ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTATION Each environmental service provided by the Engineer shall have a deliverable. Deliverables shall summarize the methods used for the environmental services, and shall summarize the results achieved. The summary of results shall be sufficiently detailed to provide satisfactory basis for thorough review by the State, The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and (where applicable) agencies with regulatory oversight. All deliverables shall meet regulatory requirements for legal sufficiency, and shall adhere to the requirements for reports enumerated in the State’s NEPA MOU.
a. Quality Assurance/Quality Control Review For each deliverable, the Engineer shall perform quality assurance quality control (QA/QC) reviews of environmental documents and on other supporting environmental documentation to determine whether documents conform with: • Current Environmental Compliance Toolkit guidance published by the State’s Environmental Affairs Division and in effect as of the date of receipt of the documents or documentation to be reviewed; • Current state and federal laws, regulations, policies, guidance, agreements, and memoranda of understanding between the State and other state or federal agencies; and • FHWA and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) guidelines contained in “Improving the Quality of Environmental Documents, A Report of the Joint AASHTO and American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Committee in Cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration” (May 2006) for: o Readability, and o Use of evidence and data in documents to support conclusions. Upon request by the State, the Engineer shall provide documentation that the QA/QC reviews were performed by qualified staff.
a. Deliverables shall contain all data acquired during the environmental service. All deliverables shall be written to be understood by the public and must be in accordance with the State’s Environmental Toolkit guidance, documentation standards, current guidelines, policies and procedures.
b. Electronic versions of each deliverable must be written in software which is compatible to the State and must be provided in a changeable format for future use by the State. The Engineer shall supplement all DocuSign Envelope ID: F4888AB1-5DA1-49AB-A751-51413985E885 hard copy deliverables with electronic copies in searchable Adobe Acrobat™ (.pdf) format, unless another format is specified. Each deliverable shall be a single, searchable .pdf file that mirrors the layout and appearance of the physical deliverable. The Engineer shall deliver the electronic files on CD- R, CD-RW media in Microsoft Windows format, or through the ftp site.
c. When the environmental service is to apply for a permit (e.g., United States Coast Guard (USCG) or United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the permit and all supporting documentation shall be the deliverable.
d. Submission of Deliverables • Deliverables shall consist of technical reports of environmental services performed in addition to documentation for a Categorical Exclusion (CE) determination. • All deliverables must comply with all applicable state and federal environmental laws, regulations and procedures and include all items listed in the Environmental Document Review Checklist. • On the cover page of each technical report, prepared under the authority granted by this MOU, and for any memorandum corresponding to any CE determination it makes, the Engineer shall insert the following language in a way that is conspicuous to the reader or include it in a CE project record: "The environmental review, consultation, and other actions required by applicable Federal environmental laws for this project are being, or have been, carried-out by TxDOT pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 327 and a Memorandum of Understanding dated December 16, 2014, and executed by FHWA and TxDOT."
e. The State shall provide the State’s and other agency comments on draft deliverables to the Engineer. The Engineer shall revise the deliverable: • to include any State commitments, findings, agreements, or determinations (e.g., wetlands, endangered species consultation, Section 106, or Section 4(f)), required for the Transportation Activity as specified by the State; • to incorporate the results of public involvement and agency coordination; • to reflect mitigation measures resulting from comments received or changes in the Transportation Activity; and • include with the revised document a comment response form (matrix) in the format provided by the State.
f. All photographs shall be 3.5” x 5” color presentation printed on matte finish photographic paper or 3.5” x 5” color presentation printed on matte white, premium or photo quality laser or inkjet paper. All photographs shall be well focused and clearly depict details relevant to an evaluation of the project area. Provision of photographs shall be one original print of each image or electronic presentations of comparable quality. Comparable quality electronic photograph presentations shall be at least 1200 x 1600 pixel resolution. Photographs shall be attached to separately labeled pages that clearly identify project name; project identification (ID) number; address or Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) of resource; description of the picture and direction of the photographic view. In addition to the hard-copy prints, an electronic version of each will be submitted with the same identification information as the hard-copy.
