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FHWA Home / Safety / Transportation Safety Planning (TSP) / Integrating Road Safety into NEPA Analysis

Integrating Road Safety into NEPA Analysis: A Primer for Safety and Environmental Professionals

Screen shot of a letter signed by Anthony T. Furst and Gloria M. Shepherd of the Federal Highway Administration giving an introduction to the primer and thanking people for being involved in saving lives

Notice

This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.

The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’ names may appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.

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The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.

Technical Report Documentation Page

1. Report No.

FHWA-SA-11-36

2. Government Accession No.

 

3. Recipient’s Catalog No.

4. Title and Subtitle

Integrating Road Safety into NEPA Analysis: A Primer for Safety and Environmental Professionals

5. Report Date

july 2011

6. Performing Organization Code

7. Author(s)

 

8. Performing Organization Report No.

9. Performing Organization Name and Address

Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
100 CambridgePark Drive, Suite 400
Cambridge, MA 02140

10. Work Unit No.

11. Contract or Grant No.

DTFH61-05-D-00026-T-08-004

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address

Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20590

13. Type of Report and Period Covered

 

14. Sponsoring Agency Code

 

15. Supplementary Notes

FHWA: Jennifer Warren, Office of Safety (COTM); Susan Grosser, Office of Planning

16. Abstract

This primer presents an introduction to the topic of addressing safety as part of the environment analysis process, as directed by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It presents practitioners with basic concepts for including meaningful, quantitative analysis of project safety issues and for taking advantage of the latest tools, research, and techniques for improving road safety within a project scope. The primer highlights the opportunity and benefits of linking safety planning to the environmental analysis at every stage of the NEPA process. The primer contains the following sections:

  • Considering Safety Prior to the NEPA process;
  • NEPA Overview and Levels of Documentation;
  • Public and Stakeholder Outreach;
  • Purpose and Need Statements;
  • Alternatives Analysis;
  • Defining the Affected Environment; and
  • Analysis of Environmental Impacts and Mitigation.

Appendix A contains related resources, including links to on-line courses, tools, and research documents covering topics such as the basics of the NEPA process, road safety analysis, and safety countermeasure selection. Appendix B contains case studies illustrating best practices in incorporating safety into the NEPA process.

17. Key Words

safety, NEPA, environmental assessments, environmental impact statements , purpose and need statements, alternatives analysis

18. Distribution Statement

No Restrictions.

19. Security Classif. (of this report)

Unclassified

20. Security Classif. (of this page)

Unclassified

21. No of Pages

85

22. Price

N/A

Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed pages authorized

Metric Conversion Factors
(International System of Units)

APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS
SYMBOL WHEN YOU KNOW MULTIPLY BY TO FIND SYMBOL

LENGTH

in

inches 25.4 millimeters mm

ft

feet 0.305 meters m

yd

yards 0.914 meters m

mi

miles 1.61 kilometers km

AREA

in2

square inches 645.2 square millimeters mm2

ft2

square feet 0.093 square meters m2

yd2

square yard 0.836 square meters m2

ac

acres 0.405 hectares ha

mi2

square miles 2.59 square kilometers km2

VOLUME

fl oz

fluid ounces 29.57 milliliters mL

gal

gallons 3.785 liters L

ft3

cubic feet 0.028 cubic meters m3

yd3

cubic yards 0.765 cubic meters m3

NOTE: volumes greater than 1000 L shall be shown in m3

MASS

oz

ounces 28.35 grams g

lb

pounds 0.454 kilograms kg

T

short tons (2000 lb) 0.907 megagrams (or "metric ton") Mg (or "t")
TEMPERATURE (exact degrees)

oF

Fahrenheit

5 (F-32)/9
or (F-32)/1.8

Celsius oC

ILLUMINATION

fc

foot-candles 10.76 lux lx

fl

foot-Lamberts 3.426 candela/m2 cd/m2

FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS

lbf

poundforce  4.45   newtons N

lbf/in2

poundforce per square inch 6.89 kilopascals kPa

 

APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS FROM SI UNITS
SYMBOL WHEN YOU KNOW MULTIPLY BY TO FIND SYMBOL

LENGTH

mm

millimeters

0.039

inches in

m

meters

3.28

feet ft

m

meters

1.09

yards yd

km

kilometers

0.621

miles mi

AREA

mm2

square millimeters

0.0016

square inches in2

m2

square meters

10.764

square feet ft2

m2

square meters

1.195

square yards yd2

ha

hectares

2.47

acres ac

km2

square kilometers

0.386

square miles mi2

VOLUME

mL

milliliters

0.034

fluid ounces fl oz

L

liters

0.264

gallons gal

m3

cubic meters

35.314

cubic feet ft3

m3

cubic meters

1.307

cubic yards yd3

MASS

g

grams

0.035

ounces oz

kg

kilograms

2.202

pounds lb

Mg (or "t")

megagrams(or "metric ton")

1.103

short tons (2000 lb) T

TEMPERATURE (exact degrees)

oC

Celsius 1.8C+32 Fahrenheit oF

ILLUMINATION

lx

lux

0.0929

foot-candles fc

cd/m2

candela/m2

0.2919

foot-Lamberts fl

FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS

N

newtons 0.225 poundforce lbf

kPa

kilopascals

0.145

poundforce per square inch lbf/in2

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Page last modified on October 29, 2014
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