It has long been the assumption that the development of the infrastructure that facilitates community life and societal function may have to come at the cost of the ecosystems they traverse. Over the decades since the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other environmental laws were passed, highway departments have become accustom to navigating environmental regulations, checking off the lists of requirements, paying for mitigation of impacts, and generally doing what is necessary to move a road project forward. However, as with many industries, the transportation sector is beginning to recognize that incorporating environmental considerations into its business functions can actually strengthen its core competencies in developing infrastructure.
In response to the 2002 Executive Order 13274 Environmental Stewardship and Transportation
Infrastructure Project Reviews, the Federal Highway Administration, in partnership with several other
federal infrastructure and environmental agencies, developed an ecosystems approach to infrastructure
development. This approach, called Eco-logical, relies on enhanced cooperation between transportation
and environmental agencies to more effectively link transportation system planning with natural and
cultural resource concerns and mitigation of unavoidable impacts more effectively (Bush, 2002). The Ecological
approach is grounded in three defining principles. These include:
- Integrated planning between natural resource and transportation agencies
- Mitigation options that enhance the Regional Ecological Framework (REF)
- Performance measures that balance predictability and adaptive management
Eco-Logical: Integrating Green Infrastructure and Regional Transportation Planning reporty (2011)