Review Submissions The PDP includes a series of review submissions designed to ensure that all projects are developed in accordance with ODOT policies. The PDP Products Review Matrix found in this Appendix provides a summary of these reviews. The footnotes associated with the matrix provide specific information regarding the timing and content of each submission. The Project Manager is responsible for verifying that required review information is submitted in accordance with the project schedule and that review comments are appropriately addressed. Information on the content of each review submission can be found within this manual, in appropriate technical manuals, and on ODOT office web pages (e.g., Location and Design Manual, Waterway Permits Manual, Construction and Materials Specifications, Right-of-Way Plan Manual, etc.). When significant review comments are generated, ODOT will require that the project team revise the submission and resubmit the modified document to ODOT for a compliance review. Even with electronic submission of documents, review submissions must be coordinated by and are the responsibility of the District office, with the exception of the external agency coordination performed by the Office of Environmental Services (OES), Office of Roadway Engineering (ORE) or others. The submissions may be reviewed by the District Office, Central Office, an external agency, a resource agency, or one contracted by ODOT for all or part of the submission. The Project Manager is responsible for the coordination of the review submissions to assure consistency of comments, scope compliance, and project intent. An exception to this would be when an office in the Central Office has work done directly for that office under a Task Order contract. In those instances, the contracting office would supply any necessary information and documents to the District Office and Project Manager. Due to the relative importance of some activities, a number of submissions or portions of submissions must be reviewed and/or approved by Central Office. Electronic submission of CADD files shall follow the requirements of Location and Design Manual, Volume 3, Section 1500. Plan sheet image files may be provided in TIFF format. For additional information on submission of TIFF files, please refer to the information on the Office of Contracts website. Reviews are categorized as follows on the PDP Products Review Matrix in the Appendix: A = Required review and approval. The documents to be reviewed must be submitted to the indicated review office, which is the lead office with approval authority. The Project Manager must resolve all comments to the satisfaction of the involved review office or agency. (Required review and approval decisions may be based on the PDP Path of a project.) C = Required review and comment. The documents to be reviewed must be submitted to the indicated review office. The Project Manager should consider and address all comments. The Project Manager must provide a rationale to the involved 1 Revised September 2, 2016
reviewer for any comment not incorporated. (Required review and comment decisions may be based on the PDP Path of a project.) O = Optional review. The Project Manager should decide whether a review is necessary based on project complexity and sensitivity. Note that the Federal Highway Administration may require reviews on any project in accordance with the Federal Oversight Agreement. (Optional review decisions may be based on the PDP Path of a project.) # = Footnote number. Typical project attributes can be found in the footnotes at the end of this text, which is keyed to the review matrix. The Project Manager is responsible for ensuring that all submittals are provided to the appropriate office or agency for review, with the exception of submissions to environmental resource agencies which are handled by OES. Submissions by District Office to Central Office Projects prepared by the District Office should be submitted directly to each involved office or technical specialty area. For projects developed by a consultant, there are two methods for sending review submissions to Central Office: 1) If agreed to by the Project Manager, the consultant submits documents directly to each involved office or technical specialty area. The consultant should provide a copy of the transmittals to the Project Manager. 2) The consultant submits multiple copies of the review documents to the Project Manager. The District reviews these documents and submits them to each involved office or technical specialty area. The consultant scope of services should indicate which method of submission is desired by the District. Submissions to External Agencies For external agencies, review submissions should be submitted as follows: 1) OES will take the lead in coordinating planning and preliminary engineering documents with external environmental resource agencies. This coordination may include Study Area, Stakeholder Consultation/Public Involvement Plan, Purpose and Need Statement, Feasibility Study, Alternative Evaluation Report and other documents. Typically this coordination occurs on Complex Path 3 projects and higher requiring an EA or EIS. Submissions of environmental documents to environmental resource agencies (e.g., the Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulation, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio Department of Agriculture, National Park Service, Ohio Historic Preservation Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U. S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) must be submitted through OES. 2) Engineering submissions to the FHWA such as Interchange Modification Studies and Design Exceptions must be coordinated through the Office of Roadway Engineering. 2
Review Comments Review comments will be coordinated through the Project Manager. For projects using a consultant, the PM will provide all comments back to the consultant and the consultant shall submit a Disposition of Comments back to the PM. (See Disposition of Review Comments Section below.) The PM will be responsible for distributing the Disposition of Comments and revised documents to all reviewers unless otherwise agreed in the project scope that the consultant can directly provide this to the stakeholders. Exceptions are as follows: 1) OES will take the lead in coordinating planning and preliminary engineering documents with external environmental resource agencies. This coordination may include Study Area, Stakeholder Consultation/Public Involvement Plan, Purpose and Need Statement, Feasibility Study, Alternative Evaluation Report and other documents. Typically this coordination occurs on Complex Path 3 projects and higher requiring an EA or EIS. The Office of Environmental Services will coordinate all comments from the environmental resource agencies. Coordination of comments will involve tracking and gathering comments from the involved review agencies, reviewing these comments, resolving any conflicting or impractical comments with the involved review agency, and transmitting pertinent information to the Project Manager and/or project team. Disposition of Review Comments When review comments are received by the Project Manager, a written disposition of these comments (i.e., a response) is required. Each comment should be addressed, either by: 1) Indicating that the comment has been fully incorporated; 2) Providing a rationale as to why the suggested change should or could not be made; or 3) Explaining how the comment has been otherwise addressed. The disposition of review comments should be coordinated by the Project Manager who will forward the review comments to involved project team members, as appropriate, for response. It is required that all comments from reviewers with required review and approval or required review and comment ( A and C above) be provided with a disposition of their review comments. 3 Revised September 2, 2016
