Institute for Transportation

Description

This intensive, practitioner-focused course provides a comprehensive and practical application of Section 4(f) within the transportation project development process. Participants learn how to properly identify Section 4(f) resources, apply the correct approval pathways, develop legally defensible documentation, and integrate Section 4(f) with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (LWCF).

Participants will work through real-world case studies, de minimis determinations, programmatic evaluations, and individual 4(f) documentation scenarios, with direct focus on administrative record sufficiency and litigation vulnerability.

Objectives

Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to do the following:

• Explain the history, purpose, and statutory basis of Section 4(f)
• Identify agencies and actions subject to Section 4(f)
• Apply Section 4(f) applicability criteria to real projects
• Understand the relationship between Section 4(f), NEPA, NHPA, and LWCF
• Differentiate the roles and responsibilities of participating agencies
• Apply the Section 4(f) decision-making process during project development
• Distinguish between:
  • De Minimis determinations
  • Programmatic evaluations
• Individual 4(f) evaluations (focusing on 4(f) concepts of Avoidance, Feasible and Prudent, Minimization, Least Overall Harm and Mitigation)
  • Develop defensible alternatives analyses
  • Prepare complete and legally sufficient 4(f) documentation

Who Should Attend?

This course is intended for project development managers, NEPA practitioners, and others who regularly coordinate with the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), including the following:

• State DOT environmental and project development staff
• Iowa city and county transportation project development staff
• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) headquarters and division office
• State and Tribal historic preservation staff
• Environmental and engineering consultants

Instructor Bio

Pam (Hudson) Danko is a nationally recognized NEPA attorney and specialist with over 30 years of experience providing NEPA compliance support to federal agencies and private entities. She is a frequent speaker on NEPA at national conferences and training seminars and is the author of the Annual NEPA Case Law Review (2014–present). Her work has been cited in U.S. Supreme Court pleadings and in federal agency rulemakings.

Ms. Danko retired from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Chief Counsel and previously served with the Department of the Navy’s Office of General Counsel, including as Deputy General Counsel for Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southwest. During her Navy tenure, she led the Navy’s environmental law and NEPA training program. She has also served as an adjunct and visiting professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, teaching environmental law.

Her experience includes legal sufficiency and technical review of major environmental impact statements (EISs) and environmental assessments (EAs) involving aviation, military readiness, and infrastructure projects, as well as support to the Department of Justice in federal NEPA litigation. She is a graduate of Florida State University College of Law, where she was the Beverly Stout McLear Environmental and Land Use Scholar.

For More Information

If you have questions about workshop content, contact LTAP Director Keith Knapp at 515-­294­-8817 or kknapp@iastate.edu.