Environmental Prequalification
Requirements
Ohio Department of
Transportation
ODOT’s Pre-Qual Areas….
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- Environmental Document Preparation - EA/EIS
- Environmental Document Preparation - CE
- Environmental Doc. Preparation - Section 4(f)
- Ecological Surveys & Wetland Delineation
- Wetland Mitigation
- Air Quality Analysis
- Noise Analysis & Abatement Design
- Archaeological Investigations
- History/Architectural Investigations
- ESA Screening, ESA Phase I & II
- ESA Remedial Design
Requirements
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Update every two years or when major
changes occur.
Successfully complete ODOT’s training
classes.
ODOT looks at:
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Education
Qualifying Experience
Acceptable Documents…
Acceptable Documents
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“Acceptable” means documents that have been
formally accepted by ODOT or transportation
agencies in other states and FHWA; and, for CEs
and Section 4(f) documents, must be approved
documents with minimum comments or revisions.
CEs and Section 4(f) documents that require
multiple revisions and resubmissions will not be
considered acceptable as a prequalified
document.
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(Note: EA/EIS, CE and Section 4(f)
prequalification may be revoked if
documents are continually submitted that
require substantial comments and/or
multiple revisions)
EA/EIS Prequal
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Project manager must have successfully
completed ODOT’s two-week “Managing the
Environmental and Transportation
Development Process” course or equivalent
NHI/FHWA course; and, ODOT’s one-day
“Categorical Exclusion (CE) Class.
EA/EIS PreQual
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The project manager must have specific experience in
preparation or staff member(s) with specific
experience in EA/EIS preparation (*); or,
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Project manager or staff member(s) with specific
experience in preparation of at least two (2) lower
level CEs (CE-2) and any combination of at least two
(2), higher level Ces (CE-3 or CE-4) - these must
meet the requirements specified above.
Section 106
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Successfully complete the “Section
106/National Register Eligibility” training
and the “Cultural Resources Handbook”
training.
Demonstrated ability to meet or exceed the
Code of Federal Regulations, 36CFR Part
61, Appendix A in the area of
Archaeology/History.
Section 106
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Personnel meeting the qualifications as
defined by the Ohio Historic Preservation
Office as appropriate for each level of
survey (OHPO 1994: pg 37-38).
Section 106
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Demonstrated knowledge of FHWA
guidelines and regulations relative to
archaeological/historic analysis of
transportation projects.
Demonstrated ability to conduct and
complete all levels of acceptable
surveys of archaeological/historic
resources in accordance with SHPO
and ODOT requirements.
ODOT’s Training Program
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Environmental Document Preparation - EA/EIS
Environmental Document Preparation - CE
Section 4(f)
Ecological Surveys & Wetland Delineation
Section 106- (Big picture)
Section 106 Manual/Process
ESA Screening, ESA Phase I & II
Purpose and Need
Public Involvement
Environmental Update Meetings
All Classes Have Testing!!!
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Necessary to pass to have “successfully”
taken the class.
People pay attention! (No Cell phones,
side-bars, etc.)
Not established as a “gotcha”.
For example:
From our Section 4(f) Class…
Could a Final Nationwide Section 4(f)
Programmatic Evaluation apply if there
is minor use of a Section 4(f) property?
For example, if a project will require a
small amount of permanent right of way
from a public park but does not affect
any recreational facilities. Could a
Programmatic apply?
___yes
___no
From our Section 4(f) Class…
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An intersection improvement project
will require temporary acquisition of
right of way from the playground at St.
Aloysius Catholic Middle School. Would
you prepare a determination of nonapplicability for temporary occupancy?
___yes
___no
From our Two-Week NEPA
Class…
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Any action that does not have a
significant environmental impact may be
classified as a CE. Where does the CE
criteria come from?
A. 36 CFR Part 800
B. Section 106
C. Section 23 CFR 771.117
D. ORC 929.05(A)
From our Section 106 Class…
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To meet any criteria of eligibility for the
National Register, a property must have
a certain amount of integrity. The
aspects of integrity to be considered are:
A. Location, Materials, Workmanship,
setting, feeling, design
B. Location, design, setting, materials,
workmanship, feeling, association
C. Workmanship, association, materials,
historic context, setting
D. None of the above.
It doesn’t end with the class…
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Consultant evaluations for every product…
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Prime and Sub are rated as one!
A low score requires an immediate mtg with
that firm to ensure the problem isn’t repeated.
Scores are used as part of our consultant
selection process.
Continuations of low scores will result in a
removal of pre-qual status.
The Results…..
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It’s getting better, but not where I want it
yet.
Quality has certainly improved.
Knowledge has certainly improved.
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Scopes are better
Asking the right questions
Still need to address the “research mindset”
issue vs. “info for project decisions”.
Conclusion
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Quality counts!!!!
This program is working, but it takes a lot of
time to manage and keep it up-to-date.
Training is a huge factor for ODOT and it will
continue to grow over time!!!
Contact:
Questions???
Contact:
Timothy M. Hill – ODOT/OES-(614) 644-0377
Val Norris- ODOT/OES (614) 466-1484