§169 — Title 23 Highways | U.S. Code

Summary

A State or metropolitan planning organization can create one or more programmatic mitigation plans during statewide or metro transportation planning to deal with possible environmental impacts from future transportation projects. The plans can be regional, ecosystem, watershed, or statewide. They can cover many kinds of resources or focus on one (like waterways, parks, or wildlife). A plan can apply to all projects in an area or to one type of project. The State or MPO sets the plan’s scope after talking with the agencies that manage the affected resources. A plan can include an assessment of resource condition and threats; ideas for improving resources through strategic mitigation; standard ways to reduce certain impacts; rules for choosing mitigation (for example ratios or site criteria); monitoring and adjusting measures over time; and a note of any legal requirements. Before adopting a plan, the State or MPO must consult the resource agencies, publish a draft for agency and public review, consider comments, and address them in the final plan. Plans can be combined with other plans (watershed, ecosystem, species recovery, growth management, or land use). Federal agencies doing environmental reviews, permits, or approvals must give substantial weight to the plan’s recommendations when acting under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 or other federal environmental laws, and the law does not limit using programmatic approaches under NEPA.

Title 23, §169

Highways — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)As part of the statewide or metropolitan transportation planning process, a State or metropolitan planning organization may develop 1 or more programmatic mitigation plans to address the potential environmental impacts of future transportation projects.

(b)(1)A programmatic mitigation plan may be developed on a regional, ecosystem, watershed, or statewide scale.

(2)The plan may encompass multiple environmental resources within a defined geographic area or may focus on a specific resource, such as aquatic resources, parkland, or wildlife habitat.

(3)The plan may address impacts from all projects in a defined geographic area or may focus on a specific type of project.

(4)The scope of the plan shall be determined by the State or metropolitan planning organization, as appropriate, in consultation with the agency or agencies with jurisdiction over the resources being addressed in the mitigation plan.

(c)A programmatic mitigation plan may include—

(1)an assessment of the condition of environmental resources in the geographic area covered by the plan, including an assessment of recent trends and any potential threats to those resources;

(2)an assessment of potential opportunities to improve the overall quality of environmental resources in the geographic area covered by the plan, through strategic mitigation for impacts of transportation projects;

(3)standard measures for mitigating certain types of impacts;

(4)parameters for determining appropriate mitigation for certain types of impacts, such as mitigation ratios or criteria for determining appropriate mitigation sites;

(5)adaptive management procedures, such as protocols that involve monitoring predicted impacts over time and adjusting mitigation measures in response to information gathered through the monitoring; and

(6)acknowledgment of specific statutory or regulatory requirements that must be satisfied when determining appropriate mitigation for certain types of resources.

(d)Before adopting a programmatic mitigation plan, a State or metropolitan planning organization shall—

(1)consult with each agency with jurisdiction over the environmental resources considered in the programmatic mitigation plan;

(2)make a draft of the plan available for review and comment by applicable environmental resource agencies and the public;

(3)consider any comments received from such agencies and the public on the draft plan; and

(4)address such comments in the final plan.

(e)A programmatic mitigation plan may be integrated with other plans, including watershed plans, ecosystem plans, species recovery plans, growth management plans, and land use plans.

(f)If a programmatic mitigation plan has been developed pursuant to this section, any Federal agency responsible for environmental reviews, permits, or approvals for a transportation project shall give substantial weight to the recommendations in a programmatic mitigation plan when carrying out the responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other Federal environmental law.

(g)Nothing in this section limits the use of programmatic approaches to reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, referred to in subsecs. (f) and (g), is Pub. L. 91–190, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 852, which is classified generally to chapter 55 (§ 4321 et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 4321 of Title 42 and Tables.

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 114–94 substituted “shall give substantial weight to” for “may use” and inserted “or other Federal environmental law” before period at end.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2015 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 114–94 effective Oct. 1, 2015, see section 1003 of Pub. L. 114–94, set out as a note under section 5313 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 2012 Amendment note under section 101 of this title.

§169 Development of Programmatic Mitigation Plans

Summary

Title 23, §169

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Short Title

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata