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III.A. Building & New Construction Regulations
Local governments may be responsible for constructing and maintaining roads, bridges, tunnels, and buildings. Construction and maintenance activities are essential to providing infrastructure for transportation, administration, and in some cases, housing. Construction and maintenance include constructing and maintaining roads, bridges and tunnels, and constructing, maintaining, renovating, and demolishing buildings. These activities are described below.
Local government activities related to roads, bridges and tunnels include new construction, maintenance and renovation of existing infrastructure, and traffic management. These activities have the potential to impact the environment, and may be regulated under U.S. environmental regulations. Construction of new roads, bridges, or tunnels generally involves clearing land, constructing the new structure, and disposing of construction waste. Maintenance and renovation of roads, bridges or tunnels may include street sweeping, maintenance of storm sewers, snow removal, and lead-based paint removal and disposal. Traffic management includes designing roads and bridges, access points, and traffic signals. Each of these activities is regulated under a section of EPA environmental regulations. More detail on the specific activities related to roads, bridges, and tunnels and the respective regulations is presented below.
· Activities with aspects regulated under the Clean Water Act (CWA):
- New construction
· Activities with aspects regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA):
- Maintenance and renovation
· Activities with aspects regulated under the Endangered Species Act (ESA):
- New construction
· Activities with aspects regulated under the Rivers and Harbors Act:
- New construction
· Activities with aspects regulated under the Clean Air Act (CAA):
- New construction
- Maintenance and renovation
- Traffic management
· Activities with aspects regulated under National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA):
- New construction
· Activities with aspects regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA):
- Maintenance and renovation
New Construction
Clearing Land for Construction
Clearing land involves the removal of vegetation and existing structures to prepare a site for construction. Clearing land can impact the environment by:
· Reducing the structural safety of land (e.g., making it more susceptible to landslides or floods)
· Impacting aquatic resources (particularly wetlands) and endangered species
· Increasing soil erosion and sedimentation caused by the removal of vegetation
· Increasing the flow to storm sewer systems leading to increased potential for downstream flooding and increased stream bank erosion in receiving waters.
Additional impacts of construction include dust/odors from construction traffic, air emissions, noise, and vibration from construction equipment.
New construction may directly affect wetlands through the placement of fill for grading purposes. Sediment from construction sites may also affect the hydrologic capacity of wetlands. Wetland losses may increase downstream flooding and may impact a wide variety of aquatic and upland species. If impacting aquatic areas, such as wetlands, and endangered species habitat (see below), local governments must obtain a special permit before beginning a construction project. Any dredging and general construction in, over, and under navigable waters of the United States are regulated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. The Corps also regulates the discharge of dredged and fill material into waters of the United States, which include wetlands. These wetland activities are regulated under Section 404 of the CWA and may require a Section 404 permit. In addition, controlling construction site discharges is regulated under EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program, and local erosion and sediment control programs.
Endangered species are plants and animals that, without special protection and management, are in danger of becoming extinct. Threatened species are likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.
Protection of federally-listed threatened and endangered species of plants, animals, and the habitats upon which they depend is provided by the ESA. Local government responsibilities under the ESA depend upon whether or not proposed activities occur with federal government involvement. Federal government involvement is triggered when a project seeks to cross public lands, receive public funds, or requires a federal permit (e.g., Section 404 wetland permit).
Any activities by local governments that involve new construction may be regulated under the NEPA (if they involve federal funds) or other state laws that require the preparation of an environmental impact statement. Construction impacts on receiving waters may be regulated under the NPDES storm water section of the CWA, and may require the local government to obtain a permit and implement certain controls. Air and noise impacts may be regulated under the CAA and state and local ordinances.
Construction Waste Disposal
Most of the waste generated through construction activities is nonhazardous solid waste. Typical wastes generated at construction sites may include concrete, steel wood, rubber, asphalt, soil, and organic matter, such as stumps.
