Specifications include, but are not limited to: Task 1: Literature Review Under this task, the successful responder will conduct a comprehensive literature review of relevant research. The literature review should seek to identify how agencies have applied GIS to identify roadway segments where deicing treatments have the potential to impact nearby environmental resources, and should gather information on the criteria agencies use to determine levels of risk. Other topics listed under Task 2 should also be explored to the extent possible in the literature review. Both national and international research should be included. The results of the literature review will help inform the development of the Task 2 survey questions. Task 2: Survey of Practice Under this task, the successful responder will conduct an online survey of Clear Roads member states, the Snow & Ice Listserv members, municipal governments, and other national and international agencies. Survey question development will be informed by the results of the Task 1 literature review. Sample topics to address in the survey may include, but are not limited to: 1. How vulnerable environmental resources are identified, ranked, and prioritized. 2. How agencies consider sensitive environmental resources in planning deicing activities. 3. What types of resources are considered in this planning (open water bodies, public/private wells, aquifers, etc.), and what criteria agencies use to determine levels of risk to different resource types. 4. Whether GIS is used in this process. 5. Details on agencies’ GIS tools, including what datasets are used, any new datasets created or invested in to support the process, how sensitive resources are defined, and how this information is used in planning deicing activities. As a secondary topic, the survey may also address specific steps that agencies have taken to protect sensitive resources from deicing activities (new wells, landscape changes, etc.).
