New Search
Questions and Answers on the Application of the Section 4(f) De Minimis Impact Criteria... Page 1 of 7 <br /> Depatmorkl d fraisportaticxn <br /> Tiir' Federal Highway Administration FHWA Home I Feedback <br /> HEP FHWA > HEP > Legislation & Regulations > Memo <br /> Questions and Answers on the Application of the Section 4(0 De <br /> Minimis Impact Criteria <br /> Introduction <br /> The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA -LU) amendment <br /> to the Section 4(f) requirements allows the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to determine that certain uses <br /> of Section 4(f) land will have no adverse effect on the protected resource. When this is the case, and the responsible <br /> official(s) with jurisdiction[1] over the resource agrees in writing, compliance with Section 4(f) is greatly simplified, as <br /> explained in this guidance. <br /> The de minimis[2] impact criteria and associated determination requirements specified in Section 6009(a) of <br /> SAFETEA -LU[ j are different for historic sites than for parks, recreation areas, and wildlife and waterfowl refuges. De <br /> minimis impacts related to historic sites are defined as the determination of either "no adverse effect" or "no historic <br /> properties affected" in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)[4] . De minimis <br /> impacts on publicly owned parks, recreation areas, and wildlife and waterfowl refuges are defined as those that do <br /> not "adversely affect the activities, features and attributes" of the Section 4(f) resource. <br /> The following questions and answers provide information and guidance on the process of determining de minimis <br /> impacts of highway and transit projects that propose the use of Section 4(f) property. A diagram of the determination <br /> process for parks, recreation areas, and wildlife and waterfowl refuges is included for illustration following the <br /> questions and answers. <br /> 1. General Information Regarding Application of the De Minimis Impact Criteria. <br /> Question A. Are de minimis impact findings limited to any particular type of project or National <br /> Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document? <br /> Answer: No. The de minimis impact criteria may be applied to any project, as appropriate, regardless of the type <br /> of environmental document required by the NEPA process as described in the FHWA and FTA Environmental <br /> Impact and Related Procedures[51. <br /> Question B. What effect does the de minimis impact provision have on the application of the existing FHWA <br /> nationwide programmatic evaluations? <br /> Answer: Existing FHWA programmatic Section 4(f) evaluations [6] remain in effect and may be applied, as <br /> appropriate, to the use of Section 4(f) property by a highway project. However, since FTA does not have its own <br /> or share FHWA's programmatic evaluations, the programmatic option applies only to FHWA projects and to <br /> multimodal projects in which FHWA and FTA are co -lead agencies. <br /> Question C. Is it appropriate to apply the de minimis impact criteria to projects that are already in the project <br /> development process? <br /> Answer: Yes. The Section 4(f) statutory amendment was effective immediately upon enactment of SAFETEA- <br /> LU and the de minimis impact criteria may be applied to projects currently in the project development process, <br /> where the requirements of a de minimis impact finding have been or will be satisfied. The decision to apply the <br /> de minimis impact criteria to those projects is a matter of agency choice and professional judgment. The factors <br /> that should be considered in decisions to apply the de minimis impact criteria to projects in the "pipeline" include, <br /> but are not limited to: 1) the stage of the NEPA or project development process the project is in; 2) the benefits <br /> to the project delivery schedule realized by applying the de minimis impact criteria; 3) the impact to the project <br /> delivery schedule due to other agency (e.g., SHPO and /or THPO and park authorities) or public concern; 4) the <br /> overall benefit to the project realized by the reevaluation of a more viable alternative through a de minimis impact <br /> http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep/qasdeminimus.htm 3/12/2009 <br />