The Disposition of Review Comments document becomes part of the project documentation, as it comprises review comments from different resource or technical areas which must be addressed, resolved, and/or incorporated prior to the project advancing. The dialog between the Project Manager/team members and the reviewers is documented and combined, resulting in the compilation of the Disposition of Comments document. For engineering studies, the disposition must be submitted along with the next review that covers the involved aspect of project development (e.g., include a disposition of Stage 2 comments with the Stage 3 submission). For environmental documents, OES will work with the Project Manager to coordinate responses to comments from environmental resource agencies. Review comments will be addressed prior to the next phase or step in the environmental project. For example, comments on a Phase I History/Architecture report will be addressed before that report is accepted and before a Phase II survey is initiated. Review Times It is critical that appropriate review times be incorporated into project schedules. A standard review time of 30 days has been established for all reviews by ODOT staff. Once reviews are completed, the review comments should be distributed within 30 days by the Project Manager or by the project management team. Review times for external agencies and organizations (i.e. railroads, utilities, and environmental resource agencies) can sometimes take months depending on the nature of the request. Review times for external agencies should be determined by previous project experience, existing agreements with agencies, or by contacting the review agencies. Project Managers are encouraged to contact the involved review agency to verify the anticipated review time, especially if the review activity falls on the critical path of the project development schedule. Footnotes for the PDP Products Review Matrix: In the matrix, the footnote number is noted in parentheses. 1) OES - required review and approval of Purpose & Need Statements on D2 CE NEPA documents and higher. DEC shall approve P&N Statement for D1 CE NEPA documents. All submissions of P&N Statements for CE NEPA documents shall be completed using the Online CE. 2) OES - required review and comment on Stakeholder Consultation/Public Involvement on D2 CE NEPA documents and above. 3) OES - required review and approval of the Feasibility Study and Alternative Evaluation Report on D1 CE NEPA documents and above. 4) FHWA - required review and approval of Interchange Modification Studies and Interchange Justification Studies on Interstate projects. Please note that Interchange Operations Studies on interstates do not require FHWA review and approval. Refer to LDM, Vol.I, Section 550.2.1 4
5) OES - required review and approval of Waterway Permit Determination Package and Permits if the project is an ODOT project (i.e., not an LPA project). 6) OES is required to review and approve of D2 CE NEPA documents and above. The DEC is a required reviewer and comment of D2 CE NEPA documents and above. The DEC is the required reviewer and approver of D1 CE NEPA documents and below. 7) OES - required review and comment on Stage 2 Plans if project has environmental commitments related to cultural resources and/or waterway permits. 8) OES - required review and comment on Stage 3 Plans if project has environmental commitments related to cultural resources and/or waterway permits. 9) Submit waterway permit determination to OES during the Preliminary Engineering Phase for all work in streams, rivers or wetlands. OES will make a preliminary waterway permit determination and determine if the project requires U.S. Coast Guard coordination or requires a Section 9 Bridge Permit. After incorporating review comments from OES, submit draft waterway permit application to OES. 10) Submit plans involving historic properties, including historic bridges, to OES who will submit to the Ohio Historic Preservation Office for review and comment. 11) Submit final waterway permit applications to OES for agency coordination review and approval. Obtain waterway permit authorization prior to submitting Final Tracings to Central Office. 12) Submit all Path 4 and Path 5 Projects for review and comment. If required by the Pavement Type Selection Process, request pavement design. 13) Submit projects involving railroad work or acquisition of railroad property. 14) Submit projects involving right of way acquisition for verification of right of way acquisition cost estimates and property rights. 15) Submit projects for Value Engineering if required by the Value Engineering Policy and Standard Procedures. A second Value Engineering Study should be conducted during Stage 2 Design. For projects going through a Value Engineering analysis, Final Stage 3 plans should be submitted to the Value Engineering Coordinator for review and comment. 16) For proposed structure types containing non-standard bridge railing types, non-redundant designs or fracture critical designs, a submission shall be made to the Office of Structural Engineering (OSE) for review and comment. Consult the ODOT Bridge Design Manual for other design details which may require OSE consultation, such as friction drilled shafts, MSE walls, foundation types for semi-integral abutments, etc. Submission of other projects not containing design elements require OSE consultation are optional. 17) During Stage 1 Detailed Design development, submit deviations from Pipe Policy and submit storm systems that are oversized to accommodate flow from anticipated development. Approval of these areas is required prior to Stage 1 Detailed Design approval. Submission of other projects is optional. 18) During Stage 2 Detailed Design development, submit projects involving special designs for precast reinforced concrete box culverts, three-sided flat-topped culverts and precast reinforced 5 Revised September 2, 2016
concrete arch sections where the usual maximum height of cover is exceeded. Submission of projects that do not contain these items is optional. 19) Submit plans involving State Scenic Rivers, State Wildlife Areas and State Recreational Areas. OES will submit to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for approval. 20) Submit projects that involve water, sanitary sewer, municipal electric, and/or streamline work to be performed by ODOT contract. Submit all Federal Oversight projects. Submission of other projects is optional. 21) Obtain waterway permit authorization prior to submitting Final Tracings to Central Office. 22) If the Access Point Request Document is for a non-interstate freeway, only two copies are needed. In addition, a PDF file with the capability to search text should be provided. 23) For federally funded projects, Estimating requests review and authorization of P, S, & E Package from FHWA to advertise contract for bids. 24) Pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 327 and a Memorandum of Understanding dated December 11, 2015, and executed by FHWA and ODOT, the FHWA only participates in the NEPA process for projects that cross state lines. Please contact OES for further guidance. 6