CHAPTER V CONSULTATION PROCESS MAP‐21 and the FAST Act require that BCATS consult with federal, state and local entities that are responsible for the following: •Economic growth and development • Natural resources • Environmental protection • Conservation •Airport operations • Historic preservation •Freight movement •Human service transportation providers •Land use management The goal of this process is to eliminate or minimize conflicts with other agencies’ plans and programs that impact transportation, or for which transportation decisions may impact them. Since the intent of the consultation, according to FHWA, is to exchange information, and not just ask for comments on the BCATS Plan or TIP, BCATS began the consultation process for its overall program with the distribution of a general letter to the involved parties many years ago with a letter making contact in January 2007. The letter was provided to the following agencies making them aware of the consultation requirement for transportation (a copy of the letter is included at the end of this chapter). •Fish and Wildlife Service •Calhoun County Water Resources •US EPA Region 5 Commissioner •Michigan DEQ ‐ Kalamazoo District • BC/CAL/KAL Inland Port Development •Michigan DNR ‐ Plainwell Corporation •National Trust for Historic Preservation •Friends of the Kal‐Haven Trail • Office of State Archaeologist •Region III Area Agency on Aging •Calhoun Soil Conservation District •Michigan 63rd District State •USDA ‐ Michigan State Office Representative (Lorence Wenke •Michigan Department of Agriculture Jan/2007) •W.K. Kellogg Airport •Michigan 62nd District State •Michigan Department of Community Representative (Mike Nofs Jan/2007) Health •Michigan 19th District State Senator (Mark •Michigan Economic Development Schauer Jan/2007) Corporation •City of Battle Creek Planning Department • Disability Resource Center •Charter Township of Bedford •Calhoun County MSU Extension •Charter Township of Pennfield •USGS ‐ Lansing District •Charter Township of Emmett •SW Michigan Land Conservancy •Leroy Township •Calhoun County Farm Service Agency •Newton Township • Natural Resources Conservation Service • Battle Creek Unlimited •Consumers Energy V‐1 • Community Action Agency of • Kraft Foods ‐ Post Division Southcentral Michigan • Canadian National Railroad •Burnham Brook Center • Battle Creek Area Chamber of Commerce •Marian E. Burch Adult Day Care Center • State Historic Preservation Office and Rehab. Center • Behnke, Inc. (trucking) • Kellogg Corportation Subsequent to these initial contacts, BCATS also contacted the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians (Tribal Chairperson and tribal planner). BCATS has been maintaining information about the plans and programs of these other entities on an on‐going basis since the initial contacts were made back in 2007. This includes: Southwest Michigan Non‐Motorized Plan (2011), updates to the W.K. Kellogg Airport Plan (2010), development plans along M‐66 in Pennfield Township (2010‐11), and update to the Calhoun County Coordinated Public Transit Human Service Agency Plan (2015). Recently, all Michigan MPOs were advised of planning updates being conducted by the National Forest Service. The Consultation list received the same newsletter information about the Plan update process as those on the public participation list (see Chapter IV). Once the Plan update is adopted, the agencies will be advised that, should they wish to consult BCATS’ Plan, it is available on the BCATS website. No comments on the 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan were received from the consultation agencies and organizations. RESPONSES/COMMENTS BCATS received the following responses to its initial January 23, 2007 letter: •Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) ‐ primarily concerned with properties enrolled under Part 361 of NREPA (formerly the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Act) and indicating that any projects that will impact land outside of existing rights‐of‐way would want to be reviewed by MDA. The response also encourages contact with the County Water Resources Commissioner (the Commissioner is on the BCATS consultation list). •Michigan DEQ ‐ Kalamazoo District Office ‐ provided a helpful list of contact persons for various different types of environmental issues handled by the DEQ. Also included was a copy of the response provided to the Kalamazoo Area Transportation Study (KATS) by the Chief of the Transportation and Flood Hazard Unit of the Land and Water Management Division of the DEQ regarding the KATS 2030 Transportation Plan. The correspondence to KATS provided additional contact persons and website resources for water/wetlands/floodplain related issues. A contact was also provided for issues related to threatened