The
environmental process, although complex and fluid, is an integral part
of the project development process. It is the Department’s policy to evaluate
the environmental benefits and consequences of its activities and implement
practices that minimize environmental impacts; a systematic interdisciplinary
approach is used to identify and evaluate environmental issues and problems.
The resulting documentation can take many forms depending upon the laws
and regulations under consideration and the complexity of the impacts.
Potential Title VI Issues
The environmental study of project alternatives and impacts
must include the consideration of mitigation measures for unavoidable
impacts. Mitigation measures and other agreements that are
made as part of the decision making process must be documented
and implemented. Environmental commitments, such as noise barriers,
joint-use facilities, replacement housing, protection of cultural
resources and others should be monitored to assure that these
mitigation measures are included in the design plans and the
construction of the project. The environmental process should
consider, as applicable, whether:
1. Public information was adequately solicited and seriously
considered.
2. Social, economic and environmental (SEE) impacts were adequately
identified and documented.
3. The potential for disproportionate or discriminatory impacts
has been adequately addressed.
4. Beneficial impacts, such as increased access to facilities/services
and upgrading of affected communities, have been identified.
5. The following disparate or disproportionate impacts have
been identified:
· Diminished access to facilities/services;
· Disruption of community cohesion;
· Disruption of people, businesses and farms;
· Changes in tax base and property values;
· Traffic Noise;
· Relocation of residences and businesses;
· Diminished quality of the water, air or natural environment
used by residents.
6. The potential for the discovery and protection of cultural
resources has been adequately identified and addressed with
Tribal Governments and other Native American communities and
individuals.
Recommended Good Practices and Mitigation
Measures
1. Restoration of circulation and pedestrian patterns for
disrupted communities.
2. Provisions of relocation assistance and advisory services,
replacement housing and payments for moving displaced families
and businesses.
3. Provisions for maximum retention of existing trees and
shrubs included in grading plans for ramp areas and along
right of way.
4. Provision for last resort housing.
5. Provision of traffic control.
6. Improvements in traffic signalization and street lighting.
7. Establishment of priorities for employment, training
and contracting opportunities for residents of the affected
community.
8. Provision of noise barriers and buffer zones.
9. Provision of landscaping.
10. Functional replacement of publicly-owned facilities
displaced by the project.
11. Coordination with community development agencies to
implement jointly funded initiatives.
12. Develop a public involvement program during the concept
scoping planning stage and continue during the project development
process. Utilize public involvement techniques to identify
issues of potential discrimination as early as possible in
the project development processes to meet the needs of a particular
community (e.g., minority, disabled, elderly).
13. Use newsletters, speakers bureaus and media to provide
a consistent flow of information on project development status.
14. Provide opportunity for public hearing after release
of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) or Environmental
Assessment.
15. Focus outreach on appropriate (target) community to
ensure involvement.
16. Use informal contact, which is more effective than a
formal atmosphere for a public hearing.
17. Experiment with informal open forum public hearing formats;
allowing one-on-one comments to a recorder.
18. Develop mitigation and enhancement strategies based
on public involvement and agency coordination.
19. The project team should become aware of other actions
that have occurred in the impacted area and how these actions
were perceived by members of the community.
20. The project team should study avoidance, minimization,
mitigation and enhancement strategies when working with the
affected community on the specifics as a definite proposal
begins to take shape.
21. Community impact assessments should include compilation
and analysis of demographic data including breakdowns by characteristics
protected under Title VI and related statutes; race, color,
national origin, sex, disability and age. Also, consider the
impacts to minority and/or low-income populations.
22. Tribal Governments and Native Americans are properly
consulted for the identification and protection of cultural
resources, and the proper mitigation is in place.
23. Tribal Governments are consulted to ensure mitigation
of environmental issues that might impact their communities.
Possible Compliance Review Questions
Administration
A. General
1. What office or section has the lead responsibility for
Title VI matters?
2. What is the process followed whenever a new directive
is issued?
3. Is your Program Area Administrator (PAA) involved in
policy development?
4. When awarding a contract, grant, loan or permit, what
mechanism is used to ensure that the contractor or applicant
does not have any unresolved Title VI violations?
5. What is the role of the PAA and/or key personnel in the
environmental stage?
Please describe for each area below:
· Public Involvement and citizen advisory committees,
· Scheduling time and location of public meetings and hearings,
· Identification of impacts,
· Identification of mitigation measures,
· Environmental assessments,
· Analysis,
· Consideration of alternative with respect to corridors
and locations.
6. Who is responsible for identifying Title VI issues in
the environmental documents of proposed projects?
7. Are there any Tribal Governments in the project area;
if there are, have they been consulted regarding projects?
8. What measures have you taken to identify cultural resources?
If cultural resources have been identified, or a Reservation
or Rancheria is to be impacted, was the proper Native American
community, individual or Tribal Government notified to ensure
proper mitigation measures?
B. Management Staff Composition
1. Provide a staffing composition listing by position, race
and gender. Include an organizational chart.
2. Policy and Advisory Committees – Provide a staffing composition
listing of committees and their respective members by position,
race and gender.
3. Provide a listing of persons who are designated to provide
alternative language assistance and identify what languages
they translate.
C. Complaint Procedure
1. Provide a copy of the procedure your program uses to
handle a Title VI complaint.
How are your customers made aware of this process?
2. How many Title VI related complaints have you received
in the past two years?
What was the outcome of those complaints?
3. How are Title VI complaint procedures disseminated to
program personnel?
D. Training
1. Has staff received formal or informal training regarding
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and/or Environmental
Justice Executive Orders? Please describe.
