ronald poe gabe robertson planning and project development division

Ronald PoeGabe Robertson

Planning and Project Development Division

NDOR’s Districts

Environmental Section Environmental Permits Unit

o Wetlands/404 Permittingo Threatened & Endangered Species

Environmental Documents Unito NEPA Document Delivery

Technical Documents Unito NEPA Support Document Delivery

Roadside Stabilization Unito Stormwater Permittingo Erosion Control & Landscape Designo Vegetation Managemento Environmental Compliance

(Construction & Maintenance)

RSU Program Goals

Restoration & Re-Vegetationo Roadside compliments surrounding landscape

Water Quality Initiativeso Erosion & Sediment Controlo Water Quality Treatment

Environmental Complianceo Ensure Commitments are being upheld

Researcho Yard waste composto Wildflowerso Fertilizerso Vegetation longevity

Water Quality Permits MS4 - Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System

o Programmatic Water Quality Permit

NPDES Construction Stormwater Permito Construction Sites – 1 acre or more

NPDES Concrete Slurry Discharge Permito Specific to Diamond Grinding

NPDES Dewatering Permito Pumping Groundwater

NPDES Pesticide Application Permito Spraying weeds near waterways

Compliance Timeline

1998 – First Construction Stormwater Permit

2003 – FHWA Temporary Erosion Control Process ReviewoTemporary Erosion Control was subsidiary prior to review

2005 – Construction Stormwater ProgramoNDOR/NDEQ meet to discuss stormwater program

2007 – NDEQ Approves NDOR’s 1st MS4 PermitoNDOR proposes to write permit for NDEQ’s signature

2008 – NDEQ Implements Revised Construction Stormwater Permit

2013 – NDEQ Approves NDOR’s 2nd MS4 Permit

Training Erosion Control Basics for Inspectors

Erosion Control Basics for Designers

Post Construction Design

Inspector Training

All NDOR employees with responsibilities on construction projectsoProject Managers, Technicians,

Maintenance Staff

All contractors responsible for installing a BMP for controlling erosionoPrime, Erosion Control, Culvert,

Grading Contractors, etc…

Any NDOR employee or consultant with site inspection responsibilitiesoEnvironmental staff, DECs,

Management

Inspector Training 5 year certification

Certification RequirementsoAttend NDOR’s E&SC classoPass Exam

NDOR accepts national CertificationsoCISEC, CESWII, etc…oConsidering neighboring

states

Site Inspections Originated with interest in

reviewing erosion control BMPs

Formalized with Construction Stormwater Permit requirements

NEPA Process Review Action Plan

Environmental Stewardship and assurance that commitments are being met

Site Inspections Green Sheet Review Process

oPrior to lettingoEnvironmental staff review commitmentsoEnsure commitments are communicatedoGenerate questions in ECO-Database

Prior to ConstructionoSupply project staff with SWPPPoCreate a report detailing questions

During ConstructionoInspectors complete ECO-Database reportsoGoal of resolving “Corrective Actions”

within 7 days

Site Inspections

Multi-level inspection processoPlaces inspection emphasis on project staffoProvides levels of oversight to ensure commitments are

being met

ECO Database Inspection SoftwareoHelps to streamline communicationoAllows the ability to query reports

NDOR Environmental Stewardship GoalsoTo be 100% in compliance with Environmental

CommitmentsoTo resolve “Corrective Actions” within 7 days

Site Inspections

Routine InspectionsoOccur every 2 weeks at a minimumoConducted by District Construction Staff

Environmental Oversight InspectionsoOccur monthly on projects with SWPPPsoConducted by District Environmental Coordinators

Environmental Oversight AuditsoOccur at a predetermined frequencyoConducted by RSU, Consultants & other Environmental

Staff

Site Inspections

Findings are to be corrected within 7 days

• Immediate Action issues are to be corrected within 24 hours

Tools for ComplianceoIncentives and Disincentives• NDOR’s answer to “multiple mobilizations”• Associated with Rain Event Inspections

oWithholding EstimatesoJob Shutdowns

Environmental Compliance Oversight Database

(ECODatabase or ECOD)

What is ECODatabase

Identifying Commitments to Track (Pre-Construction)o Project Setupo Project Reviewo Inspection Summary Sheet

Documenting Commitments in the System (Construction)o Logging Inspections o Inspection Report Distributiono Corrective Actionso Inspection Reminders/Past Due Noticeso Threatened and Endangered Species/Migratory Bird Surveys

Reporting Commitments when Completed (Post-Construction)

NDOR Certified Erosion Control Inspector List

Overview

Electronic reporting software used to identify, document, and report environmental commitments on NDOR construction projects.

