By Ayden Runnels
The U.S. Federal Highway Administration and Texas Department of Transportation filed a new version of an agreement expanding Texas’ ability to conduct environmental reviews in an effort to accelerate critical bridge and highway construction projects.
The agreement, announced Friday by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, is part of the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, Assignment Program, which allows states to assume certain federal environmental reviewing responsibilities to streamline construction projects. Those reviews analyze construction’s impact on ecosystems, neighborhoods and other surrounding areas and planning processes for environmental protections. The most recent report from 2024 found “inconsistencies” with the state’s construction planning for noise barriers, which block noise pollution from highways.
This blog has been sourced from the official website the Texas Tribune and can be accessed here.