Companion Guide to Video August 2012

www.fhwa.dot.gov/federal-aidessentials

The National Environmental Policy Act, also 

known as NEPA, is an environmental law that 

established the decision-making process agencies 

must follow prior to the design and construction of 

transportation projects that use Federal funding or 

require Federal approval. 

Following the right process or class of action is 

vital to properly completing the NEPA process. 

The significance of your project’s impacts on the 

human and natural environment, not the project’s 

size or cost, determines the project’s appropriate 

class of action – whether you are going to do a 

categorical exclusion, (a “CE”), an environmental 

assessment, (an “EA”), or an environmental 

impact statement, (an “EIS”). 

The NEPA process also provides a coordinated 

approach for evaluating the social, economic, and 

environmental impacts of your proposed project. 

This is often referred to as working under the 

NEPA umbrella. 

So, what is a "social environmental 

impact?" 

It is simply any change the community defines as 

important and unique to its quality of life. That 

might include the displacement of homes or 

businesses, community cohesion, mobility, safety, 

noise, or air quality impacts. 

When assessing social impacts, you must give 

particular attention to any low-income or minority 

populations because transportation and other types 

of infrastructure projects have historically tended to 

have more impacts on these groups.

So, how should we address social environmental 

impacts while creating transportation solutions that 

communities will support?

Environment

NEPA Regulatory Framework and Process

The Social Environment

Evaluating your project's impacts on the social environment, people and 

communities is an important consideration in Federal-aid project delivery
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

Let’s look at a community impact 

assessment, an approach for 

developing a picture of your 

affected community, working with 

them to lessen the impacts of your 

project and documenting your 

efforts.

When developing a picture of your affected 

community, start by defining the community’s 

boundaries. Use local knowledge and input from 

the community to help define the study area.

Next, gather demographic data and community 

characteristics about the people within these 

boundaries. For example, what are their income 

level, age distribution, ethnicity, and English 

proficiency? Do they rely on transit or public 

housing assistance? Where are the recreational 

areas, schools, places of worship, and social 

services? This snapshot will help you identify the 

affected populations and give you insights to 

possible outreach methods so you can open up a 

dialog with them about your project.

As you perform your research, remember that 

members of the affected community are your best 

source of information in understanding your 

project's potential impacts. 

As you learn more about community concerns, you 

should evaluate alternatives that could lessen the 

social impacts. The inclusion of pedestrian trails, 

street lighting, landscaping, and even the 

rehabilitation of housing units are examples of 

possible mitigation to consider.

We have just reviewed the key components of a 

community impact assessment. 

Now, let’s see these steps in 

practice. 

In our example, a one-mile stretch of city street will 

be widened to add a center turn lane to decrease 

congestion. 

The study area includes businesses and houses 

adjacent to the street and the surrounding 

neighborhood. One of the potential displacements 

is a five-bedroom assisted-living home for the 

elderly.

The project team begins by reviewing census data. 

The data show that residents in the area are older 

and have a lower average household income 

compared with the rest of the city.
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

The project team interviews the manager and the 

residents of the assisted-living home. The team 

learns that residents of the group home routinely 

walk to the community center for exercise and 

other daily activities. The team also learns that 

many caregivers and family members live in the 

community and either walk or take the bus when 

visiting family in the assisted-living home. The 

residents and their families express concern about 

being separated from each other and the harm it 

would have on their caretaking relationships. 

In order to gather more information, the project 

team hosts an open house at the community 

center. Many of the area seniors attend the 

meeting and express concerns about the 

relocations. They also express concern over their 

inability to safely cross the streets because of 

traffic.

After hearing all the concerns, the project team reexamines the study area for options that would 

avoid relocating the assisted-living home. They 

explore shifting the road widening to impact a fast 

food restaurant instead of the assisted-living 

home. 

After further studying the project area, the project 

team determined that the restaurant could be 

relocated to a commercially zoned vacant lot one 

block away. The project plans were also revised to 

install new sidewalks and pedestrian crossing 

signals at all affected intersections. 

The revised plans are shared with area residents 

and the project team receives positive feedback. 

Residents are pleased the project now includes 

new sidewalks and will be safer for them to cross 

the street.

Throughout the project, the project manager has 

kept a record of the public involvement activities 

and actions taken to address the communities’ 

concerns. This information is included in the social 

environment chapter of the NEPA document to 

support the decision to revise the project plans. 

As we have seen, all actions—

including public involvement efforts—

are documented. This documentation 

shows that you are conducting 

community outreach and that 

community input is being considered 

in project decision making. 

For more information on social environmental 

impacts, consult the environmental toolkit on the 

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Web site. 

This valuable resource contains orientation 

materials, case studies, information related to lowincome and minority populations, and other helpful 

tips for evaluating social impacts and conducting 

community impact assessments.

Your state department of transportation and FHWA 

division office can also provide guidance and help 

you develop approaches to evaluate and address 

your project's social impacts.
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

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• Link to FHWA’s Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty Web site

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/index.htm

• Link to FHWA’s environmental justice Web site

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/environmental_justice/

• Link to FHWA’s community impact assessment Web site

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/community_impact_assessment/index

.cfm

• Information and guidance on community impact assessments

http://www.ciatrans.net/