Mid-Atlantic Green Highways Partnership

1. Mid-Atlantic Green Highways Partnership Building Bridges through Collaborative Partnerships Overview & Progress Update

3. How do you define a Green Highway? • Cleanse all runoff from highway without adversely affecting adjacent areas sources of hydrology or habitat values • Complies with all environmental laws • Net increase of chemical, biological, physical functions and values of watershed Reducing the disruption of basic ecological processes • Identify, avoid and protect critical resource areas • Meet green highways principles • Better than before • Collaborative • Evaluate need and benefit of regulatory flexibility • Cost Effectiveness • Minimize land clearing within right of way • Plant and seed with native vegetation

4. What is the Green Highways Partnership? • Voluntary – Not Regulatory • Collaborative • a “network of industry, trade, & environmental organizations, private sector (consultants & contractors), and government (local, state, & federal). • Public – Private Partnership • Goalis topromote innovation, stewardship, streamlining, and regulatory consistency & flexibility. • To provide greater incentives for streamlining & environmental stewardship in transportation.

5. Why are we doing this? • Demand & Expectations from the Public for both agencies • Complexity of transportation & environmental problems – environmental & transportation problems not as simple as they used to be. • Economic cost of delay – for both building grey infrastructure & solving environmental problems • Shrinking Resources … WE need Innovation, Smart Thinking & Good Government to address our common future!

6. Pillars of GHP • Partnerships • Rewards & Recognition • Recognize programs, projects, and activities for excellence in achieving of “better than before” defined for each focus area. • Economic efficiencies and regulatory flexibility • Opportunities • Pilots • Training • Green Highways Partnership Network • Information HUB for all activities related to Green Highways

7. Green Highways RoadmapMajor Mile Markers • Establishment of Pilot or Demonstration Projects • to inform & inspire the implementation of practices/actions that are: • Innovative (policy & practice) • Efficient & cost effective ($$$ and time) • Environmentally sound & protective • Establishment of the Green Highways Partnership Network • to promote information exchange & partnership in the Mid-Atlantic • Website & Virtual Private Network • State specific workshops to discuss opportunities & present innovative practices • Build a Business Plan • to develop a self-sustaining Public-Private Partnership

8. What’s happened so far? • Stakeholder meetings - 2004 -2005 (ongoing) • Mid-Atlantic Green Highways Initiative Planning Charrette – June 2005 • Green Highways Ad-Hoc Committee Formed • Definition, Mission Statement, & Objectives created. • Green Highways Forum – November 2005 • Executive Session – Agency and Industry leaders discussed the goals and objectives of GHI and provided input into the future direction of the effort. • Green Highways Partnership Retreat – March 2006 - Development of the Roadmap & formation of Theme Teams • Regulatory Roundtable – October 2006

9. Theme Teams • Innovative Watershed-Driven Stormwater Management • Promote the integration of public and private stakeholder interest toward the mutual goal of supporting sustainable use of natural resources. • Recycling and Reuse • To promote the environmentally sound and technically acceptable use of industrial materials in the transportation infrastructure • Conservation and Ecosystem Protection • A regional ecosystem framework scaleable to support decision-making, implementation & monitoring that incorporates a set of tailored core data sets/maps & a tailored decision-making process depending on the audience engaged from planning to O&M

10. Green Highways RoadmapRecycle/Reuse Theme Team Plan • Identify state DOT projects to optimize the beneficial use of industrial by-products. • Target 3 states: PA,MD,VA • Work with DOTs & DNR’s/DEQs jointly • Identify Existing Regulations & Specifications • Target states for follow up after information is gathered • Provide technical information to help them overcome hurdles • Exchange best practices • Collection & Dissemination of Information • Develop a toolkit for implementers • House the information/toolkit on GHP website • Contacts & Sources of material

11. Success! • GHPfosters collaboration and leveraging of funding among public and private entities… • GHP leverages several MILLION Dollars for Anacostia River Urban Watershed Partnership – • Focuses on innovative partnerships between transportation organizations & watershed groups to address stormwater & nutrients in the Anacostia Watershed • Funded by $700K EPA Targeted Watershed funding & $300K Department of Transportation – FHWA funds • Matching funds from proposals well over 1 million dollars • American Concrete Pavement Association focusing it’s current research agenda on green practices • pervious concrete & technologies to reduce heat island effects

12. Success! • GHP working with Villanova University and Prince Georges County • to investigate the effectiveness of pervious concrete and porous asphalt • the potential applications of these techniques in roadway construction. • GHP partnering with Maryland State Highway Administration • to develop successful watershed approaches to stormwater management • the application of a Green Infrastructure approach in the project development of Maryland Route 301. • Maryland SHA is striving to make MD 301 a "green highway" through the application of innovative "green" techniques and processes. • GHP influenced Transportation Research Board’s to focus it’s May 2006 Peer Exchange on the Mid-Atlantic Region • Environmental Geospatial Information for Transportation Peer Exchange

13. Contact Information Denise Rigney US EPA Region III 215-814-2726 rigney.denise@epa.gov Dominique Lueckenhoff lueckenhoff.dominique@epa.gov