The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) praised a move by the state of Utah to formally request authority to manage federal environmental reviews for “categorical exclusion” (CE) projects—a move the association says will expedite delivery of needed transportation improvement projects. ARTBA submitted May 27 comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of the department’s memorandum of understanding with Utah officials.
Under the terms of the 2005 SAFETEA-LU federal highway/transit law, states may request authority to assume responsibility for certain National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review decisions involving CEs—projects such as a rehabilitation or bridge replacement where environmental impacts will not rise to the threshold of new construction or significant expansion.
While ARTBA reiterated its support for NEPA as an integral component of the transportation planning process, the association also emphasized concern that the transportation planning process under NEPA was “never meant to be a statute enabling delay, but rather a vehicle to promote balance.”
“Allowing Utah and other states to assume responsibility for CEs rather than provide information to federal agencies on a case-by-case basis will reduce the amount of time involved in the environmental review and approval process by lessening the burden on federal agencies…. The more states chose to take advantage of delegation, the greater the reduction of delay in the environmental review and approval process,” ARTBA said.
A copy of ARTBA’s support comments is available under the “Government Affairs” section of www.artba.org.
