Texas Administrative Code › Title 43 - TRANSPORTATION › Part 1 - TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › Chapter 2 - ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS › Subchapter G - MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT › Section 2.202 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this
					 subchapter, or in documents prepared by TxDOT or TPWD pursuant to this
					 subchapter, have the following meanings.
(1) Best or Beneficial Management Practices
				  (BMPs)--Measures provided by TPWD that will result in avoidance and
				  minimization of potential impacts to natural resources.
(2) Categorical Exclusion (CE)--A category of
				  actions that have been found to have no significant effect on the environment,
				  individually or cumulatively, and are excluded from the requirement to prepare
				  an Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement as defined in
				  §
										2.81 of
				  this chapter (relating to Categorical Exclusions).
(3) Environmental Assessment
				  (EA)--Environmental documentation required for a transportation project that
				  TxDOT has not classified as a categorical exclusion and that does not clearly
				  require the preparation of an EIS, or if TxDOT believes that an EA would assist
				  in determining the need for an EIS, as defined in §
										2.83 of
				  this chapter (relating to Environmental Assessments).
(4) Environmental decision--The official
				  record created after coordination, analysis, and reviews are completed
				  concluding that an action and its environmental impacts have been adequately
				  identified and assessed. A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is the
				  environmental decision document for an EA and a Record of Decision (ROD) is the
				  environmental decision document for an EIS.
(5) Environmental Impact Statement
				  (EIS)--Environmental documentation required for a transportation project if
				  there are likely to be significant environmental impacts, as defined in §
										2.84
				  of this chapter (relating to Environmental Impact Statements).
(6) Interagency Team (IAT)--As defined in
				  §
										2.206 of
				  this subchapter (relating to Interagency Team), TPWD and TxDOT staff identified
				  to communicate on behalf of TPWD and TxDOT to carry out the MOU.
(7) Qualified biologist--A qualified
				  biologist must have, at a minimum, a successful completion of a full 4-year
				  course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's
				  or higher degree with a major in biological sciences, natural resource
				  management, wildlife science or management, ecology, zoology, botany,
				  conservation biology, or a closely related field and have experience relevant
				  to the species, habitat, or ecosystems that are being studied or
				  described.
(8) Reevaluation--The
				  review and determination of the validity of the environmental decision under
				  certain circumstances involving changes or delays subsequent to the
				  environmental decision as defined in §
										2.85 of
				  this chapter (relating to Reevaluations).
(9) Riparian habitat--The area of interface
				  between land and a waterway (e.g., river or stream). River- or creek-dependent
				  habitats which rely on periodic flooding or flushing, sub-irrigated substrates,
				  and other influences of the ephemeral or perennial rivers or creeks to which
				  they are adjacent, including floodplains, wet woodlands, gallery riverine
				  forests, oxbows, swamps, and vegetated islands.
(10) Texas Natural Diversity Database
				  (TXNDD)--A TPWD-owned and maintained database of natural resource records,
				  including species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) and other tracked
				  species, important remnant native vegetation, and other features of Texas
				  natural history.
(11) TPWD--Texas
				  Parks and Wildlife Department.
(12)
				  TPWD Transportation Staff--The qualified biologist at TPWD that is assigned to
				  work solely on transportation projects and related matters.
(13) TxDOT--Texas Department of
				  Transportation.