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Environmental Streamlining

It is in the public interest to develop cost-effective projects in a timely manner while meeting the responsibilities of protecting the environment under National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Unfortunately, implementation of the NEPA process has become more and more time consuming, particularly on environmentally sensitive projects. Recent initiatives at the federal level have encouraged “streamlining” government reviews and process to shorten the overall timeline of project development for transportation projects.

At the federal level, states were asked to choose candidate projects to pilot streamlining efforts being implemented by Federal Highways Administration (FHWA). In Minnesota, the Highway 169 project around Mille Lacs Lake was chosen. This highly controversial project in a culturally and environmentally sensitive area was ideally suited for streamlining.

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SEH was selected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) to lead the Environmental Impact Statement and preliminary design process for this project.

The Environmental Streamlining process for this project involved establishing a committee of federal, state and local agencies that worked closely with Mn/DOT and SEH. Establishing a number of concurrence points during the project development process helped ensure that the agency issues are dealt with early and resolved prior to advancing to the next step in the process. This has prevented wasted effort and rework.