The Federal Highway Administration recently finalized an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation that would allow Texas to take more ownership of federally-required environmental review requirements for faster delivery of critical bridge and highway projects.
[Above photo by TxDOT]
Under the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA assignment program, states are allowed to take full responsibility for environmental reviews; a program TxDOT has participated in since 2014.
In December 2023, TxDOT submitted its second renewal package and, after reviewing that package and TxDOT’s overall performance in the program, FHWA and TxDOT worked out several substantial changes in a new memorandum of understanding or MOU. Key changes include:
- Providing TxDOT with the ability to take on NEPA responsibilities for 10 years instead of five years;
- Removing references to rescinded regulations from the White House Council on Environmental Quality;
- Accelerating decision-making processes by utilizing TxDOT’s existing internal system to document the NEPA approval process that serves as FHWA notification of Texas’ NEPA decisions;
- Excluding FHWA from being a party to programmatic agreements; and,
- Removing reporting requirements related to performance measures, an annual self-assessment, and monthly reporting.
Sean Duffy, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, noted in a statement that TxDOT has met all requirements for renewal of its participation in the program and proposed in the Federal Register notice to renew TxDOT’s participation for a new 10-year term.
“This agreement is just another example of how our department is committed to America building again,” Duffy said. “If enacted, Texas’ new agreement will allow the state to tackle critical infrastructure bigger, better and faster.”
“Texas taking responsibility for the federal environmental approval process has served to expedite transportation projects and reduce costs,” added TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams. “This new agreement is a significant step forward by the Trump Administration to solidify a strong federal-state partnership and empower Texas to efficiently move projects forward.”
Giving more NEPA authority back to TxDOT is the latest in a series of actions by the USDOT to help states accelerate project delivery nationwide.
For example, the USDOT recently finalized a first-of-its-kind programmatic agreement with the Connecticut Department of Transportation in May at the Spring Meeting of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials that accelerated the review of individual transportation projects that may affect historic properties under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
USDOT said it believes this new type of streamlined agreement could cut six weeks or more off from the schedules of at least 90 infrastructure projects in Connecticut per year.
