Prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment.
The Code of Federal Regulations is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the United States Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal Regulation: each volume of the CFR is updated once each calendar year and is issued on a quarterly basis.
A COG is typically charged with addressing regional issues and opportunities in the regional planning area.
The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the comprehensive federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. Among other things, this law authorizes EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and public welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush.
Services and benefits should allow for meaningful participation and be fairly distributed to avoid discrimination.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires all federal agencies to prepare an environmental impact statement for proposed major actions that significantly affect the quality of the human environment. The EIS requirement includes the public in the federal agency decision-making process. Major actions generally are those actions that require substantial planning, timing, resources, or expense. Federal involvement usually means either funding of a project or required permits.
On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (Pub. L. No. 114-94) into law—the first federal law in over a decade to provide long-term funding certainty for surface transportation infrastructure planning and investment. The FAST Act authorizes $305 billion over fiscal years 2016 through 2020 for highway, highway and motor vehicle safety, public transportation, motor carrier safety, hazardous materials safety, rail, and research, technology, and statistics programs. The FAST Act maintains a focus on safety, keeps intact the established structure of the various highway-related programs we manage, continues efforts to streamline project delivery and, for the first time, provides a dedicated source of federal dollars for freight projects.
The FHWA is a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation that administers the federal-aid Highway Program, providing financial assistance to states to construct and improve highways, urban and rural roads, and bridges. The FHWA also administers the Federal Lands Highway Program, including survey, design, and construction of forest highway system roads, parkways and park roads, Indian reservation roads, defense access roads, and other Federal lands roads.
The FTA is a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation that is the principal source of federal financial assistance to America's communities for planning, development, and improvement of public or mass transportation systems. The FTA provides leadership, technical assistance, and financial resources for safe, technologically advanced public transportation to enhance mobility and accessibility, to improve communities and natural environment, and to strengthen the national economy.
A geographic information system is a computerized data management system designed to capture, store, retrieve, analyze, and display geographically referenced information.
High occupancy vehicles are vehicles carrying two or more people. The number that constitutes an HOV for the purposes of HOV highway lanes may be designated differently by various local transportation agencies.
This is a legislative initiative by the U.S. Congress that restructured funding for transportation programs, authorized an increased role for regional planning commissions/MPOs in funding decisions, and requires comprehensive regional and statewide long-term transportation plans.
ITS is the application of advanced technologies to improve the efficiency and safety of transportation systems.
MAP-21 was signed into law by President Barak Obama on June 29, 2012. Funding surface transportation programs at of $105 million for fiscal years 2013 and 2014, MAP-21 was the first long-term highway authorization enacted since 2005.
An MPO is a regional policy body, required in urbanized areas with populations over 50,000, and designated by local officials and the governor of the state. An MPO is responsible, in cooperation with the state and other transportation providers, for carrying out the metropolitan transportation planning requirements of federal highway and transit legislation.
An MTP is the official inter-modal transportation plan that is developed and adopted through the MPO process for the metropolitan area, in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 134, 23 U.S.C. 135 and 49 U.S.C. 5303.
NEPA established a national environmental policy requiring that any project using federal funds or requiring federal approval, including transportation projects, examine the effects of proposed and alternative choices on the environment prior to a federal decision being made.
The Policy Committee is the decision-making body, composed of officials from the Metropolitan Planning area, which meet to discuss transportation related topics.
RMAs allow counties to take the lead in acquiring, constructing, operating, maintaining, expanding or extending a transportation project.
On August 10, 2005, President George W Bush signed the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). SAFETEA-LU authorizes federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit for the 5-year period from 2005 to 2009. It has since been replaced by the MAP-21 bill, signed into law by President Obama on June 29, 2012.
STIP is a staged, multi-year, statewide, inter-modal program of transportation projects, consistent with the statewide transportation plan and planning processes as well as metropolitan plans, TIPs, and process.
The TAC is a committee of planning staff from various entities in the Metropolitan Planning Area who meet to discuss transportation related topics and to advise the Policy Committee.
TDM is comprised of programs designed to reduce demand for transportation through various means, such as the use of transit and of alternative work hours.
TEA-21 authorized federal funding for transportation investment for fiscal years 1998 to 2003. Approximately 217 billion in funding was authorized, the largest amount in history to that point, which is used for highway, transit, and other surface transportation programs.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unveiled its $375 billion, six-year transportation funding package in November 2003. If enacted, the act would have made approximately $299 billion available for highways and approximately $69 billion available for transit.
The TIP is a document prepared by a metropolitan planning organization that lists projects funded with FHWA/FTA funds for the next one to three-fiscal year period.
A TMA is defined as all urbanized areas over 200,000 population and any other area that requests this designation.
An urbanized area is an area that contains a city of 50,000 or more population plus incorporates surrounding areas meeting size or density criteria as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The UPWP is the management plan for the [metropolitan] planning program. Its purpose is to coordinate the planning activities of all participants in the planning process.