Skowhegan Transportation
Study: FAQ
What is NEPA?
The National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the nation's
broadest environmental law and our nation's basic environmental charter.
NEPA applies to all federal agencies and most of the activities that
they fund or manage that affect the environment. It requires federal
agencies to consider the environmental, social, and economic impacts
of their actions and disclose them in a public decision-making document.
NEPA requires the preparation of environmental documents to ensure that
federal agencies accomplish the purpose and intent of the law. Individual
federal agencies and the President’s Council of Environmental Quality
(CEQ) have adopted regulations, policy, and other guidance to ensure
that they follow the law to implement NEPA.
What is the STPA?
Maine's Sensible
Transportation Policy Act (STPA), enacted
in 1991, requires that transportation planning decisions, capital investment
decisions and project decisions:
• minimize harmful effects of transportation,
• be based on an evaluation of the full range of reasonable alternatives,
• give preference to transportation system management, demand management,
and improvements to the existing system and other modes before increasing
highway capacity, and
• involve local governmental bodies and the public.
The STPA provides a framework for examining a range of choices. It recognizes
there are benefits and costs (financial, energy, and environmental) to
transportation. Mobility is no longer treated as an inexhaustible resource
but rather as a resource that needs to be both supplied and conserved.
STPA identifies policies and management strategies for the analysis of
these diverse issues.
What is Section 404?
Section
404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) regulates the discharge
of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including
wetlands. Activities in waters of the United States regulated under
this program consist of filling wetlands for development, water resource
projects (such as dams and levees), infrastructure development (such
as highways and airports) and mining projects. Section 404 requires
a permit before dredged or fill material may be discharged into waters
of the United States, unless the activity is exempt from Section 404
regulation (e.g., certain farming and forestry activities).
Under Section 404, no discharge of dredged or fill material into waters
of the United States may be permitted if: (1) a practicable alternative
exists that is less damaging to the aquatic environment or (2) the nation’s
waters would be significantly degraded. To apply for a permit, the applicant
must show that the project has, to the extent practicable:
• taken steps to avoid wetland impacts;
• minimized potential impacts on wetlands; and
• provided compensation for remaining unavoidable impacts.
Wetlands subject to Clean Water Act Section 404 are defined as "areas
that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency
and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances
do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in
saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes,
bogs, and similar areas."
Who are the stakeholders and what are their roles?
Stakeholders are federal, state, and local agencies, groups
or individuals that have jurisdiction by law, may be affected by, or
have interest in, the NEPA decision-making process or outcome. The
federal, state, and local agencies have specific roles as lead, cooperating,
or participating agencies.
Lead Agencies:
The lead agencies are the FHWA and the MaineDOT. They are responsible
for leading all aspects of the study. The lead agencies coordinate
with the other stakeholders and solicit their comments and participation.
The FHWA issues the final record of decision identifying which build
alternative (if any) would be carried forward for corridor preservation,
final design, and construction, and why.
Cooperating and Participating Agencies:
Cooperating agencies are participating agencies, but not all participating
agencies are cooperating agencies. Cooperating agencies have jurisdiction
by law or jurisdiction with a slightly higher degree of authority,
responsibility, and involvement in the environmental review process
than other participating agencies. Participating Agencies are those
federal, state, tribal, regional, and local government agencies that
may have an interest in the study.
Cooperating agencies may, at the request of the lead agencies, develop
information and analyses — including writing portions of the EIS — on
topics that the agency has special expertise. Cooperating agencies may
adopt the lead agencies' EIS as its own without recirculating it
to the public.
The participating agencies' roles and responsibilities are to:
• Participate in the NEPA process by providing meaningful and early input,
especially with regard to the development of the purpose and need statement,
reasonable range of alternatives, methodologies, and the level of detail
for the analysis of alternatives;
• Identify, as early as practicable, any issues of concern regarding
the study's potential environmental or socioeconomic impacts;
• Provide meaningful and timely input on unresolved issues;
• Participate in the scoping process; and
• Timely review and submission of substantive comments on the pre-draft
or pre-final environmental documents.
What is a PAC and what is their role?
A Public Advisory Committee or PAC is a diverse group comprised
of local and regional officials, business owners, and citizens that
volunteer their time to stay involved in the study through regular
meetings with the MaineDOT and FHWA. MaineDOT uses a PAC as one way
of learning about local issues and features and communicating with
the public.
