Final Environmental Impact Report - Whittier Bridge/I-95 ...

Whittier Bridge/I-95 Improvement Project FEIR
Chapter 3.0: Mitigation and Commitments
3.18 MITIGATION AND COMMITMENT MONITORING PLAN
Environmental commitments are established via the following documents: NEPA/MEPA documents
(EA/EIR); Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) under Section 106 with the State Historic Preservation
Officer and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the three towns as concurring parties;
Section 7 consultation under the Endangered Species Act and Essential Fish Habitat consultation
under the Magnuson-Stevens Act with NMFS and corresponding coordination with DMF; and
permits from federal (USACE, USCG, USEPA), state (MDEP, MCZM) and local (Conservation
Commissions) regulatory agencies. Effective implementation of environmental commitments
requires established procedures for communicating and tracking these for compliance through the
construction, operations, and maintenance phases. Commitments are tracked using a spreadsheet
created and maintained by MassDOT, which contains a comprehensive record of the environmental
commitments. The spreadsheet is organized by topic to enable key word searches to retrieve reports
by subject area tied back to the specific source documents. It includes responsible party, status, and
action date for each commitment.
Key roles in tracking and reporting environmental compliance during the construction phase are
played by the environmental monitor and the MassDOT Resident Engineer (RE) and the Manager of
Environmental Compliance for Construction. The environmental monitor‘s qualifications must be
submitted to the Manager of Environmental Compliance for Construction (ECM) for review and
approval prior to the start of construction. The environmental monitor is responsible for directly
overseeing compliance with environmental commitments and reporting information back to the RE
and ECM. The environmental monitor reports directly to the RE as well as the ECM. This requires
weekly contact with Resident Engineers and construction contractors. The environmental monitor is
familiar with commitments from the NEPA/MEPA documents and permits. The environmental
monitor meets frequently with the Resident Engineer throughout the construction phase. The
Resident Engineer has direct authority to supervise the construction contractor and therefore any
communication and site inspection reporting by the environmental monitor goes through the
Resident Engineer. Therefore, a reporting protocol is established from the pre-construction phase
documenting each inspection including protocols for violations such as spills or illegal discharges.
In the event of an unanticipated field condition, the environmental monitor will assist in expediting
corrective action based on best management practices spelled out in the commitments and contract
documents. In such cases, the environmental monitor advises the action to the Resident Engineer.
The Resident Engineer is responsible for informing the appropriate MassDOT staff and regulatory
agencies. In certain cases, this scenario could lead to stop work orders issued by the Resident
Engineer.
Documentation of field inspection reports by the environmental monitor will be sent electronically to
the RE and the ECM and incorporated into reports issued monthly, which serve to update the
commitment tracking spreadsheet.
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