and endangered species. •A contact person for State Senator Mark Schauer’s office was identified. •The airport manager for W.K. Kellogg airport provided information regarding some changes to roadway operations in the immediate vicinity of the airport which have since been implemented. •U.S. EPA ‐ Chicago office ‐ responded with some general information about the availability of information at EPA websites, a specific contact person and a willingness to review specific projects. V‐2 Types of projects they are primarily interested in include: new alignments, new river crossings, and other capacity increasing project that require additional right‐of‐way. The key environmental aspects which were pointed out to BCATS include: wetlands, floodplains, impaired streams and other waterbodies, environmental justice, hazardous waste sites, endangered species, and air quality. •U.S. Department of the Interior‐Fish and Wildlife Service (East Lansing, MI office) ‐ responded with a listing of Endangered Species information for the BCATS area (of particular interest are the Indiana bat, bald eagle, copperbelly water snake, and eastern massasauga rattlesnake). The protection of wetlands, in general, was also noted in the correspondence. The comments/issues generated by the 2007 letter that were still relevant were considered in the update of the 2030 Plan to a 2035 horizon. They were also taken into consideration with the current update to a 2040 horizon. TREATMENT OF RESPONSES/COMMENTS Since the responses to the January 23, 2007 letter were not specific to any project, BCATS staff used the information that was still relevant to do a cursory review of the projects included in the draft listing of projects for the 2040 Plan, regarding the issues mentioned by the respondents. The majority of the comments were related to general environmental issues and will be addressed by the project owners within the context of their development of individual projects. Given the high percentage of 2040 Plan projects that are reconstruction, resurfacing, or maintenance related, there are very few projects which would impact the environmental issues noted. For those that may have modest impacts, all guidance material provided by the consulting agencies will be made available to the project owners for use in developing those projects. BCATS’ adopted environmental “Best Practice Guidelines” (Policy Committee September 26, 2007) which have already been provided to potential project owners for their reference. The guidelines are being re‐issued to the units of government as part of the 2040 Plan update process. There were no new comments to respond to from the Consultation agencies. V‐3 Battle Creek Area Transportation Study 601 Avenue A - Springfield, MI 49015 269/963-1158 -- fax 269/963-4951 e-mail: [email protected] DATE: January 23, 2007 TO: Agencies and organizations involved with plans and programs which may impact transportation - and for whom transportation decisions may impact their plans and programs FROM: Patricia Karr, Executive Director SUBJECT: Introductory Letter - Request for Consultation with the Battle Creek Area Transportation Study, Battle Creek, Michigan Recent federal transportation legislation spelled out a concern with the impact that the plans and programs of those responsible for areas such as: environmental protection, land use management, historic preservation, provision of human service transportation, economic development, airport operations, freight movement, and other areas have upon the decisions, plans, and programs of federally designated transportation planning agencies. The same legislation is now requiring metropolitan planning agencies, called MPOs, to have a specific “Consultation” element identified in their programs, and to use this element in the development of two existing major projects. These projects are: (1) a 20-year long range transportation plan; and (2) a 4-year implementing component of the long range plan (called a Transportation Improvement Program, or TIP). As the MPO in the greater Battle Creek, Michigan area, the Battle Creek Area Transportation Study is working to identify appropriate agencies to include in this Consultation effort. BCATS requests a copy of any plans or programs your agency or organization may have that detail future development, location of sensitive resources, or any other inventory that may be useful in reviewing plans for future transportation projects. These items can certainly be provided electronically to BCATS at [email protected]. Other contact options are included in the letterhead above. Please also provide the name of the best contact person within your agency or organization so that future contact can be completed as efficiently as possible. BCATS is in the process of updating its long range