This Topic Area deals with the issue of transportation planning and environmental linkage.

Planning and Environment Linkages represent an approach to transportation decision-making that considers environmental, community, and economic goals early in the planning stage and carries them through project development, design, and construction. This can lead to a seamless decision-making process that minimizes duplication of effort, promotes environmental stewardship, and reduces delays in project implementation.

This approach encourages internal and external communication and coordination throughout the decision-making process — between transportation staff responsible for planning and project development, between transportation agencies and resource agencies, and between agencies and the public. It also enables agencies to take a broader, ecosystem-scale perspective instead of one that looks only at individual projects.

Additional information is available at FHWA's Environmental Review Toolkit: www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/integ/index.asp