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Environmental Requirements for Federal-Aid Transportation Projects

If your project requires federal action (including federal funding), a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document is required.

The NEPA document is an “umbrella” that shows evidence of compliance with a number of laws, regulations and orders, including:

For a summary of environmental legislation affecting transportation, click here.

The State Environmental Review Process (SERP) Preliminary Environmental Inventory (PEI) for the project will indicate many of the environmental clearances and commitments required.

No ground-disturbing work can take place before:

  • The SERP is completed
  • Environmental clearances have been obtained
  • The environmental document is approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

Not following this procedure can jeopardize FHWA and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) financial participation in your project.

A NEPA concurrence form must be completed by the locality and forwarded electronically to your VDOT project coordinator.

VDOT will forward the form to FHWA for concurrence. The completed form will be sent back to the locality. 

VDOT is the sole agent authorized by FHWA to administer the NEPA process on its behalf. Localities should not seek to coordinate issues independently with FHWA.

The locality is urged to schedule a “kick off” meeting with the VDOT project coordinator and an environmental representative.  The VDOT environmental representative will provide the locality with a completed environmental project scoping requirements form that indicates the necessary environmental coordination.

Once FHWA concurs with the level of NEPA documentation, you may begin the environmental document. This may be a:

When completing EAs, EISs, and Section 4(f) evaluations, localities must adhere to established outlines for purpose and need and alternatives analysis sections.

Once a draft section is available, it must be coordinated with VDOT. Click for examples of purpose and need and alternatives sections.

There should be no consultant logos, advertisements, etc., on the cover page, text or figures of the NEPA documents. These documents are submitted by VDOT to FHWA for approval as a federal document and should not contain such items.

If VDOT receives a NEPA document that includes such logos, revisions will be required before submission to FHWA.

This applies only to NEPA documentation. It is up to localities as to whether they allow company logos in the supporting technical studies (such as noise analyses, cultural resource reports, etc.)

Once you have obtained the necessary clearances from resource agencies, you must forward all technical studies, agency coordination letters and the draft NEPA document to your VDOT project coordinator. 

Forms:

Guidance:



Page last modified: Monday, January 22, 2007