Idaho’s Approach to Environmental Justice
ITD is taking steps to ensure that environmental justice
is more than just a set of legal and regulatory obligations that Idaho is required to follow. What's more, as ITD continues to
integrate environmental justice into our planning process and our activities, the state will:
- Develop the technical capability to assess the benefits and adverse effects of transportation activities among different
population groups and use that capability to develop appropriate procedures, goals, and performance measures in all aspects
of our mission and vision;
- Ensure that our State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) findings of statewide planning compliance
and NEPA activities satisfy Title VI
requirements and environmental justice principles;
- Enhance our public-involvement activities to ensure the meaningful participation of minority and low-income populations; and
- Work closely with FHWA, FTA, MPOs,
local, and public transportation partners to create and enhance intermodal systems, and support projects that can improve
the natural and human environments for low-income and minority communities.
Moreover, our planning process will also change over time with the incorporation of environmental justice.
ITD hopes that our planning approach will enable Idaho to make better transportation decisions
that meet the needs of all people as well as:
- Design transportation facilities that fit more harmoniously into communities;
- Enhance the public involvement process, strengthen community-based partnerships, and provide minority, low-income, senior,
and disabled populations with opportunities to learn about and improve the quality and usefulness of transportation
in their lives;
- Improve data collection, monitoring, and analysis tools that assess the needs of, and analyze the potential impacts on minority,
low-income, senior, and disabled populations;
- Partner with other public and private programs to leverage transportation-agency resources to achieve a common vision for communities;
- Avoid disproportionately high and adverse impacts on minority, low-income, senior and disabled populations; and
- Minimize and/or mitigate unavoidable impacts by identifying concerns early in the planning phase and providing
offsetting initiatives and enhancement measures to benefit affected communities and neighborhoods.
|
