The RIDOT NRU provides environmental expertise and regulatory process guidance to RIDOT staff, consultants and contractors, and are liaisons to state and federal agencies, and other governmental, and non-government organizations to accomplish the transportation mission and meet environmental responsibilities.
The national commitment to the environment was formalized through the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. NEPA establishes a national environmental policy and provides a framework for environmental planning and decision making by Federal agencies. NEPA directs Federal agencies, when planning projects or issuing permits, to conduct environmental reviews to consider the potential impacts on the environment by their proposed actions.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR §§ 1500-1508) address the basic decision-making framework and action forcing provisions established in NEPA.
The RIDOT Natural Resources Unit assists in determining permitting requirements for projects and oversees and reviews consultant prepared applications for content and accuracy. NRU acts as the main liaison with federal and state regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), the RI Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), and the RI Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC).
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) has developed a Road-Stream Crossing Assessment Handbook and road-stream crossing prioritization map. These tools are intended to serve as a guidance documents and decision-making tool to identify road-stream crossing in Rhode Island that should be prioritized for replacement or upgrade.
If you are interested in using the RIDOT Road-Stream Crossing Assessment Handbook for field data collection and assessments, please contact nicole.leporacci@dot.ri.gov for guidance and supplemental materials.
RIDOT requires road-stream crossings that will be replaced to follow the RIDOT Road-Stream Crossing Design Manual. The design standards presented in this Manual apply to all RIDOT owned road-stream crossings. Other Rhode Island state agencies, municipalities, regulators, and stream crossing designers are strongly encouraged to implement these standards.