Consists of inspection software loaded on field machines and a web based headquarter module that manages the data.

A sync process exchanges data between user machines and headquarters.

What is ECO-Database?

Project Data

Inspections

Projects are manually created within the ECODatabase system and then additional project information is automatically pulled in from the SiteManager database on a regular basis:o Project Name/Number/Control Numbero Project Description/Locationo Project Manager/Responsible Chargeo Prime Contractoro Key Dates (Letting, Notice to Proceed, Start & Completion)

Identifying Commitments – Project Setup

ECODatabase sign-off incorporated into existing Environmental Review Process within Planning and Project Development Divisiono Roadside Stabilization Unit

Manages the ECODatabase System Reviews for stormwater and erosion control conditions

o Environmental Permits Unit Reviews for wetland and 404 permit conditions Reviews for threatened and endangered species conditions

o Environmental Documents Unit Reviews for NEPA related conditions

After reviews are completed, an ECOD Inspection Summary Report is generated and sent to the construction project manager.

Identifying Commitments – Project Review

Identifying Commitments – Project Review

ECOD Inspection Summary Report

Sent to Construction Project Manager and District Environmental Coordinator before construction begins.

o Contains Project Review Status

o Outlines Required Inspections in ECOD

o Highlights Species Conditions

ECOD Inspection Tool Software installed on user machines Inspection reports are tailored to each project:

oCommitments become inspection questions in the fieldo Inspectors only have access to projects they are responsible for

and inspections that they may conduct .

NDOR environmental inspections are recorded using the ECOD systemoRoutine Environmental Inspection (Construction Phase)oRoutine Environmental Inspection (Establishment Phase)oEnvironmental Compliance Oversight InspectionoEnvironmental Compliance AuditoStormwater Permit Close-Out InspectionoThreatened and Endangered Species SurveyoMigratory Birds Survey

Documenting Commitments – Logging Inspections

Corrective Action Button

will glow if items are pending

Inspectors only have access to projects they

are responsible for.


Erosion Control Certification Number auto-populates the

report.


Questions are generated from environmental

commitments and are specific to each project.

Answering “No” requires an action to be logged,

and then the system will generate a corrective action that must be

addressed.



Sign and Seal button makes the reports final and un-editable.

Inspectors can make a draft of the report before signing.

Documenting Commitments – Inspection Report Distribution

Completed inspection reports are automatically distributed (email) to pre-defined groups for review.

Email contains web links to both the inspection report and corrective action log for the project. o PDFs of the report and corrective action log can be

generated and printed using the included links.

Documenting Commitments – Corrective Actions

Documenting Commitments – Corrective Actions

A “Corrective Action Punch List” can be printed and filled out by contractor or inspector as things are completed.

Inspectors then date-out each completed action within the system and items are removed from their to do list.

ECODatabase allows NDOR to schedule inspections and send out inspection reminders/past-due notices.

o One day before an inspection is due, an “inspection reminder email” will be sent out to project inspectors.

o Likewise one day after an inspection should have been logged in the system, an “inspection past-due notice email” will be send to project inspectors as well as select upper management personnel within the District.

These are auto-generated by the system based off of the inspection frequency and phase of the project.

Currently programming email notices for Threatened and Endangered Species Surveys…..

Documenting Commitments – Inspection Reminders/Past Due Notices


Threatened and Endangered Species/Migratory Bird Surveys also logged using ECODatabase.

Surveys are submitted on a weekly basis.

Species are specific to each project and the time of year the survey is being completed.

Reports are automatically sent to Headquarters for review and are then made available to Partner Agencies such as FHWA and USFWS.

ECODatabase has the ability to query data in the system and generate summary reports.

Reporting Commitments when Completed

Reporting Commitments when Completed

DRAFT

NDOR requires inspectors to be certified in the Erosion Control Inspector Certification Program.

The list of certified inspectors is managed through ECODatabase. A link to the database is available on NDOR’s Environmental Website.

Inspector ID’s automatically populate the inspection report. The system issues notifications to individuals through email when

their certification is about to expire. The notice contains a web link to the UNL-LTAP training site so they can re-certify.

NDOR Certified Erosion Control Inspector List

Online Training is Now

Available.

Gabe Robertson

Highway Stormwater Specialist

Nebraska Department of Roads

(402) 479-4685

[email protected]

Questions?

Ronald Poe

Highway Environmental Program Manager

Nebraska Department of Roads

(402) 479-4499

[email protected]