Federal Environmental Compliance for Projects Utilizing Alternative Funding Models
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Federal Environmental Compliance for Projects Utilizing Alternative Funding Models Requested by: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Standing Committee on the Environment Prepared by: Parsons Brinckerhoff One Penn Plaza New York, NY 10119 October 2013 The information contained in this report was prepared as part of NCHRP Project 25-25, Task 81, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board. SPECIAL NOTE: This report IS NOT an official publication of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, or The National Academies. NCHRP 25-25, Task 81– Federal Environmental Compliance for Projects Utilizing Alternative Funding Models Acknowledgements This study was requested by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and conducted as part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 25-25. The NCHRP is supported by annual voluntary contributions from the state Departments of Transportation. Project 25-25 is intended to fund quick response studies on behalf of the AASHTO Standing Committee on the Environment. The report was prepared by Benjamin Perez, AICP, Reno Giordano, and Jennifer Thompson of Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. The work was guided by a task group chaired by Dr. Gail D’Avino, which also included Alfedo Acoff, Craig Casper, Thomas Reeves, Dennis Houlihan, Mark Muriello, Jackie Plock, Mark Kross, Kevin Walsh, David McCray and Neel Vanikar. The project was managed by Nanda Srinivasan, NCHRP Senior Program Officer. Disclaimer The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board or its sponsors. The information contained in this document was taken directly from the submission of the author(s). This document is not a report of the Transportation Research Board or of the National Research Council. October 2013 NCHRP 25-25, Task 81– Federal Environmental Compliance for Projects Utilizing Alternative Funding Models Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1-1 1.1 Project Summary and Research Objectives .............................................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Projects Studied .............................................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.3 Organization of the Final Report ............................................................................................................... 1-4 2 CONTEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING .............................................................................. 2-1 2.1 Alternative Funding Models ......................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Alternative Procurement Models ................................................................................................................. 2-4 2.3 The NEPA Process ........................................................................................................................................... 2-8 2.4 NEPA and the Timing of P3 Procurements.............................................................................................. 2-10 2.5 NEPA Provisions in Federal Transportation Law ................................................................................... 2-11 2.6 Other Federal Environmental Laws ......................................................................................................... 2-14 2.7 Local Regulatory Processes and Complementary Real Estate Development .................................. 2-17 3 PROJECT PROFILES.................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Introduction and Approach .......................................................................................................................... 3-1 I-595 Corridor Roadway Improvements Project Profile .................................................................................................... 3-3 Port of Miami Tunnel Project Profile .................................................................................................................................... 3-11 Mid-Currituck Bridge Project Profile ................................................................................................................................... 3-19 North Tarrant Express I-35W Segments 3A and 3B Project Profile ............................................................................ 3-27 South Norfolk Jordan Bridge Project Profile ..................................................................................................................... 3-37 Downtown Tunnel/Midtown Tunnel/MLK Extension Project Profile ............................................................................... 3-45 Transbay Transit Center Project Profile .............................................................................................................................. 3-55 Denver Union Station Project Profile ................................................................................................................................... 3-65 Miami Intermodal Center Project Profile ............................................................................................................................ 3-75 Interlink Project Profile ........................................................................................................................................................... 3-83 4 FINDINGS .................................................................................................................. 4-1 4.1 NEPA Compliance for Highway Projects with Early Private Involvement ........................................... 4-1 4.2 NEPA Compliance for Highway Projects with Post-NEPA Private Involvement.................................. 4-2 4.3 NEPA Compliance for Transit Center and Real Estate Projects with Early Private Involvement...................................................................................................................................................... 4-5 4.4 NEPA Compliance for Transit Center and Real Estate Projects with Post-NEPA Private Involvement...................................................................................................................................................... 4-7 4.5 Lessons Learned: Highway Project Utilizing Alternative Funding Models ........................................... 4-9 4.6 Lessons Learned: Multimodal Transit Centers and Real Estate Development Projects Utilizing Alternative Funding Models ...................................................................................................... 4-11 4.7 Many Templates for Success ..................................................................................................................... 4-14 Tables TABLE 1-1: ESSENTIAL CASE STUDY PROJECT INFORMATION ...................................................................................... 1-5 TABLE 4-1: SUMMARY OF PROJECT PROFILE FINDINGS ............................................................................................... 4-3 October 2013 Page | i NCHRP 25-25, Task 81– Federal Environmental Compliance for Projects Utilizing Alternative Funding Models List of Acronyms AASHTO ......... American Association of State DWQ ............... Division of Water Quality Highway and Transportation EA ..................... Environmental Assessment Officials EOC ................. Executive Oversight Committee ACHP ............... Advisory Council on Historic EPA .................. U.S. Environmental Protection Preservation Agency AWI ................. Atlantic Wood Industries EIS .................... Environmental Impact Statement BCEPD ............. Broward County Environmental ERC .................. Elizabeth River Crossings, LLC Protection Department FAA .................. Federal Aviation Administration BOO ................ Build-Own-Operate FDEP ................ Florida Department of BOT .................. Build-Operate-Transfer Environmental Protection BRT ................... Bus Rapid Transit FEIS .................. Final Environmental Impact CAMA .............. Coastal Area Management Act Statement CCD ................. City and County of Denver FHWA ............. Federal Highway Administration CCSF ................ City and County of San Francisco FDOT ............... Florida Department of CDC ................. Corridor Design Consultant Transportation CDOT .............. Colorado Department of FONSI .............. Finding of No Significant Impact Transportation FRA .................. Federal Railroad Administration CDPHE ............. Colorado Department of Public FTA ................... Federal Transit Administration Health and Environment FTE.................... Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise CE ..................... Categorical Exclusion HOV ................ High Occupancy Vehicles CEI .................... Construction Engineering and LOI ................... Letter of Intent Inspection LPA ................... Locally Preferred Alternative CEQ ................. Council on Environmental Quality MAP-21 .......... Moving Ahead for Progress in the CFR .................. Code of Federal