Efficient Transportation Decision-Making (ETDM), Current Project

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), Past Project

Florida Geographic Data Library (FGDL), Current Project

Identification and Prioritization of Ecological Interface Zones on State Roads in Florida, Past Project

In response to the "Environmental Streamlining" legislation passed by the Congress as part of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, Florida has undertaken efforts to implement a more efficient transportation planning and environmental review process. These efforts led to the development of Efficient Transportation Decision Making (ETDM) process, which redefines how the State of Florida accomplishes transportation planning and project development. The overall intent of the ETDM process is to improve transportation decision-making in a way that protects the human and the natural environments. The approach includes active participation of federal, state, and local agencies, and the public. Early in the transportation planning process, resource agencies and the public interact with transportation planners to identify potential effects that the project may have on the community and the natural resources. Agencies also identify avoidance and mitigation opportunities and prescribe technical studies to be accomplished by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) when the project proceeds.

An innovative technology application, the Environmental Screening Tool (EST), provides a vital foundation to the new process, supporting agency participation and community involvement throughout the project life cycle. The EST is an Internet-accessible application that provides tools to input and update information about transportation projects, perform standardized analyses, gather and report comments about potential project effects, and provide information to the public. The EST brings together information about a project and provides analytical and visualization tools that help synthesize and communicate that information. The user community includes staff from 7 FDOT district offices, 26 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), approximately 26 resource agencies, and the general public. The application is used throughout the ETDM process to:

• Integrate data from multiple sources into an easy to use, standard format
• Analyze the effects of proposed projects on the human and natural environment
• Communicate information effectively among agency representatives and to the public
• Store and report results of the environmental review effectively and efficiently
• Maintain project records, including commitments and responses, throughout the project life cycle

The main purpose of the EST application is to have resource and regulatory agencies (26 federal and state agencies and the general public) provide the FDOT and MPO planners with official commentary on the potential impacts, permitting issues, things to avoid, and how to minimize impacts or mitigate for proposed transportation projects. The application also maintains a project diary of all the interactions for proposed transportation projects. In summary, the EST provides a single location where any one from anywhere can see everything about a project at any time.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) developed the EST with in-house staff, consultants, and the University of Florida GeoPlan Center. The application is deployed at the University of Florida in conjunction with the Florida Geographic Data Library (FGDL), a repository of GIS data gathered from federal, state, and local governments. The application and all the data also reside at the University of Florida and are accessible to users with high-speed Internet access. This implementation location was selected because the user community consists of mainly non-FDOT personnel and the FDOT does not have the technological expertise to facilitate the necessary Internet based exchange.

Main ETDM EST Website: http://www.fla-etat.org
(Password protected )