Sustainability is an ODOT priority that guides our decision-making. Our managers and section crews routinely look for ways to utilize sustainable products and fuels, reduce energy and water consumption, reuse and recycle materials and equipment. Sustainable practices are also incorporated into how ODOT plans, designs and builds transportation programs and projects. Agency actions have increased efficiencies, lowered costs, and lessened the impact on the environment.
The Sustainability Program works to reduce the Agency’s operational greenhouse gas emissions. The
Sustainability Plan is a guiding document that challenges staff to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agency operations among many other metrics. Each year, an annual Sustainability Progress Report is published to share where improvements have been made as well as shortcomings (the most recent annual reports are provided below). Program staff also routinely collaborate with other divisions to instill an environmental ethos throughout the agency. Such actions come in the form of sharing success stories, identifying opportunities for improvement as well as project management or consultation.
What We're Working On
- Lead by the Sustainability Program, ODOT completed a multi-year greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory to better understand the agency’s operations and maintenance GHG emissions. Based on the GHG inventory, the Sustainability Program is in the process of partnering with divisions across the agency to implement over 40 recommendations that reduce ODOT’s carbon footprint. The current list of suggestions was made by an advisory group of internal and external subject matter experts.
- ODOT’s Sustainability Plan is getting an update! The latest version of ODOT’s Sustainability Plan was published six years ago. Updating the plan will allow the agency to reassess priorities and focus efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across internal operations.
- New legislation from HB 4139 will be implemented in collaboration with ODOT’s Construction Section. The bill requires ODOT to collect environmental product declarations (EPDs) for materials used to construct and maintain the state transportation system (i.e., asphalt, cement concrete, steel). EPDs are similar to nutrition labels for food products, they state the environmental impacts of a product to aid in GHG accounting and product selection.