HDOT Climate Resilience Action Plan | May 2021

making and/or 2) existence of sensitive, nationally significant environmental areas or issues that must be addressed in policy and project development. Washington State DOT and Minnesota DOT are viewed as some of the most advanced states in the nation with respect to linking environmental considerations to transportation project development decisions. Maryland DOT with the Chesapeake Bay coastal environment and facing significant sea level rise and storm surge issues was considered a good peer example. In addition, Florida DOT, with the Everglades, sensitive coastal environs and inland groundwater issues, is facing similar environmental sensitivities as HDOT. Other states were considered but were not included for various reasons. For example, the California DOT (Caltrans) is also viewed as a national leader in environmental considerations, but the sheer size of the state and the very large staffs assigned to both planning and environmental analyses suggests it would not be the best example for HDOT. C.5.1 WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (WSDOT) Up to the 2000s, WSDOT had an environmental office that was typical of many DOTs at that time. The focus was primarily in producing environmental documents in compliance with Federal and State laws, and in satisfying the requirements for obtaining permits from environmental resource agencies. A new Secretary of Transportation in the early 2000s created a more robust environmental services division, which among other things became more visible on the overall organization chart. The intent of this restructuring was to enhance the visibility of the Department’s environmental services to external audiences as well as to send a message to the rest of the agency on the importance of environmental factors in Department decision making. The environmental services area grew from approximately 10 positions to the current 90 positions (see Figure C-1). As noted by Paula Hammond, former Secretary of Transportation for WSDOT in a personal communication, “it is not hard to recognize that over these 20 years, the evolution of all the disciplines has become more robust and integrated in everything the Department does these days.”

Source: WSDOT. 2019. “Organization Chart.” Accessed April 15, 2020 from: https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2018/10/16/wsdot-organizational-chart.pdf Figure C-1. WSDOT’s Environmental Services Office within Multimodal Development and Delivery Development Division

HAWAI‘ I HIGHWAYS | CLIMATE ADAPTATION ACTION PLAN ( C-5 )