AASHTO PH16-1 pdf free download

AASHTO PH16-1 pdf free download.IMPLEMENTING ECO-LOGICAL: INTEGRATING TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND ECOLOGICAL DECISION MAKING.
StakeholderslPartners. Based on the planning area, the transportation agency should develop the list of partners. The core stakeholders are the same agencies consulted in project-level ecological coordination. Commonly these stakeholders include Federal agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and their state counterparts. These agencies can cover the majority of ecological issues at the Federal and state level, including both the resources protected by law and those that require sensitive approaches.
The list of additional stakeholders depends on the scale of the IEF process. Candidates may include organizations with a local or sub-regional interest, such as county agencies, MPOs, cities, park districts, and non-governmental organizations (NGO5).
Communications. At the initial meeting of the stakeholders, it is important to charter the team, establish the goals of the IEF, identify the value to each of the stakeholders, and gain commitment for continued cooperation. For that reason, a face-to-face meeting or live webinar is recommended for the kick-off and some interim meetings. At the initial meeting, the protocol for future communication to keep all parties engaged should be a priority agenda item. Depending on the timing, the meeting could be preceded with a questionnaire to identify available mapping data/format, current software, and conservation/restoration priorities as a beginning point of discussion. The communication will likely be a balance of written communications and face- to-face meetings to provide partners the greatest flexibility to stay involved.
Established methods of agency and public involvement that are used at the project level can be applied to this activity. It is important at this early stage to establish a process for documenting agreements. Changing personnel between the planning and implementation phases of a program poses a real risk of losing track of decisions made during the planning phases.
Team Responsibilities. During Step 1, partners should establish and document responsibilities and roles for all participants. Depending on the scope of the planning effort, the planning group for a long-term partnership could be divided into:
• The Partners Team provides leadership and direction to the other teams to ensure that their common and accepted objectives are met. Partners represent the agencies and organizations investing in the plan. Upper-level management engagement is needed not only to provide resources, but to enforce the agreements made among the stakeholders in each agency’s policies.
• The Science Team ensures that the REF spatial database (developed in Step 3) represents best available scientific knowledge, makes recommendations about the natural resources that should be included in the REF, and populates the REF with information about the resources’ conservation requirements and response to stressors that would appear in the transportation and land-use scenarios. Because all knowledge cannot be integrated into the REF, the team should also be engaged to review and validate assessments and inform decisions. The team itself is composed of subject matter experts for the resources and may be drawn from state and Federal agencies, universities, and NGOs, among others.AASHTO PH16-1 pdf download.