The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1. (1) Action--A state project which may be regulated by another state or federal agency by law, rules, or regulations.
2. (2) Affected local government--The governing body of a county or municipality in which a project is located.
3. (3) Affected public official--An elected official of a county or municipality in which a project is located, or a member of the United States Congress or the Texas Legislature in whose district a project is located.
4. (4) Agency--A state or federal governmental body having jurisdiction over environmental issues related to transportation facility development.
5. (5) Aviation project--The construction, enlargement, repair or planning of an airport or air navigational facility as part of the aviation facilities development program.
6. (6) Beneficial use project--The productive and positive use of dredged material as proposed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
7. (7) Best management practices--A practice or combination of practices that are determined to be the most effective and practicable (including technological, economic, and institutional considerations) means of controlling point and nonpoint pollutants at levels compatible with environmental quality goals.
8. (8) Commission--The Texas Transportation Commission.
9. (9) Department--The Texas Department of Transportation.
10. (10) Disposal plan--An operationally suitable method for the placement of dredged material which avoids or minimizes adverse environmental impacts.
11. (11) District office--The Texas Turnpike Authority Division or one of the 25 geographical districts into which the department is divided.
12. (12) Division--The Environmental Affairs Division of the department.
13. (13) Environmental document--A decision-making document which incorporates environmental studies, coordination, and consultation efforts, and engineering elements. Documents may include categorical exclusion assessments, environmental assessments, and environmental impact statements.
14. (14) Environmental studies--The investigation of potential environmental impacts.
15. (15) Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW)--The main channel, not including tributaries or branches, of the shallow draft navigation channel running from the Sabine River southward along the Texas coast to the Brownsville Ship Channel near Port Isabel.

16. (16) Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Advisory Committee (GIWAC)--An interagency committee, made of members appointed by the department to represent state agencies having jurisdiction in the protection of the state's natural, historic, and economic resources. The GIWAC is created for the purpose of advising and assisting the department:

    1. (A) in developing a unified method to address problems and recommend solutions for the needs of the GIWW, for the protection of the environment and the state's natural and historic resources affected by the waterway, and for the promotion of the economic welfare of the state's interest in the GIWW;
    2. (B) in developing proposals for a disposal plan or a beneficial use project that will address dredged material disposal involving a segment of the GIWW identified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as in need of maintenance dredging; and
    3. (C) on the acquisition of disposal sites in an environmentally sensitive and operationally suitable manner.
17. (17) Highway construction project--A highway improvement project involving the construction or reconstruction of a segment of the state highway system, pursuant to Transportation Code, Chapter 201, 203, 221, 223, or 361.
18. (18) Human environment--Interpreted comprehensively to include the natural and physical environment, and the relationship of people with that environment.

19. (19) Jurisdiction--For purposes of §2.45 of this title (relating to Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Projects), this term shall mean:

    1. (A) for a city, the area within the incorporated city limits and a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction; and
    2. (B) for a county, any area within the boundaries of that county, excluding incorporated areas and areas within a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction.
20. (20) Local transit operator--A public or private nonprofit entity providing public transportation within a given region.
21. (21) Maintenance activity--A singular activity, performed by state or contract forces, to repair or perform work on a segment of the state highway system.

22. (22) Maintenance program--A collection of maintenance activities performed singularly or collectively on the state highway system. The following categories have been established as maintenance programs:

    1. (A) Bridge maintenance--All activities to repair or perform preventive maintenance work on bridges, culverts, retaining walls, and barrier walls.
    2. (B) Customer service--All activities relating to providing the traveling public with services including, but not limited to, maintaining rest areas, picnic areas, and litter barrels.
    3. (C) Debris and spills--All activities related to removing debris from the right-of-way including, but not limited to, litter, roadway debris, spills, and sweeping.
    4. (D) Drainage--All activities related to maintaining the drainage systems, and slopes on the right-of-way including roadside ditches, slopes, channels, creeks, streams, and rivers. Such activities are also included in drainage easements outside the right-of-way.
    5. (E) Ferry maintenance--The maintenance and operation of ferries pursuant to Texas Civil Statutes, Article 6812a.
    6. (F) Maintenance enhancement--All small maintenance projects that involve disturbance of soil beyond the original construction. This term includes, but is not limited to, the installation of cross overs, turn lanes, driveways, shoulders, and channels.
    7. (G) Pavement maintenance--All activities to repair or perform preventive maintenance work on asphalt and portland cement concrete pavements including, but not limited to, work performed on the pavement surface, base, sub-base, sub-grade, and embankment.
    8. (H) Roadside appurtenances--All activities related to fixtures along the roadways including, but not limited to, signs, delineators, mailboxes, guard rails, attenuators, illumination, and signals.
    9. (I) Traffic pavement markings--All activities on the pavement relating to directing the traveling public including, but not limited to, installing, and removing striping, specialty marking, and pavement markings.
    10. (J) Vegetation management--All activities performed to maintain the vegetative cover on state highway right-of-way including, but not limited to, mowing, pesticide applications, tree and brush trimming, and removal, and preservation of existing or installed vegetative features.
23. (23) Mitigation--Includes avoiding the impact altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of an action; minimizing impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action and its implementation; rectifying the impact by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the affected environment; reducing or eliminating the impact over time by preservation and maintenance operations during the life of the action; or compensating for the impact by replacing or providing substitute resources or environments.
24. (24) Public hearing--Held after public notice to solicit public input in determining a preferred alternative for or with respect to any changes to a state project. (All testimony given at a public hearing will be made a part of the public hearing record.)
25. (25) Public involvement--An ongoing phase of the project planning process which encourages and solicits public input, and provides the public the opportunity to become fully informed regarding project development.
26. (26) Public meeting--Informal discussions, which may assist in the preparation of environmental documents, may be held with local public officials, interested citizens or the general public, and local, neighborhood, or special interest groups for the purpose of exchanging ideas, and collecting input on the need for, and possible alternatives to a given state project. (Notice of a public meeting will depend upon anticipated audience attendance.)
27. (27) Public transportation project--A project which may involve either capital or operational funding for the purchase of rolling stock, capital improvements and facility renovations, and provision for general or specialized transit services in a defined geographic area, pursuant to Texas Civil Statutes, Articles 6663b and 6663c.
28. (28) Significantly--Shall have the same meaning as the term is used, and has been interpreted under 42 United States Code §4332 of the National Environmental Policy Act.
29. (29) State project--A nonfederal aid transportation project sponsored and administered by the department, which will be completely funded with state, local, or private funds.

Source Note:The provisions of this §2.41 adopted to be effective March 8, 1995, 20 TexReg 1339; amended to be effective June 23, 1997, 22 TexReg 5673; amended to be effective January 9, 2003, 28 TexReg 362.