Environmental Programs
Our environmental planning and programming focuses on collaboration with local stakeholders on a variety of infrastructure, sustainability, resiliency, and climate-related issues. Our team works to maximize existing resources, leverage funding sources, and find innovative ways to advance our region’s environmental priorities that are detailed in the Long Range Plan.
We continue to proactively monitor the effects of climate change, and address the challenges that climate change has on our region’s infrastructure, people, and property. As part of this work, our team has prioritized the areas of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilient infrastructure. Our departments work together internally to ensure that our organization’s activities support the region’s overall climate justice goals, and we assist local stakeholders with obtaining funding supports those goals. Through collaboration, our organization is striving to ensure that our plans and programs have a beneficial impact on the region’s environment.
Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice, as defined by the US Department of Transportation (DOT), is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, income, national origin, or educational level with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. As an identified planning strategy, fair treatment means that no population, due to policy or economic disempowerment, is forced to bear a disproportionate burden of the negative human health and environmental impacts, including social and economic effects, resulting from transportation decisions, programs and policies made, implemented and enforced at the Federal, State, local or tribal level.
The federal Justice 40 Initiative builds on Environmental Justice principles to ensure that Federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. The categories of investment relevant to our work are: climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, clean transit, training and workforce development, and the development of critical clean water and wastewater infrastructure.
Electric Vehicle Planning
Our environmental planning and programing continues to support PennDOT with implementation and information sharing under the Pennsylvania State Plan for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) formula program.