It is the mission of the New York State Department of Transportation to ensure our customers -- those who live, work and travel in New York State -- have a safe, efficient, balanced and environmentally sound transportation system.
As part of this mission and as New York State's largest public works agency, the Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has an obligation and a responsibility to the people of New York to enhance, improve and protect the environment in accordance with state policies and objectives.
The New York State Department of Transportation has reviewed its own environmental performance and has determined that it is time to become more proactive than reactive.
As a result, DOT has begun the an environmental initiative that has as its purpose and goals to:
- Advance State environmental policies and objectives
- Promote an environmental ethic throughout the Department
- Strengthen relationships with environmental agencies and groups
As an action-oriented agency, DOT can most effectively attain these goals by doing dedicated environmental work in support of its corporate environmental ethic. This, in turn, will advance a shift in attitudes. This will provide real environmental protection, assure staff that the agency has a strong environmental ethic and provide opportunities to engage the environmental community in positive joint undertakings that will demonstrate the Department's commitment.
The Initiative has three separate approaches:
1 - DEDICATED ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT PROJECTS
NYSDOT will fund and implement a number of environmental benefit projects that are well-suited to the Department's mission and capabilities. To program environmental enhancements on property owned by the New York State Department of Transportation will be a simple, straightforward and visible demonstration of environmental commitment. These projects will be designed to:
Improve water quality because studies done by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have shown that non-point source runoff is now the major cause of water pollution. Non-point source pollution enters a water body from diffuse origins on the watershed and does not result from discernible, confined or discrete convergences such as a pipe or ditch. NYSDOT, with its extensive network of state highways, is in an excellent position to assist in improving New York's water quality.
Since, non-point source water pollution control is most practically achieved through the construction of stormwater control measures that NYSDOT routinely incorporates into its projects. NYSDOT will also retrofit existing highway drainage systems by designing and building:
- created wetland and stormwater management structures;
- bioengineered streambanks; and,
- specialized water quality inlet structures.
Restore wetlands because the initial construction of New York State's transportation infrastructure caused negative impacts on wetland acreage, function and value. During the last two decades, the New York State Department of Transportation has gained extensive experience both in delineating state and federal wetlands and in avoiding, minimizing and mitigating adverse impacts to wetlands.
NYSDOT will continue to use this new knowledge to go beyond regulatory state and federal no-net-loss goals by helping to increase New York State's wetland acreage and function by:
- improving or restoring wetlands affected by federal-aid highway projects that were done before regulatory mitigation was required;
- constructing additional wetland acreage in projects beyond that required for state and federal wetland permits;
- working cooperatively with The Nature Conservancy and the resource agencies to preserve important existing wetland sites;
- creating new wetlands to control non-point source pollution as well as to provide other wetland functions, such as wildlife habitat.
Protect fish and wildlife because fisheries habitat in New York State has been degraded by the channelization and siltation of state waterways, and DOT has the capability to deliver restoration measures in an efficient and practical manner. The New York State Department of Transportation will protect wildlife by planting specialized food and cover crops along state highway rights-of-way and by providing more and safer wildlife crossings under state and local highways. For example, NYSDOT will design and install:
- boulders and stone weirs to improve fisheries habitat;
- culverts for wildlife crossings; and,
- plantings for wildlife habitat.
Promote eco-tourism because people travel on state highways. And, through access to nature, people develop a deeper sense of why the environment warrants protection.
Eco-tourism is a growing and sustainable part of New York State's economy. Because a large part of the eco-tourism experience depends on the appearance of state roadsides as well as access to natural features, the New York State Department of Transportation will develop:
- new or rehabilitated fishing access and trailhead parking areas;
- historic markers and other interpretive signing;
- improved bikeway and pedestrian facilities; and,
- new scenic overlooks.
Enhance transportation corridors because as a state agency, the New York State Department of Transportation's customers include the traveling public and the people who live and work in New York State's transportation corridors. They deserve improvements in the quality of their lives that can be achieved through:
- providing streetscape amenities;
- wild flower plantings;
- landscaping to enhance the appearance of noise barriers;
- reestablishing street trees in historic districts; and,
- rehabilitating comfort stations and rest areas.
2 - ENVIRONMENTAL BETTERMENTS PROGRAM
This program identifies specific environmental projects that can be advanced as part of the New York State Department of Transportation's capital construction program. Under this program, environmental projects such as landscaping, park amenities, historic preservation, noise barriers, wetlands, stormwater basins or wildlife plantings that are funded by local agencies or groups will be incorporated into NYSDOT projects.
These environmental enhancements will therefore benefit from the economies of scale realized by large public works projects. For example, if an enhancement can be accomplished with the construction personnel and equipment already on site for the larger project, the marginal cost of incorporating that enhancement into the existing contract is far less than the cost of constructing a stand-alone dedicated enhancement project.
As part of the New York State Department of Transportation's public outreach efforts, municipal governments as well as environmental groups and agencies are being invited to combine the construction of their environmental enhancements with DOT construction projects. NYSDOT will assume all of the contracting and oversight work necessary for the progression of the local environmental enhancements at no cost to the sponsor. This initiative will also encourage more broad-based and long-term public participation in NYSDOT project development.
Although many groups in New York State, in addition to numerous local governments and state and federal resource agencies have funds to do environmental enhancements, most have neither the technical expertise nor the wherewithal implement their management plans quickly and effectively. In other words, money may be available, often as private or public matching funds, but the administrative and technical mechanisms for implementation may be lacking. The New York State Department of Transportation can bridge this gap by leveraging private and public funds to do larger, more cost-effective and meaningful environmental improvements.
3 - STRENGTHEN NYSDOT'S ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE
The New York State Department of Transportation will continue to make every effort to:
Reduce environmental toxins by
- using salt and sand for highway anti-icing and de-icing as judiciously as possible;
- sweeping roadsides better and more often;
- reducing herbicide applications; and,
- cleaning up wastes previously generated on NYSDOT projects and at NYSDOT facilities.
Improve air quality because up to half of the air pollutants emitted in New York State are emitted by single occupancy vehicles; that is, by cars with only a driver. To reduce these emissions, the New York State Department of Transportation will:
- implement Transportation Demand Management practices;
- encourage alternatives to single-occupancy vehicle commuting;
- expand Ozone Alert Day initiatives;
- promote the use of alternative fueled vehicles;
- provide facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists; and,
- support mass transit.
Increase the use of recycled materials because New York State's environmental policy calls for recycling as the first choice in dealing with solid waste. As a leader in this policy initiative, the New York State Department of Transportation will pilot and promote the use of recycled:
- tires in highway embankments;
- glass, plastics and aggregate in pavement mixes; and,
- plastic, rubber and aggregate in noise walls.
Preserve and enhance our New York State heritage because our historic and our natural heritage belongs to all New Yorkers. Because of the nature of its work, NYSDOT is in a unique position to enhance this heritage by:
- preserving historic structures;
- promoting state bike routes and greenways;
- increasing highway tree plantings and other landscaping;
- providing streetscape amenities; and
- increasing roadside plantings and maintenance for aesthetic improvement.
Through active integration of environmental concerns into the Department's daily operations and coordination with regulatory agencies, environmental groups, municipalities and concerned citizens, the Initiative will attain the goals set forth above.
