NEPA and Project Development Toolkit

TxDOT works with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and other federal agencies to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and uses the TxDOT environmental compliance process for state and local projects, where TxDOT is the state approval authority. Environmental practitioners can use these tools to meet the standards required by TxDOT policy to comply with FHWA NEPA compliance procedures and Title 43, Chapter 2 of the Texas Administrative Code.

Questions? Contact the Environmental Affairs Project Delivery Section at (512) 416-2763.

You may download the software (Tools and Plug-Ins) needed to access forms or view frequently asked questions (Online Forms FAQs).

General References
Preparing Environmental Documents
Document Review
Reevaluations
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
Environmental Assessment (EA)
Categorical Exclusions (CEs)
Best Practices for the Environmental Document Process
Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL)

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Date	General References	Description
01/20	Guidance: Environmental Clearance Requirements for Certain Types of Non-FHWA Projects	Explains whether a state environmental clearance is required to be recorded in ECOS for certain types of non-FHWA projects
	40 CFR 1500 -1508	Codifies, in the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) rules implementing NEPA
	23 CFR 771: Environmental Impact and Related Procedures	Prescribes the policies and procedures of FHWA and FTA for implementing NEPA requirements for processing highway and public transportation projects and supplements the CEQ NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1500 to 1508)
	Texas Administrative Code Title 43, Part 1, Chapter 2, Environmental Review of Transportation Projects	Outlines the environmental review process for state-only funded projects and implements sections of the Transportation Code, Parks and Wildlife Code and Natural Resources Code
	Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 201, Subchapter I-1	Outlines the Texas Transportation Code requirements for the TxDOT environmental review process
	AASHTO: SAFETEA-LU Overview Webpage	Provides an overview and explains the environmental provisions of SAFETEA-LU as applicable to surface transportation programs
	Collaboration in NEPA: A Handbook for NEPA Practitioners	Presents CEQ results concerning the consideration of collaboration in analyses prepared under NEPA and provides guidance on collaboration, general principles, useful steps and methods of collaboration

Date	Preparing Environmental Documents	Description
10/17	Guidance: Preparing a Purpose and Need Statement	Provides standards governing the content of the purpose and need statement in an EA or EIS.
	AASHTO Practitioner’s Guide: Defining the Purpose and Need and Determining the Range of Alternatives for Transportation Projects	Provides American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) NEPA recommendations for defining the purpose and need and determining the range of alternatives in EISs and EAs
	AASHTO Practitioner's Guide: Maintaining the Project File and Preparing an Administrative Record for a NEPA Study	Provides information, for projects in which the lead federal agency is the FHWA and the project sponsor is a state department of transportation, to maintain the project file and to compile the administrative record
	FHWA Technical Advisory T 6640 A: Guidance For Preparing and Processing Environmental and Section 4(f) Documents	Provides guidance for preparing and processing environmental and Section 4(f) documents

Date	Document Review	Description
12/17	Technical Review: Comment Response Matrix (Microsoft Word Version)	Used to record and communicate review comments and responses generated as a result of an environmental review
12/17	Technical Review: Comment Response Matrix (Microsoft Excel Version)	Used to record and communicate review comments and responses generated as a result of an environmental review
01/16	Guidance: Primary Effects of Changes in Federal Funding Status on Environmental Review of Highway Projects	Explains how environmental reviews are primarily impacted when the status of federal funding changes

Date	Reevaluations	Description	Format
01/20	Reevaluation Form	Used to complete the "Perform Reevaluation" Activity in ECOS

Date	Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)	Description
03/19	EIS Process Roadmap for an FHWA Project	Provides an overview of the process for starting and completing an EIS for an FHWA project
01/19	Guidance: Assembling a Combined Final Environmental Impact Statement/Record of Decision	Provides instructions for how to assemble the first several pages of a combined FEIS/ROD
	FHWA Section 6002 Efficient Environmental Reviews for Project Decision Making	Provides frequently asked questions about and guidance on the environmental review process for EIS projects

Date	Environmental Assessments (EAs)	Description
03/20	Environmental Handbook - Preparing an Environmental Assessment	Conveys TxDOT’s primary expectations on how an EA must be prepared and the appropriate level of content and analysis
03/20	Environmental Assessment Outline	Use to prepare an EA for approval under TxDOT’s rules or under the NEPA Assignment Memorandum of Understanding with FHWA
01/20	Environmental Assessment Cover Page	Use to prepare an EA cover page for projects assigned to TxDOT by FHWA
01/20	Finding of No Significant Impact for State or FHWA Project	Use to prepare and record a determination that a state or FHWA project will cause no significant impact to the environment
09/15	FHWA and State EA Comparison Chart	Identifies and compares requirements applicable to federal and state EAs
07/19	Template for EIS to EA Classification Approval	Used to request approval to prepare an EA for an FHWA project for which an EIS is normally required under 23 CFR 771.115(a).

Date	Categorical Exclusions (CEs)	Description
01/20	Open-Ended (d) Categorical Exclusion Classification Request Form	Used to request ENV approval to proceed with processing a project as an open-ended (d) CE
01/20	Amendment to Open-Ended (d) Categorical Exclusion Classification Request Form	Used to confirm ENV's approval of a project as an open-ended (d) CE when there are changes to the project description or schematic
01/20	Form: Documenting (e)-Constraint Compliance on a (c)(26), (c)(27), or (c)(28) Categorical Exclusion	Used to document compliance with the requirements at 23 CFR 771.117(e) when a (c)(26), (c)(27), or (c)(28) CE is used on an FHWA project

Date	Best Practices for the Environmental Document Process	Description	Format
12/18	Best Practice: Project File Maintenance	Recommends strategies for establishing and maintaining the project file

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Date	NEPA and Planning	Description
	23 CFR 450, Appendix A: Linking the Transportation Planning and NEPA Processes	Provides details for relying on incorporating information, analysis and products from transportation planning into NEPA documents under existing laws
	FHWA Environmental Review Toolkit: Planning and Environmental Linkages	Provides additional FHWA guidance on planning and environmental linkages
09/15	Supplement to Jan. 28, 2008 Transportation Planning Requirements and Their Relationship to NEPA Process Completion	Explains the relationship between transportation planning and air quality conformity regulations and the timing of a final NEPA decision
09/15	FHWA Shortening Project Delivery Toolkit	Proposes approaches to improve project delivery times and address frequently-cited problem areas and provides guidance to help environmental practitioners understand and accept the new approaches and new technologies

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