Compliance Guide for a Proposed Highway Project to Meet National Environment Protection Act Requirements

Abstract

The National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) requires that, prior to construction of a highway, the head of the federal agency that is committing funds to the project must evaluate the effect of the project on the human environment; the effect of the project on the habitat of an endangered species, which implicates provisions of the Endangered Species Act, the effect of the project on any historic properties in the vicinity of the project, which implicates provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act, and the effect of the project on minority or low-income populations, called environmental justice, which implicates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In this paper, we provide an example guide for transportation planners to follow as they comply with NEPA and the related acts in the beginning planning stages for a highway project.