Although this manual focuses primarily on transportation projects, other types of right-of-way or property acquisition efforts may benefit from the information provided. These include, but are not limited to, advanced or hardship acquisition, corridor preservation, maintenance facility acquisition, enhancement projects, and transit projects.

Hazardous material contamination may be encountered on any transportation project during construction. Contamination sources can be found in existing, adjacent, and proposed right-of-way. The potential for contamination should be assessed as early as possible when developing transportation plans or during project programming and development. Often, if the problem is identified early, more options are available to avoid or minimize impact to the project and to implement a cost-effective approach for handling the hazardous material contamination. The findings of site assessments and investigations should be well documented.

During advanced planning, early participation is needed from the following:

Information obtained during site assessments and investigations must be communicated from one functional area to another within districts and divisions, either in writing or orally (such as in project design concept meetings).

Known or possible hazardous materials concerns, including cost considerations, should be integrated into the project coordination, alignment selection, and decision-making processes. The decision-making process requires experience and knowledge of procedures in hazardous materials, right-of-way negotiation and acquisition, property management, design, and construction. Additional discussions and meetings may be required to determine the most cost-effective approach to handling known or potential hazardous material contamination. The financial impact of pursuing further investigation and/or preventive action should also be considered. Other environmental issues, health and safety concerns, design feasibility, liability, and costs must be considered when rendering the decision to avoid, minimize, redesign or properly handle the concern prior to or during construction.

Early coordination with potentially responsible parties (PRPs) and regulatory agencies is recommended. Preliminary or required commitments should be identified or outlined during advanced planning, prior to finalizing environmental documentation and the project decision-making process. Affected parties, entities, district functional areas, divisions and FHWA, as appropriate, must agree to commitments for further investigation, site closure, preventive action, and/or waste management.

The documentation for state and federal environmental approvals or clearances should provide full and open disclosure of any environmental consequences that may result from the proposed project. The assessment and investigation findings, decisions, considerations and, coordination should be documented in the project files and summarized in any required environmental documentation. Required permits, approvals, and coordination should be specifically identified in the environmental document.

In addition to the environmental document, information about known or possible hazardous material contamination and related commitments to address the contamination must be tracked, documented, and stored in TxDOT’s Environmental Compliance Oversight System (ECOS). This information should be forwarded to the appropriate planning, advanced project development, environmental, right-of-way, design, and construction staff to facilitate communication. Commitments will require continued coordination in all stages of project development to ensure that any concerns are properly handled prior to or during construction. Design changes should be reassessed for possible hazardous material concerns. In some cases, there may be property management requirements to consider during post-construction maintenance activities. Assessing the risks of hazardous material early on, and communicating any resulting concerns to the appropriate district and division personnel throughout the various stages of project development, will help to avoid surprises and reduce costs.