2. Do you have a schedule for Title VI and related statues
training this year? If yes, please provide the schedule and
who will attend?
E. Data Collection & Monitoring
1. Do you conduct self monitoring within the Division of
Environmental Analysis?
If yes, what programs and how? If not, why not?
2. What process does the program use to self monitor data
collection and contract/grant language requirements?
3. What data (race, color, national origin, language considerations,
sex, disability and age) do you maintain that reflects the
extent to which members of minority groups are beneficiaries
of your program?
4. What records and/or reports are maintained which specifically
reflect compliance with Title VI?
5. Who is responsible for developing, maintaining and reporting
this data?
6. How is this data used?
Environmental
Strategies and Goals
1. Provide a copy of your Strategic Plan and Performance
Measure Objective for the current fiscal year.
2. What strategies and efforts have you developed for ensuring,
demonstrating and substantiating compliance with Title VI?
3. How do you use the demographic profiles that include
identification of the locations of socioeconomic groups, including
low-income and minority populations as covered by the Executive
Order on Environmental Justice and Title VI provisions?
Describe how you developed the profile.
4. Does your process seek to identify the needs of low-income
and minority populations?
Describe how.
5. Does your process seek to make use of demographic information
to examine the distributions across these groups of the benefits
and burdens of the transportation investments included in
the plan and TIP?
6. What methods are used to identify imbalances?
7. How does the program follow-up to ensure mitigative measures
identified for projects significantly impacting minorities
are carried through?
Social, Economic, Environmental (SEE)
1. Is an in depth analysis of the SEE effects and impacts
identified, described and considered? Describe this process.
2. Does your program follow up on any identified SEE impacts?
Please explain.
3. Explain how your program monitors SEE impacts.
Service Equity
1. Describe, in summary, the programs administered by the
Environmental Program.
2. Does your environmental process have an analytical process
in place for assessing the benefits and burdens of a transportation
system project on different socioeconomic groups?
3. Does it have a data collection process to support the
analysis effort? Describe and provide an example.
4. Does this analytical process seek to assess the benefit
and impact distributions of the project?
5. How does your process respond to the analysis produced?
Public Involvement
1. Provide a copy of your public involvement process policy.
What is the public comment period before the process or revision
is adopted?
2. Is information about environmental issues and processes
provided timely to citizens, public agencies, transportation
agency employees, private sector transportation providers
and others affected by transportation plans, programs and
projects?
Describe how.
3. Does the public have access to technical and policy information
used to develop environmental documents where Federal-aid
highway and transit programs are considered? Describe how.
4. Is advance public notice given for public review and
comment on key decisions, including approval and amendments?
Describe how.
5. Are the needs of low-income and minority households taken
into account?
Describe how.
6. Does the public outreach effort use media such as print,
television, radio, etc. targeted to low-income or minority
populations?
7. Has your program made funds available to local organizations
that represent low-income and minority populations to enable
their participation in the environmental process?
8. What is your process for advertising a Public Notice
that your program is an equal opportunity program and/or that
Federal law prohibits discrimination?
9. Are Tribal Governments and related public agencies on
public or tribal land involved in the environmental process?
Describe how Tribal Governments are involved in the environmental
process, and what considerations are given to Indian reservation
roads.
10. Give an example of what changes have occurred as a result
of input by public involvement, specifically low-income and
minority populations?
11. Is the public involvement process reviewed periodically
to determine the effectiveness of full and open access to
all? Describe how.
12. Describe the types of assurances utilized to assure
that no one has been excluded from participation in or denied
benefit of or otherwise subjected to discrimination on the
basis of race, color, sex, national origin or physical handicap
for any program receiving federal financial assistance.
13. Describe actions taken to comply with the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
14. How does the PAA assist program area personnel in obtaining
public involvement?
15. Has the PAA or key program personnel attended public
meetings and/or hearings held for projects with potential
Title VI impacts? If yes, list the meetings/hearings, whom
attended and the outcome(s).
16. What role did the PAA and/or key program personnel play
to facilitate participation of historically under represented
groups and accessibility to the location of the meetings or
hearings?
17. Does the PAA review procedures and efforts made by the
programs and MPOs to obtain public involvement, particularly
minority citizen participation? If so, please provide examples.
Hearings
1. What statistics are kept on public hearing participation
by race and gender?
Visual identification?
2. Are minority group concerns addressed in a timely manner?
Describe how.
3. Are public meeting announcements made available in languages
other than English, according to the affected minority population?
Describe how, and provide an example.
4. Are accessible locations (geographically and structurally),
appropriate times and translation services planned for and
provided during public hearings?
Contracts
1. Who in the program monitors the contractor’s adherence
with the Title VI requirements?
2. How does your program promote the participation of Disadvantaged
Business Enterprises (DBE) contracts?
3. Are DBE goals set and do you meet these goals?
4. Provide the number, dollar values and types of contracts
and funding sources used during the last two fiscal years.
Identify if there were any DBEs on the contracts.
Self Monitoring
1. What office or section has the lead responsibility for
Title VI matters?
2. How does the program follow-up to ensure mitigative measures
identified for projects significantly impacting minorities
are carried through?
3. What is the role of the PAA, District Title VI Liaison
and/or key personnel in the environmental stage? Be prepared
to describe that role in the following areas:
· Public involvement and citizen advisory committees
· Scheduling time and location of public meetings and hearings
· Identification of impacts
· Identification of mitigation measures
· Environmental assessments
· Analysis
· Consideration of alternatives with respect to corridors
and locations.
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