FHWA Finalizes MAP-21 Environmental Streamlining Rule

One of the hallmarks of the MAP-21 legislation were the many reforms intended to speed up the time it takes to start and complete construction of transportation projects. Much of the focus was on the environmental review process. FHWA and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have jointly released a new rule the significantly reduces the environmental review process necessary for projects that are within an existing right-of-way and projects that receive less than $5 million of total federal funding or projects costing less than $30 million where federal funds account for less than 15 percent of total project cost. The new rule, as directed by MAP-21, now provides a “Categorical Exclusion” (CE) for projects that meet these definitions. Under a CE a project does not have to go through a full environmental impact analysis as required by the federal NEPA law, thereby significantly reducing the time and costs associated with getting a project approved for construction.