The disposal of these wastes may be regulated under a variety of federal, state, and local laws. If generated, hazardous construction wastes are regulated under the federal RCRA hazardous waste regulations. Many states and local governments have regulations regarding the disposal of nonhazardous construction and demolition debris at special construction waste landfills. Many states allow debris such as uncontaminated concrete and asphalt to be used as fill material.
Maintenance and Renovation
Maintenance and renovation of roads, bridges or tunnels may include street sweeping, maintenance of storm sewers, snow removal, and lead-based paint removal and disposal. Street sweeping involves using mechanical sweepers to remove dirt, grit, and solids from road surfaces. Snow removal includes plowing streets and sanding and salting roads. Lead-based paint removal and disposal occurs due to bridge and tunnel maintenance. Maintenance and renovation activities may impact the environment by removing materials that can enter storm sewers (sweeping), adding materials that end up in storm sewers and are discharged to water ways (salting, sanding, sandblasting), or emitting contaminated dust to the air (paint removal). Aspects of these activities may be regulated under the CWA, TSCA, RCRA, local water protection ordinances, and local solid waste disposal requirements.
Street Sweeping
Local governments may be required to conduct street sweeping and related practices as conditions of their NPDES storm water or combined sewer overflow (CSO) permit. Street sweeping is conducted to reduce the concentration of pollutants in storm water runoff and to improve street appearance. Considered a best management practice (BMP) and an integral part of a storm water pollution control plan, street sweeping also ensures the continued structural effectiveness of storm sewers.
Maintenance of Storm Sewers
Local governments may be required to maintain storm sewers as part of their NPDES storm water or CSO permit. Maintenance of storm sewers may include activities such as catch basin cleaning, litter removal from storm channels, and maintenance of storm water detention facilities. Catch basin cleaning and litter removal from channels protect against street flooding, and remove potential pollutants from storm water. Publicly owned storm water detention facilities and other pollutant removal structures, such as sand filters and oil and grit separators, also require frequent maintenance. Disposal of materials generated during cleaning may be regulated under local solid waste disposal requirements.
Snow Removal
Local governments perform activities to maintain road safety in the winter including salt and abrasive (e.g., sand) application and snow removal. In particular, intense application of salts and abrasives may be necessary at busy intersections and steep hills. These activities can negatively impact water quality by increasing sedimentation and salinity in surrounding water bodies. If applied frequently or improperly, salt may leach into the groundwater and contaminate drinking water supplies.
To prevent such contamination, snow removal activities may be regulated under a local government's NPDES storm water permit. The permit may require or recommend the local government take steps to minimize the impact of snow removal activities. In addition, the permit may require designation of sensitive areas (i.e., near public water supply facilities or high levels of groundwater recharge) where pollution prevention practices must be followed. Some of these practices include prohibiting dumping of heavily treated snow directly into water bodies, or in or around drinking water supplies or landfills; proper operation of salt storage facilities to reduce potential salt-contaminated runoff; and use of alternative deicing materials.
Lead-Based Paint Removal and Disposal
Lead-based paint is typically removed from bridges by sandblasting or abrasive blasting prior to refurbishing and repainting. Sandblasting/abrasive blasting removes the existing paint off a bridge or tunnel with high velocity sand or synthetic particles. The potential environmental impacts from this process are air contamination from lead dust and soil and water contamination from disposal or spills of lead-contaminated sand/abrasive and paint chips. Where possible, blasting takes place in areas with containment to prevent releases of lead-contaminated materials to the environment. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations minimize worker exposure to lead dust, while disposal of lead-based paint contaminated materials is regulated under RCRA. Prevention of lead dust releases may be regulated by the CAA under the State Implementation Plan (SIP).
Traffic Management
Traffic management includes designing roads and bridges, access points, and traffic signals. Road designs, location of access points, and installation and scheduling of traffic signals affect the environment by impacting the emissions of motor vehicles. Increased access points to major roads generally lead to more traffic, while new traffic signals often lead to increased emissions from engine idling. A local government's traffic management plan must conform to the state's SIP as required under the CAA. In many areas, this means a local government's traffic management actions do not result in a net increase of air pollutants in the state.
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