Background

There is a continuing need to more effectively link transportation system planning performed by state and local governments with natural and cultural resource concerns. Enhanced early coordination between transportation planners and environmental stakeholders such as federal resource agencies can result in better opportunities for the protection of environmental and human resources, and may help to avoid costly delays later when individual projects are brought forward for detailed environmental analysis and implementation.

Effective linking of planning, project development, and environmental analysis, called integrated planning here, can shorten the time needed for environmental reviews of projects by bringing together the necessary agencies and stakeholders early on. This early coordination has the potential not only to provide better protection of natural and cultural resources, but also to maximize the efficient use of scarce staff and financial resources by flagging potential problems before the narrowing of options and the completion of detailed design work. Integrated planning can also enable agencies to examine the resource impacts of multiple projects, thereby providing opportunities to develop more effective environmental mitigation measures.

Work Group Activities

To guide its efforts, the Integrated Planning Work Group developed a work plan that describes the challenges and opportunities associated with integrated planning and includes recommendations for activities.

The first effort of the Work Group was to establish a baseline understanding of the current obstacles and opportunities for integrated planning. The Work Group developed a baseline assessment report , which is under review by the Work Group and Task Force.

Components of the baseline effort include:

• A compilation of laws, regulations, and case law regarding integrated planning;
• A list of existing technical assistance tools - agency guidance, training courses, workshops, peer exchanges, and case studies;
• An annotated bibliography of relevant publications;
• Findings from discussions with practitioners to identify common obstacles to integrated planning; and
• Identification of examples of successful integrated planning.

Integrated Planning, Work Group Baseline Report and Preliminary Gap Analysis, Deliberative Draft - March 15, 2005