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Brigantine Resident Honored By National Transportation Officials

Release Date: 9/2/1999
Contact Information: Bonnie Lomax (215) 814-5542

PHILADELPHIA - Brigantine resident and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employee Denise Rigney has been selected as one of eight finalists in a national competition to honor best practices in environmental partnering. The competition, sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, involved 44 entries representing 27 states. As EPA project leader, Denise Rigney will participate in the association’s national conference this fall in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This initative is geared toward promoting the streamline provisions of the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century.

"Ms. Rigney has been a tremendous national leader in working with many agencies to ensure environmentally sensitive road construction," said Stan Laskowski, director of the Environmental Services Division in EPA’s mid-Atlantic Region.

The project entitled, "The Regional Environmental Streamlining Process for Transportation Project Development," was submitted for excellence in environmental partnering initiatives by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The project is a significant, low-cost example of regional partnering across a wide cross section. It uses an interagency collaborative approach to developing a coordinated streamlined environmental review process for transportation projects. This partnering has already resulted in a regional summit and a cooperative agreement. Partnering results in a more efficient regulatory process that enables transportation improvements to come on line quicker, while providing increased environmental protection to the areas natural resources.

Ms. Rigney represents the EPA in the mid-Atlantic Transportation and Environmental Task Force. The task force consists of representatives of federal and state transportation and environmental agencies and metropolitan planning organizations from the states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. EPA Region III is recognized as the lead for the project with the other representatives listed as sponsors and partners.