AASHTO PH 01 pdf free download
AASHTO PH 01 pdf free download.MAINTAINING A PROJECT FILE AND PREPARING AN ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD FOR A NEPA STUDY.
Drafts of NEPA Documents. A NEPA document typically undergoes many rounds of revisions within the project team before it is published. Technical reports and other supporting documents also undergo many rounds of revisions. As a result, drafts of these documents may constitute one of the most voluminous aspects of a project file. While there are few bright-line rules for handling drafts, the following general guidelines reflect typical practices: ■Drafts that remain internal to the consultant team and/or the project sponsor (e.g., a state DOT) generally are not included in the administrative record. ■Drafts that are submitted to the Federal lead agency are sometimes included in the administrative record. For example, FHWA has recommended including drafts where the revisions represent a ‘significant departure’ from previous drafts. ■Drafts that are transmitted to a cooperating or participating agency for review often are included in the record, along with correspondence to and from that agency regarding the draft. These drafts help to document the coordination that occurred with those agencies in developing the NEPA document. Other methods also could be used to document input from cooperating and participating agencies, such as comment/response tables showing the comments received and the responses provided. 1 1 Drafts that are made available for public comment are almost always included in the administrative record.
Internal Comments on Draft NEPA Documents. The Federal lead agency often provides written comments to the project sponsor or consultant team on drafts of a NEPA document and related technical reports. When such comments are received, the project sponsor or consultant team often provides written responses to show how the comments were addressed. Agency practices vary widely regarding the inclusion of such comments in the administrative record. The following general guidelines provide a starting point for considering the treatment of these comments: ■ Comments provided by the Federal lead agency to the project sponsor and/or consultant team often are included in the record because they reflect direction given by the Federal agency regarding changes needed to the NEPA document. These types of communications help to demonstrate that the Federal lead agency exercised independent oversight during preparation of the NEPA document, which can be important in litigation. ■Comments from the Federal lead agency’s legal counsel on draft NEPA documents generally are treated as privileged communications and, on that basis, generally are not included in an administrative record. (Privileged communications are discussed further below.) Internal discussions within the Federal agency regarding the development of its comments (for example, e-mails discussing potential comments) generally are not included in the administrative record. ■Comments provided by the project sponsor or project consultants on draft NEPA documents generally are not included in the administrative record. However, if these comments were shared with the Federal lead agency, there may be a basis for including them in the record. If a state DOT has received assignment of U.S. DOT’s responsibilties, then the state is the Federal lead agency for purposes of the administrative record. In these situations, there is no distinction to be made between the project sponsor and the Federal lead agency; they are one and the same.AASHTO PH 01 pdf download.
