FHWA has adopted the policy of managing the NEPA project development and decision-making process as an “umbrella,” under which all applicable environmental laws, executive orders, and regulations are considered and addressed prior to the final project decision and document approval. Conclusion of the NEPA process results in a decision that addresses multiple concerns and requirements. The FHWA NEPA process allows transportation officials to make project decisions that balance engineering and transportation needs with social, economic, and natural environmental factors. During the process, a wide range of partners including the public, businesses, interest groups, and agencies at all levels of government; provide input into project and environmental decisions.
– From Integration of Safety in the Project Development Process and Beyond: A Context Sensitive Approach
Integrating Road Safety into NEPA Analysis: A Practitioner’s Primer (June 2011)
This primer presents an introduction to the topic of addressing safety as part of the environment analysis process, as directed by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It presents practitioners with basic concepts for including meaningful, quantitative analysis of project safety issues and for taking advantage of the latest tools, research, and techniques for improving road safety within a project scope. The primer highlights the opportunity and benefits of linking safety planning to the environmental analysis at every stage of the NEPA process.
The primer contains the following sections:
