Chapter 5 - Stakeholder Coordination

Chapter 5 Stakeholder Management

The project development process requires the design team to coordinate their proposed solutions with numerous stakeholders throughout the life of the project. The performance of timely stakeholder coordination is invaluable as it can return critical information and offer unique perspectives that assist in identifying challenges and potential solutions and attainment of project buy-in and approvals when required. DelDOT describes its stakeholder coordination process as stakeholder management in recognition of the proactive approach the project team should adopt. This manual separates stakeholder management into four distinct components:

• Identify stakeholders – The first step is to identify the people, groups, or organizations that could be impacted by or have an interest in the project. Each project will have a unique set of stakeholders that must be identified.
• Plan stakeholder management – The next step in the stakeholder management process is to develop appropriate management strategies to effectively engage stakeholders throughout the project development process. This requires analyzing each stakeholder’s individual needs, interests, interdependencies, influence, and potential impact on project success.
• Stakeholder engagement – Once a management plan has been created, the project team can implement their plan and begin communicating and working with the project stakeholders to meet their needs/ expectations, address issues as they occur, and foster a cooperative and engaging rapport.
• Monitor stakeholder engagement – The final step is to monitor the effectiveness of the project’s stakeholder management and to make adjustments as needed to ensure effective coordination.

This chapter categorizes several common groups of project stakeholders and highlights DelDOT’s preferred stakeholder management practices and procedures. In many cases, DelDOT has created subject matter expert sections to help facilitate coordination with the stakeholders identified within this chapter. The design team is encouraged to coordinate their external stakeholder management activities through the subject matter expert support groups referenced throughout the chapter.

Project coordination will often times require the design team to provide digital design data information. Before providing this information, an electronic release form must be signed by all parties as described in Section 5.10.

5.1 Public Engagement

Section currently under development.

5.2 Coordination with Municipalities

Section currently under development.

5.3 Environmental

All transportation projects will inherently affect the environment in which they are constructed. Accordingly, numerous agencies have been established, laws passed, and regulations adopted to govern a project’s potential impacts. A partial list of protected resources is provided in Section 5.3.2.2. This section establishes the processes and procedures that DelDOT employs to ensure that the State’s transportation needs are met in a way that minimizes impacts to the surrounding environment.

Assessing an action’s environmental effect is a complex task due to the intricacies involved with evaluating resource impacts and because the governing regulations and their associated interpretations are continuously evolving. To meet these challenges, DelDOT provides an Environmental Stewardship section which is staffed with subject matter experts who work to achieve DelDOT’s goal of minimizing the environmental impacts of the State's transportation system. The section ensures that DelDOT projects and maintenance activities account for and take actions that protect, restore, mitigate for, and enhance the environment. The group also maintains and manages DelDOT’s relationships with the governing agencies to expedite the environmental coordination process. The Environmental Stewardship section’s specific role on an individual project will vary based on the project’s scope of work as well as what assignments have been delegated by DelDOT through professional service tasks. The activities that are normally overseen by this section within the project development process include, but are not limited to the following:

• Provide recommendations for proper assessment surveys (e.g., wetland delineations, architectural, and archeological surveys).
• Jointly assess a project’s level of environmental impacts with the design team.
• Perform coordination with applicable resource agencies including routine communications and establishing project-specific meetings when needed.
• Provide recommendations on ways to mitigate impacts to environmental resources.
• Administer the NEPA process. See Section 5.3.2 for additional information.
• Secure necessary project permits. See Section 5.3.3 for additional information.

Assessing a project’s potential environmental impact should be performed as early as feasible in the project development process. This assessment is ideally performed during the project initiation phase as part of a project’s initial scoping which is discussed in additional detail in Section 3.6. The design team should coordinate with the Environmental Stewardship section during this early phase to discuss the infrastructure deficiencies being addressed and the current vision of the project’s purpose and need and associated scope before proceeding too far into the project development process. The Environmental Stewardship section can provide insight and recommendations into any technical studies that may be required which will help inform the project’s scoping process. Determining and addressing environmental-related issues at this early stage through minor alignment shifts or other means will save time, reduce coordination efforts, and minimize potential future delays at later project stages.

The environmental coordination process will culminate in the creation of various deliverables that will memorialize the coordination process depending upon the task being undertaken and the funds being used. Deliverables created through the environmental coordination process include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Technical reports – These will vary based on the project’s scope and potential impacts and could include wetland delineations, noise studies, archelogy reports, or other similar findings documents. Technical reports could include Planning and Environmental Linkage studies (PELs) which are further discussed in Section 5.3.1.
• NEPA document – NEPA documents are discussed in more detail in Section 5.3.2.
• Project permits – Project permits are discussed in more detail in Section 5.3.3.
• Environmental Compliance (EC) plan sheets – The EC sheets are intended to highlight water, wetland, and natural feature compliance issues but are used for 106 commitments when appropriate. This deliverable is included within the project plans.
• Environmental Statement – An environmental statement is provided for all advertised DelDOT contracts and all IDIQ contract work order locations. The statement is used to specify environmental compliance commitments, restrictions, and substantive permit and/or memorandum of agreement (MOA) special conditions.

5.3.1 Planning and Environmental Linkage (PEL)

Planning and environmental linkage (PEL) strategies represent an integrated approach to transportation decision-making that consider environmental, community, and economic goals early in the transportation planning process, and then uses that information, analysis, and products developed to inform the environmental review process. As the name implies, the goal of PEL is to connect the analyses used to develop an agency’s planning deliverables discussed in Section 2.1 to the NEPA process so as to develop a more seamless decision-making process that minimizes duplication of effort, promotes environmental stewardship, and streamlines project delivery.

Transportation agencies can create PEL studies that document the project level planning and environmental analysis that has been conducted prior to the formal start of the NEPA process. Completed PEL studies are intended to be appended or incorporated by reference to a project’s formal NEPA document. Any PEL study incorporated by reference must be reasonably available for inspection by potentially interested persons within the time allowed for comment. When completed properly, the PEL study will reduce the unnecessary recreation of information that is more appropriately developed as part of the initial planning process. PEL studies are typically created through a collaborative effort involving transportation planners, NEPA practitioners, resource agencies, and the public. Performing a PEL study may be especially beneficial when multiple projects with potentially overlapping boundaries are planned so project study and planning efforts can be coordinated. PEL studies may be pursued on a project-by-project basis at the discretion of the design team in consultation with DelDOT’s Environmental Stewardship section.

5.3.2 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Process

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ensures that actions that are performed by federal agencies or that utilize federal funds examine and consider the potential environmental effects of the proposed action. NEPA demands that agencies utilize a systematic interdisciplinary approach to balance infrastructure need with potential effects to the human and natural environment to reach a decision that is in the best overall public interest. The goal of NEPA is that all environmental investigations, reviews, and consultations be coordinated as a single and collaborative process and that compliance with all applicable environmental requirements be reflected in an environmental review document. NEPA requires a procedural process be performed and in and of itself does not mandate particular results or substantive outcomes. A project’s proposed purpose and need, scope, and potential resource impact will determine the level of analysis required.

The Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) was established under NEPA to advise the President, develop environmental policies, and to oversee the implementation of NEPA. 40 CFR 1500 are the regulations that implement NEPA across the federal government and further requires that each federal agency adopt regulations that implement NEPA for their agency. The United States Department of Transportation’s (US DOT’s) regulations are implemented through 23 CFR 771.

In general, DelDOT will coordinate and complete the NEPA process with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) providing varying levels of input based on the class of action. It is DelDOT’s goal to conduct the NEPA process in an inclusive manner which allows the active participation of individuals, businesses, interest groups, resource agencies, and affected constituencies. The NEPA process should be made transparent by providing public knowledge of the final decisions and the process used.

The NEPA process includes the following key elements:

• Identifying the project’s purpose and need, as well as a range of alternatives to consider.
• Determining and documenting the foreseeable social, economic, and environmental impacts of the proposed transportation improvement. Resources to be considered are described in additional detail in Section 5.3.2.2. This task may require the completion of environmental Stewardship or related engineering studies.
• Coordinating with appropriate governing agencies.
• Informing decision-makers and the public of the project’s scope and potential impacts (both positive and negative).
• Mitigating for inescapable environmental effects of a proposed action. These measures are to be incorporated into the action and documented in the environmental review document.
• Documenting the analysis and decisions made.

The NEPA document should be written to:

• Tell the story of the project development process.
• Be readily understandable to all audiences, including those without technical expertise.
• Provide key information in an easy-to-use format. This includes using concise writing, effective visual graphics, and utilizing appendices for supporting information.
• Focus significant issues and to discuss issues in proportion to their significance.
• Demonstrate how the action will meet the pertinent legal requirements.
• Identify methodologies used in the analysis.
• Describe impacts associated with the action as well as all project commitments made.

5.3.2.1 Classes of Actions

Transportation projects vary in type, size and complexity, and potential to affect the environment. To account for this variability, 23 CFR 771.115 defines three classes of actions that prescribe the level of documentation required in the NEPA process. The classes of actions are determined by the level and significance of impact of the associated action. The design team must advise the Environmental Stewardship section of any changes to a project’s scope which could have the potential to affect the class of action of the project. The three classes of action are:

1. A categorical exclusion (CE),
2. An environmental assessment (EA), and
3. An environmental impact statement (EIS).

The determination of the significance of an impact is a function of both context and intensity. Context requires that the significance of an action must be analyzed in several contexts such as society as a whole, the affected region, the affected interests, and the locality. Significance varies with the setting of the proposed action. Intensity refers to the severity of the proposed impact.

It is noted that 23 CFR 771.115 allows a programmatic approach or agreement be made for any class of action.

5.3.2.1.1 Categorical Exclusions (CEs)

Categorical Exclusions (CEs) are defined in 23 CR 771.117(a) as actions that do not individually or cumulatively have a significant environmental effect. CEs do not induce significant impacts to planned growth or land use for the area; do not require the relocation of significant numbers of people; do not have a significant impact on any natural, cultural, recreational, historic or other resource; do not involve significant air, noise, or water quality impacts; do not have significant impacts on travel patterns; or do not otherwise, either individually or cumulatively, have any significant environmental impacts. Though the documentation required for a CE is less strenuous than the other defined classes of actions, almost all CEs will require some level of resource impact evaluation and agency coordination.

DelDOT and the FHWA maintain a programmatic agreement which establishes the responsibilities and obligations of both agencies to process and document CEs for Federal-aid highway projects. The programmatic agreement streamlines projects with minimal environmental impacts by authorizing DelDOT to determine and document whether these projects qualify for a CE on behalf of FHWA pursuant to 23 CFR 771.117(g).

Department Resources
FHWA Programmatic Agreement Regarding CEs
DelDOT NEPA Categorical Exclusion Guidebook
CE Checklist Template FHWA Approval
CE Checklist DelDOT Approval

The current programmatic agreement and associated documentation can be accessed at the following locations:

• Programmatic Agreement,
• [DelDOT NEPA Categorical Exclusion Guidebook NEEDS LINK],
• CE Checklist Template FHWA Approval, and
• CE Checklist DelDOT Approval.

The programmatic agreement defines three available paths to a CEs approval:

1. Appendix A lists actions that qualify for a CE in accordance with 23 CFR 771.117(c). Approval of these activities is delegated to DelDOT’s Environmental Stewardship Manager and do not normally require any further NEPA approvals by the FHWA provided that the action meets the following conditions:
   1. Meets the definition of a CE,
   2. Does not exceed the thresholds provided in Section IV(A)(1)(b) of the programmatic agreement, and
   3. Does not include any unusual circumstances which would make CE approval inappropriate in accordance with 23 CFR 771.117(b).
2. Appendix B lists actions that qualify for a CE in accordance with 23 CFR 771.117(d). These actions require that DelDOT certify to the FHWA and provide appropriate documentation demonstrating that the project meets the definition of a CE. The FHWA has sole approval authority over these actions. The documentation submitted to the FHWA is to include this CE Checklist Form.
3. Actions outside of those listed in Appendix A and B or which exceed the threshold requirements provided in Section IV(A)(1)(b) of the programmatic agreement may still be processed as a CE. In these cases, DelDOT will certify to the FHWA and provide appropriate documentation demonstrating that the project meets the definition of a CE and that the action does not involve unusual circumstances that warrant the preparation of an EA or EIS. The FHWA has sole approval authority over these actions. The documentation submitted to the FHWA is to include this CE Checklist Form.

5.3.3 Project Permitting

Section currently under development.

5.4 Utilities

Section currently under development.

5.4.1 Utility Coordination Process

Section currently under development.

5.4.2 Locating Existing Utilities

Section currently under development.

5.4.3 Conflict Assessment

Section currently under development.

5.4.4 Utility Company Reimbursement

Section currently under development.

5.4.5 Utility Coordination Deliverables and Approvals

Section currently under development.

5.5 Right-of-Way

Section currently under development.

5.6 Railroad

Section currently under development.

5.7 Developer Coordination

Section currently under development.

5.8 Finance

Section currently under development.

5.8.1 Project Cost Increases

Section currently under development.