Evaluating Implementation of Section 4(f) Streamlining Provisions: Review of U.S. Department of Transportation's Draft Phase I Study Report and Phase II Draft Methodology
The TRB Committee for a Review of U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Study on Implementation of Changes to the Section 4(f) Process has delivered its second letter report to the U.S. DOT. Legal rulings and regulations pursuant to Section 4(f) of U.S. Department of Transportation Act of 1966 set high standards for protecting parks, recreation areas, wildlife refuges, and historic properties from being adversely affected by transportation projects. The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) requires the U.S. DOT to streamline the Section 4(f) evaluation process and to study the consequences of these regulatory changes. The U.S. DOT was granted authority to approve a project that results in a use of parkland or historic property that is so minor that it does not "adversely affect the activities, features, and attributes" of the Section 4(f) resource, referred to as a de minimis impact. In its second letter report, the committee examines how the de minimis provision has been applied since it was enacted in August 2005. The report also evaluates the U.S. DOT’s draft study plan to evaluate implementation of the feasible and prudent avoidance alternative standard, which USDOT revised as required by Congress in SAFETEA-LU, as well as updating and extending the evaluation of the de minimis impact provision.
This Summary Last Modified On: 4/22/2011