Environmental Planning GIS Tools for Transportation Planning

GISST analysis can be used to communicate with a wide variety of stakeholders because of its easy to understand ranking system.

What are Environmental Planning GIS Tools?

Environmental Planning GIS Tools provide a scalable solution that uses mapping technology to analyze environmental assets along with transportation assets and plans to develop optimal paths for both transportation improvements and environmental mitigation and stewardship. The process involves early multi‑agency integration, which expedites project delivery. This process serves a Green Infrastructure approach, which is a strategically planned and managed network of natural resources that provides an ecosystem‑based framework for selecting corridor alignments and identifying mitigation opportunities.

Benefits

Data-driven Decision Support System

• Defensible decisions
• Speed project planning and delivery without sacrificing environment
• "Smart" mitigation without sacrificing environment
• Transparent decision-making
• Improve project quality
• Cost efficiency
• Enhanced credibility

Early Multi-agency Integration

• Speed project planning and delivery without sacrificing environment
• Strengthens working relationships
• Transparent decision-making
• Cost efficiency
• Eliminate redundancy
• Improve information quality
• Align with Federal priorities
• Regulation/compliance
  • New compensatory mitigation rule
  • SAFETEALU requirements
  • NEPA

Systems Approach

• Higher quality of stewardship
• Cost efficiency of stewardship
• Scalable activity
• Framework provides leveraging of project dollars to multiply ecological benefits
• Strengthening communities through sustainable practices
  • Environmental
  • Economic
  • Social
• Agency public image enhancement
  • Public approval and cooperation
  • Enhanced credibility
• Defensible decision framework
• Supports Federal initiatives
  • FHWA "ECO-LOGICAL"
  • Fish & Wildlife Services Strategic Habitat Conservation
  • US EPA and Army Corps of Engineers watershed approach
  • US Forest Service programs
  • US Department of Defense "Linking Fences Linking Missions" program
  • Other linear infrastructure programs are using GI approach (pipelines, etc.)

Contacts – Lead States Team

EPGT Library

• Brochure
• Presentations
  • GIS and Optimization Tools for Linking Transportation and Natural Resource Planning: An Approach for Optimizing Mitigation in a Fiscally Constrained Environment
    NHIInnovations - Webinar
    (December 20, 2012)
  • GIS Tools for Linking Transportation and Natural Resource Planning
    NHIInnovations - Webinar
    (October 18, 2012)
  • Linking Transportation and Natural Resource Planning through Environmental GIS Tools
    NHIInnovations - Webinar
    (June 16, 2011)
  • Landscape Scale Planning: Innovative Tools Used by MD SHA and TX DOT
    2011 MdQI Conference
    Donna Buscemi, Sandy Hertz, and Heather Lowe; Maryland State Highway Administration
    Christine Conn, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
    Gannett Fleming, Craig Shirk
    (February 3, 2011)
  • US 301 Waldorf: A Strategic Approach to Environmental Stewardship
    Will Allen, The Conservation Fund
    (August 2010)
  • Environmental Planning GIS Tools for Transportation Planning and Design
    ESRI International User Conference
    Maya Coleman, Texas Department of Transportation
    (July 14, 2010)
• Other Publications
  • Case Studies
    Information about two projects in Maryland and Texas.
    (2013)
  • Environmental Planning GIS Tools: Executive Overview
    (2013)
  • Environmental Planning GIS Tools: Guidance Document
    (2013)
  • Green Infrastructure Design and Benefit-Cost Optimization in Transportation Planning
    A Sustainable Chesapeake: Better Models for Conservation
    Chapter 3 - Green Infrastructure
  • Green Infrastructure Planning: Recent Advances and Applications
    PAS Memo
    (May/June 2009)
  • Integrating Optimization and Strategic Conservation to Achieve Higher Efficiencies in Land Protection
    University of Delaware, Working Paper No. 2010-14
• Additional Resources
  • Abstract
  • Poster