MINUTES OF
COMMITTEE MEETING
A1F07 Waste
Management in Transportation
July 15, 2002
Holiday Inn
Helena,
Montana
Attendees: Thomas Abdallah, Brent Anderson, Babu Babusukumar, Jon Berry,
Taylor Eighmy, Collette Ericsson, Michael Fitch (via phone), Luke Frantz, Cora
Helm, Ileana Ivanciu (via phone), Hilda Lafebre, Carol LaRegina, Tom Lewis,
Brian McLean, Jim Rost (via phone), Randy Schick (via phone), Ajay Singh, Greg
Smith, Scott Springer, Bob Tatman, Joe Towarnicky, Ed Wallingford (via phone),
Greg Worrell, Julie Zarate
Membership Status. Carol LaRegina reported that there are
currently 25 members and over 50 friends. Current terms of members expire in
early 2003. Carol is in the process of verifying the friends of the committee
and will distribute updated lists of members and friends after the
meeting.
Junior members (those under age 30) do not count
towards the 25 membership total. It is
believed that no one on the committee currently qualifies but that the
committee should strive to encourage young transportation professionals to
become members.
Steering Subcommittee Report. Scott Springer discussed
the Work Plan and Strategic Plan. Both
documents were previously emailed to all committee members and friends and
comments were requested. If there are
any further comments, they should be provided within the next few days. Scott requested volunteers to start
developing the 2003 Work Plan. Jon Berry
and Tom Lewis volunteered to assist Scott.
Scott intends to start drafting the plan by mid-October and have it
finalized at the Annual Meeting.
The Strategic Plan has
been in place since the committee formed.
There are no major changes required to update the mission and
goals. Environmental management systems
(EMSs) have always been a part of the committees scope. This plan spells out the minimum requirements
of the committee.
A discussion ensued
regarding the exclusions that are identified in the Strategic Plan. These exclusions were originally included
since these topics are primarily addressed by another committee within
TRB. However, all these topics are part
of EMS.
It was suggested that the
committee look at the scope of other TRB committees to determine how much
overlap there is between various committees.
Tom Lewis volunteered to undertake this task.
Reorganization of
subcommittees under A1F07 was discussed.
One idea was to have it organized by mode. Another suggestion was to organize it by
major focus area (EMS, environmentally sustainable programs, materials
management, and contaminated property assessment).
Annual Meeting Subcommittee Report. Hilda Lafebre reported that a Call for Papers
for the 2003 Annual Meeting has been developed.
The topic is contamination issues from terrorist attacks. Bob Tatman will talk to Kim Fisher so that
Kim can coordinate with the TRB task force on terrorism. Copies of the Call for
Paper were distributed to attendees and will be emailed to all committee
members and friends within the next few days.
Summer Meeting Subcommittee
Report. Taylor Eighmy passed out a
flyer regarding the 2003 Summer Meeting to be held at RMRC in New
Hampshire. Since RMRC is funded
specifically for the use of recycled materials, Taylor requested that the focus
of the meeting be on that. It was agreed
that the main focus would be recycled materials,
however, the call for papers would be generalized to include innovative
technologies. The committee scope would
also be included on the flyer.
Ajah Singh volunteered to host the 2004 Summer
Meeting in New York City.
Committee Name and Scope. A lengthy discussion took place regarding
changes to the committee name and scope.
It was agreed that the topics covered by A1F07 are dynamic and that the
original name (waste management) is antiquated and does not truly represent the
committee. The name that was agreed upon
and voted on is Managing Environmental Quality and Sustainability in
Transportation.
The scope that was agreed to is as follows:
The committee is concerned with management of the
environmental issues associated with pre-construction, construction, and
operation of all modes of transportation systems. The committee focus is:
·
Preventing pollution or minimizing waste generation through pro-active
environmental management systems and best management practices;
·
Effectively managing toxic materials and waste;
·
Re-using recycled materials and industrial by-products;
·
Avoiding or minimizing liabilities associated with contaminated
properties and the use of regulated materials; and
·
Developing environmentally sustainable transportation systems.
Bob Tatman will prepare a letter to TRB with the
requested name change and scope revisions.
Committee Web Site. Dewberry Goodkind, Inc. will host the
committee web site for two years. RMRC
volunteered to serve as a backup. A hard
copy of the newsletter will be eliminated and it will be posted on the
website. Bob Tatman will send a letter
to CTE thanking them for hosting our website to date.
A website subcommittee was set up including Ileana
Ivanciu, Taylor Eighmy/Kevin Gardner, and Ajay Singh (NYCT web person). A conference call will be set up next week to
discuss format of the website. A date of
10/31/02 was set to have the website up and running.
Environmental Research Needs Conference. Carol LaRegina provided a summary of the
seven research statements that were developed at the conference in March
2002.
·
Compile and Evaluate Existing Technologies to Develop Best Management
Practices Addressing Prevention and/or Remediation of Contamination from
De-icing Operations
·
Improving the Acceptance of Recycled Material in Transportation
Projects
·
Benchmarking of Environmental Management Systems in Transportation
Organizations
·
Development of a Web-based Cost Benefit Analysis Model for
Environmental Products and Technologies Used on Transportation Projects
·
Prepare a Compendium of Sustainable Design Ideas for Use by a Wide
Range of Transportation Segments
·
Create a Methodology to Integrate Sustainable Design Concepts into
Transportation Projects and Infrastructure
·
Provide an Interactive, Web-based Tool that Promotes the Greening of
the Transportation Industrys Procurement Practices
The research statements will be posted on the
website once they are published in the TRB Circular.
