For a comprehensive list of all of the Environmental Videos produced by FRA, please visit the FRA Training & Guidance Videos page.

For a comprehensive list of all of the Environmental Webinars hosted by FRA, please visit the FRA Training & Guidance Webinars page.

These resources below include instructional and educational videos, presentations from past Rail Program Delivery Conferences.  The links provide oversight guidance (Monitoring Procedures), FRA reports and guidance documents, and related website links. Click on the Rail Network Development topics below to explore the content:

• Planning
• Project Development
• Environment & NEPA
• Grants & Loans
• Federal Regulations
• Railroad Operations
• Project Management
• Project Examples
• Working with Rail Partners

Environmental Weblinks

The resources linked below are often utilized by environmental staff and are referenced often on FRA's environmental webpages. These resource links will be updated periodically.

FRA Internal Environmental Weblinks

• FRA Locomotive Emissions Comparison Tool 
• FRA Justice40 Rail Explorer Tool
• (23 CFR Parts 771 and 774) Environmental Impact and Related Procedures, and, Parks, Recreation Areas, Wildlife and Waterfowl Refuges, and Historic Sites (Section 4(f)) effective on November 28, 2018
• FRA’s Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts (64 Federal Register [FR] 28545, May 26, 1999), revised in 2013.
• Section 106 Program Comment for Rail Rights-of-Way and exempted activities list
• Human & Natural Environment
• FRA Noise and Vibration
• Hazardous Materials

External Weblinks

Air Quality

• The Clean Air Act
• General Conformity rule under the Clean Air Act
• EPA Regulations for Emissions from Locomotives
• The EPA Green Book provides detailed information about area National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) designations
• FHWA’s Transportation Conformity Reference Guide
• EPA De Minimis Emission Thresholds

Coastal Zones

• Coastal Zone Management Act
• NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management State Program website
• List of states participating in the National Coastal Zone Management Program

Communities and Environmental Justice

• DOT Public Involvement Guide
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act 
• Environmental Justice (EJ) EO 12898 - FRA and Project Sponsors rely on the U.S. DOT Environmental Justice Website that includes information on environmental justice history, policy documents, FAQ's, case studies, training, and updated resources for consideration of EJ populations during project development
• EJSCREEN is an EJ mapping and screening tool
• The U.S. Census Bureau website provides demographic data for various statistical ranges and geographic extents.
• The Uniform Act

Cultural Resources

• Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) ensures federal agencies including FRA implement their work in harmony with the National Historic Preservation Act (Section 106)
  • ACHP’s Section 106 Review Process Flow Chart
  • ACHP’s Section 106 Applicant Toolkit
• National Register of Historic Places
• State Historic Preservation Office Directory (SHPO)
• National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers’ Directory (THPO)

Floodplains

• Executive Order 11988, Floodplain Management
• The FEMA Flood Map Service Center contains products used to identify the presence of floodplains

Hazardous Materials and Waste

• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
• EPA’s database of superfund sites

Important Farmlands

• Farmland Protection Policy Act
• Farmland Conversion Impact Rating Form
• NRCS information on prime farmland
• NRCS Web Soil Survey
• List of local NRCS contacts 

Land Use

• Section 6(f) - The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act

Listed Species

• The Endangered Species Act
  • Endangered Species Act (ESA) Consultation Handbook
  • USFWS information on the Endangered Species Program
  • USFWS Endangered Species Bulletin
  • USFWS Frequently Asked Questions on the ESA Section 7 consultation process
  • USFWS regional contact list
• USFWS Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC) tool
• USFWS critical habitat mapper
• NOAA database of threatened and endangered species
• USFWS Ecological Services office directory Migratory Bird Treaty Act 
• Marine Mammal Protection Act
• Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
• Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act

Navigable Waterways

• Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
• The Rivers and Harbor Act of 1899
• EPA’s information on Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899
• Coast Guard information on bridge permits

NEPA Implementation

• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969
• Final Rule: Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, July 15, 2020
• Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500–1508) (July 2020)
• Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA Guidance
• CEQ 40 Questions presents forty of the most frequently asked questions concerning NEPA regulations, (Pre-July, 2020)
• The Red Book is used as “how to” for synchronizing NEPA reviews for transportation and infrastructure projects with federal regulatory agencies,  developed by FRA, FTA, FHWA the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• NEPA Re-Evaluation Joint Guidance Issued on August 14, 2019 by FRA, FHWA and FTA
• FHWA’s environmental toolkit has environmental topics and tutorials relating to NEPA and human and natural environmental impacts from transportation projects.
• NEPAssist is a mapping tool developed by the EPA that helps facilitate the environmental review process and project planning, in relation to environmental considerations
• FHWA’s Section 4(f) Policy Paper contains Questions and Answers on the Application of Section 4(f) De Minimis Impact Criteria
• FHWA Provides Resources to Facilitate Virtual Public Involvement:
  • As part of its Every Day Counts initiative to promote innovation, FHWA developed a set of resources related to virtual public involvement (VPI) These VPI resources aim to help agencies facilitate community engagement using different technologies 
  • FHWA developed fact sheets and hosted a webinar series to highlight successful VPI techniques used by States and local agencies
  • Webinar Recording – Effective Practices for Converting In-person Meetings to Virtual Meetings
• Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) (P.L. 114-94)
• Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) (P.L. 112-141)
• Permitting Dashboard for Federal Infrastructure Projects 

Noise and Vibration

• Railroad Noise Emissions Compliance Regulation and Train Horn Rule
• How to Create a Quiet Zone

Transportation

• The Great American Stations Project was established by Amtrak in 2006 to educate communities on the benefits of redeveloping train stations, offer tools to community leaders to preserve their stations, and provide the appropriate Amtrak resources

Water Quality and Waters of the US

• The Clean Water Act
• EPA’s list of Clean Water Act policy and technical guidance documents
• Comprehensive standards for compensatory mitigation
• The Safe Drinking Water Act
• National Wetland Inventory wetlands mapper
• U.S. Geological Survey National Hydrography Dataset
• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Web Soil Survey
• NOAA Essential Fish Habitat mapper