The PAC's role is one of advisor. The PAC provides the lead agencies
with insight into a broad range on local issues and concerns, history
and information on features in the area for consideration and use in
performing the study. The PAC also takes information from the lead agencies
to local agencies and the public as one way of keeping them informed
of progress throughout the study.
What is an EIS?
NEPA requires federal agencies to prepare an environmental
impact statement (EIS) for major federal actions that
significantly affect the quality of the human environment. An EIS is
a full disclosure document
that details the process through which a transportation project is
developed, includes consideration of a range of reasonable alternatives,
analyzes the potential impacts resulting from the alternatives, and
demonstrates compliance with other applicable environmental laws and
executive orders.
What is Scoping?
Scoping is the process of determining the scope of the study
by consulting with stakeholders — federal agencies, state agencies,
local municipalities, and the public. Scoping consists of the exchange
of information and
concerns to identify issues and resources of concern to the community
so that those concerns can be evaluated during the preliminary engineering
and environmental analysis.
Who decides which alternative best meets the study purpose and needs?
MaineDOT and the FHWA, as joint lead agencies,
with input from the public and the federal and state regulatory and
resource agencies, will decide what action to take in accordance with
NEPA, the STPA, and the CWA. The NEPA process is intended to help public
officials make decisions based on an understanding of the environmental
consequences and to take actions that protect, restore, and enhance
the environment (40 CFR part 1500.1).
What other activities are necessary to construct the preferred alternative?
The alternatives would require engineering, the acquisition
of property, and construction activities, and, with the exception of
the No-build Alternative, would also require utility relocations and
environmental mitigation. The No-build Alternative, by its very nature,
involves the least amount of activity and serves as the basis for comparing
the build alternatives.
How much property would need to be acquired for each alternative?
The conceptual design of the build alternatives includes an
estimation of land that would need to be acquired and used as right-of-way
for the two-lane roadway. In general, the proposed right-of-way width
for the build alternatives averages approximately 250 feet. The limits
of the proposed right-of-way are not uniform and are irregular because
they are a function of topography, earth-moving activities (i.e., cutting
and filling), slopes, existing property boundaries, the viability of
remaining portions of properties acquired, and continued access to
individual properties. The amount of land to be acquired for the construction
and operation of build alternatives is minimized, wherever possible.
As part of the conceptual design of the build alternatives, a preliminary
assessment will be performed to provide a general understanding of the
existing property ownership and extent of potential land to be acquired
and used for right-of-way to construct and maintain the build alternatives.
What are the next steps if a build alternative is constructed?
If a build alternative is selected for construction, MaineDOT would
work with the towns to develop a plan to protect the corridor of
the selected alternative, including its intersections and approaches,
from
further development.
Once MaineDOT has a corridor preservation system in place to protect
the selected corridor, it would work with regional interests to develop
support for a funding plan. In recent years, many states have found that
state highway funds, bonding, and federal core apportionments are needed
to maintain the system as it exists, with little in additional funds
for new capacity projects. Therefore, MaineDOT would work with the
governor, region, and state and federal legislators to devise funding
strategies for the full property acquisition and ultimately construction
of the selected build alternative.
If the No-build Alternative is selected, MaineDOT would continue
to work with local and regional authorities to maintain (to the extent
possible) the safety and efficiency of roads.
What happens when a property needs to be acquired?
Federal and federally funded actions that require acquisition
of private property must comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 (42 USC § 2000d); the Uniform Relocation Assistance and
Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended (49 USC §§ 4601
et seq.); and the regulations for implementing the act contained in
49 CFR part 24. These legislative controls protect owners from unfair
and inequitable acquisition of property. Property owners have the right
to just compensation for their property and the right to be present
during an appraisal. MaineDOT would offer just compensation in
writing for the property or portion of property acquired for the project.
When an agreement is reached and the necessary paperwork completed,
MaineDOT would pay the property owner for the property or portion
of property acquired. MaineDOT would also pay incidental expenses
such as recording fees and transfer taxes and other similar expenses
necessary for the transaction.
MaineDOT would assist the property owner and tenants on the property
(if applicable) to relocate. MaineDOT would provide at least 90 days’ notice
before the people using the property would be required to move. MaineDOT
would provide a relocation counselor to interview the property owner
to determine the property owner’s needs and estimate the time needed
to move to a new location. MaineDOT would reimburse moving costs
and some additional expenses.
This page last updated on
August 8, 2008
