Environmental Standards and Practices Envisioning a Greener Future with ESP!

摘要

Highways function to meet society’s social and economic needs for safe and efficient transportation, travel opportunities, and the movement of goods and services. In doing so, highways exert various effects on the surrounding landscape, some of which may be positive, or at least neutral, but many of which can be negative. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is the provincial agency responsible for Ontario's provincial highway program. The ministry must manage the provincial highway program in compliance with federal and provincial environmental legislation and government policy. To this end, the Provincial and Environmental Planning Office of MTO, develops policies and standards to support regulatory compliance, and support Ontario’s environmental polices and initiatives, and to provide for a consistent and systematic approach to environmental management. In 2001, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) embarked on a long-term program to develop and implement a consistent and systematic approach to environmental management. The first step was the development of Environmental Standards and Practices (ESP). Ecoplans Limited With its recent completion, MTO is submitting the development of the ESP for TAC’s Environmental Achievement Award. The development of the ESP consisted of two main components: 1) the complete documentation of environmental standards and guidance for provincial transportation projects; and 2) an innovative, integrated and comprehensive management framework for disseminating, maintaining and expanding this guidance.