Criterion Details
PD-06 Tracking Environmental Commitments
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Project Development Scorecard
Goal
Ensure that environmental commitments made by the project are completed and documented in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and issued permits.
Sustainability Linkage
Tracking commitments supports the environmental and social principles by ensuring that adherence to commitments made to stakeholders and the environment are consistently met throughout project development.
Background & Scoring Requirements
Scoring Requirements
Requirement PD-06.1
2 - 3 points. Use Formal Compliance Tracking System
Agencies are responsible for meeting commitments made throughout the project to regulatory agencies, property owners, tenants, the community, and other stakeholders. This criterion requires the project owner to facilitate the tracking and compliance of commitments through a formal environmental compliance tracking system. Scoring for this requirement is based on the following, cumulative requirements. The first requirement must be accomplished to earn the second.
- Requirement PD-06.1a
2 points. Use an Environmental Compliance Tracking System (ECTS)
Beginning in project development, use a comprehensive ECTS for the project and related facilities to identify how environmental commitments will be identified, tracked, fulfilled, and verified throughout planning, design, construction, and operations and maintenance. The ECTS should include all regulatory and non-regulatory commitments that apply to the development work and additional properties, including surveys, borings, batch plants, staging, equipment storage, employee parking, and field offices, as well as land that is purchased, leased, occupied, or used for the work.
At a minimum, the system should: identify commitments in a single list; identify an environmental compliance manager; ensure that environmental commitments are communicated from one phase of a project to another; leverage tracking mechanisms (such as databases, forms, or lists); identify training needed for necessary design and construction staff; and provide periodic reports verifying the commitments have been fulfilled. The tracking system should be updated and maintained throughout the project development and any monitoring period.
For more information on environmental compliance tracking systems, see AASHTO’s Center for Environmental Excellence website1.
- Requirement PD-06.1b
1 additional point. ECTS has Mechanism to Communicate from Planning to Maintenance
The environmental compliance tracking system has a formal mechanism to communicate commitments from transportation planning through operations and maintenance. To earn credit, this ECTS must be used on this project from planning through construction and handed off to maintenance and operations.
Requirement PD-06.2
2 points. Assign Independent Environmental Compliance Monitor
The Owner shall require that the principal project constructor assigns an independent environmental compliance monitor who will provide quality assurance services and report directly to and make recommendations to the regulatory and Lead Agencies. The Independent Environmental Monitor should be a recognized expert or persons knowledgeable about natural resources protection and construction, and should report directly to regulatory agencies about problems observed during design review and construction phases, including, but not limited to, erosion and sediment control problems.
Resources
The following resources are referenced in this criterion and consolidated here:
- AASHTO, Center for Environmental Excellence website, http://environment.transportation.org/
Case Studies & Criterion Examples
Central Federal Lands - Knowledge Sharing and Lessons Learned Help to Institutionalize INVEST: The Central Federal Lands Highway Division (CFL) within Federal Lands Highway (FLH) is using INVEST as a knowledge transfer tool to better inform staff of sustainable highway practices and as a mechanism to share lessons learned to help identify improvements for future projects. In 2013, CFL used the Project Development (PD) module to carry out INVEST evaluations for three separate under-construction or recently constructed projects. These included Halstead Meadow Bridge, Taylor River Road, and Marshlands Road and La Riviere Bridge. For two of the three projects, Halstead Meadow Bridge and Taylor River Road, CFL created scoring teams consisting of staff members and partner agency representatives. Scoring team members were selected due to the wealth of knowledge and experience they had with each project (from project development through construction).
Arizona DOT - Using INVEST to Integrate Sustainability: The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) decided to use all three modules of INVEST – System Planning, Project Development, and Operations and Maintenance – to help the agency meet its sustainability goals across the transportation life cycle. ADOT used INVEST to integrate and advance existing sustainability efforts and to push forward new efforts. INVEST’s comprehensive sustainability framework and criteria helped ADOT institutionalize sustainability across the agency and with local partners through inclusion in manuals, trainings, and awards. This case study focuses on ADOT’s use of the Project Development module.
Scoring Sources
The project is considered to have met this criterion if the requirements above can be reasonably substantiated through the existence of the following documentation sources (or equal where not available):
- Documentation of environmental tracking system, including instructions on what is to be included and how the chain of documentation flows throughout the phases of projects.
- Contact documents requiring the construction contractor to assign an independent environmental compliance manager.
