Agency Consultation Committee (ACC) fosters communication and coordination between agencies, Alaska Native groups, and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

Context Sensitive Design (or Solutions) involves the public to insure that a project fits within the community while ensuring it meets the projects’ purpose, safety issues, etc.

Cooperating Agency : Cooperating agencies are federal agencies invited to participate in the NEPA process by the lead federal agency. Cooperating agencies typically have a permit or other approval that may be required for a project or have legal jurisdiction.

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS): An EIS is prepared by a lead federal agency when there may or will be significant environmental impacts. An EIS describes the impacts; the purpose of, and need for, the action; alternatives (including “no action”); and the potential environmental consequences.

Impacts: There are three types of impacts considered in the NEPA process. These can be positive or negative or of varying intensity.

Listening Posts provide information directly to communities. This style of meeting is very similar to an open house, where displays of information are posted and staff is available to talk with community members.

Level of Service (LOS) refers to the amount of traffic on a particular stretch of road. Levels are ranked A through F, with F being the lowest level. The Sterling Highway MP 45-60 currently operates at LOS E during the summer months. The goal is to increase the LOS to C or better.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA: The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to consider potential environmental impacts before approving major projects that are subject to federal control and responsibility. If significant impacts are likely, the agency may decide to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

Project Team: For the Sterling Highway project, the team consists of ADOT&PF staff and their consultants.

Rural principal arterial: The Department of Transportation defines highways, roads and streets by the character of service they provide. A rural principal arterial is a type of route within a highway network that connects geographically distant communities (such as Anchorage and Homer) and generally serves urban areas of populations more than 25,000. A urban principal arterial, by comparison, serves major centers of activity within a metropolitan area. 

Scoping is a process of encouraging feedback from the public and agencies about a proposal that requires compliance with NEPA. Scoping helps ADOT&PF to identify interest groups and affected agencies, information needs, issues that should be considered in an EIS. In scoping, team members listen to ideas and concerns of people and agencies potentially affected by project alternatives. Scoping helps to identify a range of alternatives and issues that need further study or evaluation.

Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966 applies to projects impacting parks, recreation areas, refuges, and historic properties. “The Secretary (of the Federal Department of Transportation) may approve project requiring the use of publicly owned land of a public park, recreation area, or wildlife/waterfowl refuge, or land of a historic site of national, state, or local significance…only if 1) there is no feasible and prudent alternative to such use, and 2) the project includes all possible planning to minimize harm.”

Stakeholder Sounding Board (SSB) is an open advisory committee of community members and local/regional interest group representatives. The group provides a forum to discuss issues and the development of project alternatives.

Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS): An SEIS is required if new information or new circumstances have developed since the preparation of the initially produced Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). An SEIS has the same process and format as an EIS (draft, final, and Record of Decision) and will reference the original EIS.