I-93 Improvements Project EIS
The New Hampshire DOT (NHDOT) is proposing to widen an 18-mile long section of interstate highway between Salem at the MA border, and Manchester from 4-lanes to as many as 8-lanes. The project purpose is to improve capacity and safety along this congested segment of the highway. Five interchanges along the highway will be improved, and the project includes a bike path and reservation of right-of-way for a possible future commuter rail extension from Boston. An expert panel was asked to allocate population and employment growth data for the year 2020 in a 29-community study area for the no build and build alternatives. The 14-member panel included planning, real estate finance and development, environmental and public interest groups, academics and informed citizens. The growth allocations were assigned to vacant land areas in densities permitted by zoning, and using other socio-economic and market demand data. These land areas were compared with locations of proposed growth in master plans and locations of critical environmental resources mapped using the University of New Hampshire GRANIT GIS system.    The purpose of this last step was to determine if there were sufficient upland areas to accommodate the projected growth without adversely affecting critical environmental resources. The intent of the study was to address major concerns about the suburban sprawl-inducing impacts of adding capacity to major highways expressed by environmental interests and natural resource agencies, including the EPA Region 1 Smart Growth Group.  The NHDOT and resource agencies agreed to extensive wetlands mitigation which helped to reduce opposition to the project. An agreement was also reached on technical assistance to affected towns. FHWA issued a ROD in 2005.

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St. Croix River Crossing
The St. Croix River Crossing Project involves construction of a new bridge between the City of Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, and the Town of St. Joseph, Wisconsin, roadway improvements and the conversion of the existing Stillwater Lift Bridge into a pedestrian/bicycle facility. MnDOT’s and FHWA’s 2006 Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement (SFEIS) contains several notable practices in the evaluation of indirect effects and cumulative impacts, including: emphasizing the distinction between indirect effects and cumulative impacts by addressing them in separate chapters and a unique approach to the organization of the cumulative impact assessment.

Indirect Effects and Cumulative Impacts as Separate Chapters

The Executive Order 13274 Indirect and Cumulative Impacts Work Group Baseline Report concludes that the state of the practice for indirect effect and cumulative impact assessment, although evolving, is characterized by a “limited consideration of impacts.”  One of the issues contributing to the state of the practice is a “lack of recognition of the differences between indirect and cumulative impacts.”  A lack of understanding the differences between indirect and cumulative impacts, combined with an organizational structure that addresses these impacts in the same section of the EIS can lead to legal sufficiency issues if both topics are not thoroughly addressed.  By discussing indirect effects and cumulative impacts in separate chapters (as well as discussing indirect effects along with each resource topic in SFEIS), the St. Croix River Crossing Project SFEIS ensures a clear and legally sufficient analysis of both topics.

Organizing the Cumulative Impact Assessment

The cumulative impact assessment chapter contains a unique organizational approach that “tells the story” of potential cumulative impacts, while at the same time clearly demonstrating that all the elements of the CEQ definition of cumulative impacts were considered for each resource topic area.  For each resource topic, the following subheadings were used:

• Existing Conditions
• Impacts from the Proposed Action
• Impacts from Other Actions
• Potential for Cumulative Impacts

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Draft Baseline Report Case Studies (2005)
The draft report prepared by the Executive Order 13274 Indirect and Cumulative Impacts Work Group contains numerous case studies at the following link: Case Studies: Notable Practices related to Indirect and Cumulative Impacts. Individual case study links and categories are listed below:

Planning-level Efforts 

• California: Merced County Partnership for Integrated Planning
• Oregon: Major Bridge Replacement Program

• California: Lincoln Bypass – State Route 65
• California: State Route 46
• Colorado: I-25
• Hawaii: Lahaina Bypass
• Indiana: I-69
• Maryland: I-270/US 15
• Montana: I-15
• New Hampshire: I-93
• New York: Lower Manhattan Transportation Recovery Projects
• North Carolina: Monroe Bypass and Monroe Connector
• Pennsylvania: Lackawanna Valley Industrial Highway
• Utah: Southern Corridor
• Washington: I-405
• Wisconsin: Highway 12
• Wisconsin: U.S. 41

• Colorado: Shortgrass Prairie Initiative
• North Carolina: Ecosystem Enhancement Program
• Washington State: Watershed Mitigation Program

• Kentucky: TransAmerica Corridor (Future I-66)
• Minnesota/Wisconsin: St. Croix River Crossing Project
• Montana: US 93 Corridor
• Ohio/Kentucky: Ohio River Bridges
• Texas: I-69 Corridor
• Vermont: Chittenden County Circumferential Highway

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