leads To Practice"
Environment Highlights
- The Improving Vehicle Fleet, Activity, and Emissions Data for On-Road Mobile Sources Emissions Inventories research effort reviewed practices for estimating fleet emissions data for on-road vehicles and heavy-duty trucks with various loaded weights. Researchers used the data to evaluate methods to derive fleet activity data.
- Research and Innovation Agreement with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).
- Researchers investigated best practices for innovative compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act to ensure efficient project delivery. Tools were created to help agencies develop effective programmatic agreements, promote early coordination, and improve the outcome of the process for all parties participating. The Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) initiative hosted four Structured, Transparent, Accountable, Reproducible, and Sustainable (STARS) workshops to facilitate the exchange of ideas, data, and tools to integrate transportation planning and project development activities. A webinar was held to share these insights with other stakeholders. It is available to view at http://fhwa.adobeconnect.com/p6o0gm1cj3w.
- The Endangered Species Act (ESA) Webtool was updated to help streamline the biological assessments (BAs) preparation and consultation processes for transportation projects. The tool contains a national BA template, online file cabinets for BA documentation and a set of region-specific contacts and resources. The ESA Webtool can be found at
www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/ESAWebTool/default.aspx.
Program Overview
STEP is a research program authorized in the "Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users". STEP funds can be awarded to state/local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, universities, federal agencies, and the private sector. For more information, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep/step/.
