Successfully Incorporating Environmental Commitments into Plans and Specifications for Port Projects

Incorporating environmental commitments into the design process from the onset of a project allows for ports to address environmental considerations, provides for greater certainty for ports and contractors during the bid process, and assists in building positive agency relationships that can assist in streamlining the regulatory process for current and future projects. Due to the complexity of today's port projects and ever-increasing regulatory requirements, a multidisciplinary project team approach to designing, permitting, and implementing port projects is needed to ensure project designs are able to be both permitted and constructed. Understanding and addressing specific regulatory agency requirements can result in a streamlined permitting process and provide greater certainty related to costs and reporting requirements for environmental commitments for ports and the contractors they hire. This paper provides an overview of the recommended steps to ensure environmental commitments for port projects are successfully addressed.