With support from the Federal Highway Administration, the NADO Research Foundation held a webinar on Planning Environment Linkages: Interagency Partnerships and Public Engagement on Tuesday, April 5, 2:00 – 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time. View the webinar recording here.
About the webinar
Regional transportation planning organizations in rural and small metro areas can benefit from incorporating environmental considerations into the transportation planning process. Often referred to as Planning and Environment Linkages (PEL), this work entails planning for environmental, community, and economic goals early in transportation decision-making process. PEL has the potential to decrease project cost, schedule times, and redundant efforts. Interagency partnerships and robust public involvement are two steps that regional organizations can take to enhance PEL in their work.
In this webinar, attendees learned: PEL information and resources available from the Federal Highway Administration, how interagency coordination works in one state-regional-local partnership, and successes and challenges of public engagement in a rural and small city region.
The following speakers’ names are linked to their presentation files:
- Lana Lau, Environmental Protection Specialist, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Project Development & Environmental Review
- Brian Hare, Director of the Center for Program Development and Management, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
- Beth Burks, Executive Director, Humboldt County Association of Governments | Long-range Transportation Plan Appendix (PDF)
Who should attend: regional transportation professionals from rural and small metropolitan organizations, state DOT planning and environmental staff, local government planning and public works staff in small and medium-sized communities, consultant partners, and other stakeholders.
More information
View more resources on PEL here: https://ruraltransportation.org/category/resources/environment/. The Federal Highway Administration provides PEL resources and information here: https://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/env_initiatives/PEL.aspx.
This work is supported by the Federal Highway Administration under contract number 693JJ321P000004. Any opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this webinar are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of FHWA or the NADO Research Foundation.
