The Role of Habitat Plans in Facilitating Transportation Infrastructure

Since the federal Endangered Species Act prohibits any action that causes harm to endangered species or destruction of their habitat, prior to the authorization of Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) in 1982, non-federal entities were limited in their ability to proceed with otherwise lawful activities, including transportation infrastructure projects, which might incidentally harm endangered species. HCPs provide a way to move forward on infrastructure projects without fear of criminal or civil endangered species violations by establishing agreed upon conservation or mitigation measures. The proposed research seeks to determine whether HCPs facilitate the delivery of large transportation infrastructure projects undertaken by non-federal entities. The research will involve case studies of six to twelve public HCPs with a specific focus on transportation infrastructure projects and off-site mitigation. The final report will include an assessment of the relationship between HCPs and environmental review processes for large infrastructure projects, and will develop a set of policy implications based on the research findings.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $82163
• Contract Numbers:

  7870

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  Department of Transportation
  1200 New Jersey Avneue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Performing Organizations:

  University of California, Los Angeles

  Los Angeles, CA  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Wachs, Martin

• Start Date: 20130101
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20140101
• Source Data: RiP Project 33508

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conservation; Endangered species; Environmental policy; Habitat (Ecology); Infrastructure; Policy
• Subject Areas: Environment; Policy; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01471025
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: University of California Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 7870
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 31 2013 1:01AM