• Accelerating project delivery
• Encouraging innovative project development approaches
These changes to the NEPA regulations greatly benefit many projects using federal funds, but are not reflected in Wisconsin’s Trans 400 WEPA regulations. This inconsistency between federal and State regulations results in additional cost and time for many State projects being evaluated under WEPA.
The department proposes to amend Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter Trans 400 to re-establish Trans 400’s consistency with federal NEPA regulations. The department will also update obsolete references and correct minor, non-substantive clerical errors. Without these changes to Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter Trans 400, environmental documentation for some common project types though State WEPA regulations will remain more restrictive than through federal NEPA regulations. Issues and Objectives for this Rulemaking
The current version of Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter Trans 400 does not contain the new streamlining and process reduction opportunities made available through MAP-21, revisions to FHWA’s NEPA regulations and guidance. The result is that, for some project types, Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter Trans 400 is more restrictive, costly and time-consuming because it requires higher levels of documentation and review than applicable federal NEPA regulations. Additionally, the current Trans 400 contains outdated references and may contain minor, non-substantive clerical errors. The objective of updating Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter Trans 400 is to re-establish Trans 400’s consistency with FHWA and other federal agency NEPA regulations. The department will also update outdated references and will evaluate the rule and correct minor, non-substantive clerical errors. 3. Description of the existing policies relevant to the rule, new policies proposed to be included in the rule, and an analysis of policy alternatives:
Alternatives Analysis
This rulemaking proposes updating Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter Trans 400 to re-establish consistency with FHWA and other federal NEPA regulations. Generally speaking, alternatives to adopting requirements consistent with NEPA included: do nothing, adopt more restrictive procedures than NEPA requirements, or adopt less restrictive procedures than NEPA requires. The department rejected these alternatives. Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter Trans 400 currently has more restrictive procedural requirements than MAP-21 and NEPA regulations. As such, the “do nothing” and “adopt more restrictive requirements” alternatives have a similar negative aspect: the department and local units of government would not be able to take advantage of MAP-21 streamlining provisions. Alternatively, the department could adopt less restrictive requirements. However, the department would still have to follow NEPA regulations to secure federal funding. Less restrictive requirements may also cause confusion over which regulation applies, and might even have the effect of weakening the department’s implementation of WEPA. Existing Policies and Policy Proposals
The following is a summary of the proposed changes to the existing rule:
• Environmental Impact Statements: Revise language describing categories of actions normally requiring an environmental impact statement (EIS) to align with language in federal transportation agency rules.
• Categorization of Department Actions: Remove specific descriptions of highway, transit and airport action types that require preparation of an environmental assessment (EA), environmental report (ER) or categorical exclusion (CE). Replace these descriptions with references to federal transportation agency rules that identify the environmental document type required for the proposed action.
• WEPA Process Streamlining: Require a combined final environmental impact statement (FEIS) and record of decision (ROD) to the maximum extent practicable to be consistent with MAP-21. There is currently no provision for a combined EIS/ROD in Trans 400.
• Update federal transportation agency rule references which have been updated or moved since the last Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter Trans 400 update. • Add, delete and revise definitions to align with federal transportation agency definitions.
• Include language requiring public availability of and a public hearing on an ER when determined appropriate by the department.
4. Detailed explanation of statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language):
5. Estimate of amount of time that state employees will spend developing the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:
The estimated time for all state employees’ involvement is approximately 500 hours. Other resources, such as consultants, are not anticipated unless state employees cannot allocate the necessary time.
6. List with description of all entities that may be affected by the proposed rule:
• Wisconsin Department of Transportation – when considering the environmental effects of its major actions.
• Local units of government such as counties, cities, villages and towns – when preparing environmental documents for department-funded or reimbursed projects.
• Project stakeholders, such as the general public or environmental groups, who regularly engage with the department during the environmental review process are not anticipated to be significantly impacted. Some public review periods will be shorter or discretionary; for instance, review periods are shortened by combining the FIES and ROD. However, there will still be ample opportunity for public input and the proposed rulemaking will allow discretion to extend timeframes when appropriate.
7. Summary and preliminary comparison with any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the proposed rule:
The proposed rulemaking will incorporate into Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter Trans 400 the streamlining provisions of MAP-21 and FHWA’s NEPA regulations, 23 CFR pt. 771, and guidance. The proposed changes are intended to be consistent with federal rules regulating the same types of activities, see policy proposals above. 8. Anticipated economic impact of implementing the rule (note if the rule is likely to have a significant economic impact on small businesses):
The proposed rule changes are not anticipated to have a significant economic impact to small businesses. The proposed changes have the potential to reduce time and cost on most department and local government unit transportation improvement projects.
Contact Person:
Daniel Scudder
State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Environmental Process and Documentation Section
4802 Sheboygan Avenue, Room 451
Madison, WI 53707
Phone: 608-267-3615
