Abstract:
The Washington State Department of Transportation is working with the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, and a number of resource agencies to develop a process for merging the NEPA environmental impact statement process with the planning process. Three pilot projects are being conducted as part of this effort. Each project is managed by an interdisciplinary project management team (PMT) rather than a traditional project manager. This paper will compare the responsibilities of the PMT as described in the Decision Making Process Handbook, developed to guide the merged process, with actual practice. Key to the responsibilities of the PMT is support for the Steering Committee, a large, broad based decision making committee. The paper will describe how the duties have been modified, primarily during the progress of one of three pilot projects occurring in Washington State: State Route 20: Sharpe’s Corner to State Route 536. Other areas of interest will be the benefits of a multi-disciplinary team management concept and the planning methods for work on a new process, including development of the consultant work program. The reader of this paper will gain insights into the pilot process, the use of a multi-disciplinary management team, and the planning of a project using a merged environmental and planning process.
