United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2004-05-17 monographic deposited born digital 49 p. GA 1.13:GAO-04-536 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-536 P0b002ee18039faf2 f:d04536 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-536 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-536 GAO-04-536 Environmental law Environmental monitoring Environmental policies Federal/state relations Locally administered programs Public roads or highways State-administered programs Highway planning Other Written Product A10048 The nation's roads, highways, and bridges are essential to mobility but can have negative effects on plants, animals, and the habitats that support them (collectively called ecosystems in this report). Federally funded transportation projects progress through three planning phases: long range (20 or more years), short range (3 to 5 years), and early project development, (collectively defined as planning in this report) before undergoing environmental review (which includes assessing air and water quality, ecosystems, and other impacts) required under the National Environmental Policy Act. Federal law requires planners to consider protecting and enhancing the environment in the first two phases, but does not specify how and does not require such consideration in the third phase. GAO reported on (1) the extent to which transportation planners consider ecosystem conservation in planning, (2) the effects of such consideration, and (3) the factors that encourage or discourage such consideration. GAO contacted 36 planning agencies (24 states and 12 of approximately 380 metropolitan planning organizations), as well as officials in 22 resource agencies that maintain ecological data and administer environmental laws. The Department of Transportation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had no comments on a draft of this report. The Department of the Interior generally agreed with the contents of our draft report. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-536/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-536.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-536/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-536.pdf GAO-04-536 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-536 Other Written Product GAO-04-536; Transportation Planning: State and Metropolitan Planning Agencies Report Using Varied Methods to Consider Ecosystem Conservation; Environmental law Environmental monitoring Environmental policies Federal/state relations Locally administered programs Public roads or highways State-administered programs Highway planning