Historic Preservation Officer and the State Historic Preservation Agency will have been formally notified of the project through the OMB A-95 review process, explained in a later section, and will have been notified by mail of any upcoming highway department public hearing as provided under paragraph 8(a)(2) of PPM 20-8. Either of these preservation oriented agencies is in a most favorable position to call for the convening of the public hearing simply by requesting that it be held.

While PPM 20-8 allows for the direct mailing of notices to local officials and citizens groups, the burden rests with the locals to request that they be placed on the mailing list of the state highway department. In all highway projects where a potential environmental impact exists, the state highway department should take the responsibility as far as possible to notify all affected officials and special interest groups. Where historic preservation objectives are a factor, the list of officials and citizens groups interested in preservation compiled by the SHPA prior to the initial portion of the Historic Sites Inventory (see Part One, II, A, e-page 4) should be used as a direct mailing list, with the SHPO, SHPA and highway department afforded the opportunity to add to the original list. This direct mail notice would be in addition to the established "notice of public hearing" procedures outlined in PPM 20-8.

Under existing policy, the state highway department must publish a notice of public hearing "at least twice in newspapers having general circulation in the vicinity of the proposed undertaking. The notice should also be published in any newspaper having a substantial circulation in the area concerned; such as foreign language newspapers and local community newspapers." In general, such newspaper coverage will reach the majority of affected or interested citizens, but to insure maximum exposure regarding any proposed public hearing, copies of the notice should be posted at as many public places as possible, including municipal buildings, schools, social security offices, post offices, libraries, churches, community centers, banking institutions and major shopping centers located within the area of the proposed undertaking.

The first publication of the notice must occur between 30 and 40 days before the public hearing, with the second notice published 5 to 12 days before the date of the hearing. The state highway department should post the additional copies of the public hearing notice at the above mentioned public places at least two weeks before the hearing. The date, time

and location of the public hearing should be mutually agreed upon by local officials and citizens groups and the state highway department. This may result in scheduling evening or weekend meetings rather than holding the public hearing during normal working hours, and may necessitate relocating the hearing site to one in the affected area.

The public hearing notice should include, in addition to the date, time and place, map clearly identifying the location of the proposed highway department undertaking and all alternative proposals under consideration keyed to established landmarks of the community. The notice should also specify that all maps, design studies, inventories and other pertinent data will be made available for review at a convenient location at least two weeks prior to the scheduled date of the public hearing. In most cases, this data has been made available at the nearest state highway department office. Since most of these offices are closed at the end of the working day, additional sets of the data should be made available for review in the evening and on weekends. Appropriate locations for this second set of data would include the public library or the local fire station.

2. Selection of a Moderator for the Public Hearings

Although PPM 20-8 permits local officials to conduct the required public hearings, in most instances the hearings are chaired by a representative of the state highway department. This situation has on occasion led to a feeling on the part of local officials and citizens groups that the highway department has already decided on a given location or design, and is holding the public hearing only to satisfy the law. To prevent this situation, when highway planning, historic preservation and other objectives are in apparent conflict, the state highway department may wish to request that the public hearing be chaired by a disinterested third party-a local official, representative of an unaffected state agency or citizens group, or some other person mutually agreeable to the highway department and the other interests which are involved including the SHPA or SHPO. The intent of requesting an independent chairman or moderator for the hearing is to make it clear that the state highway department and the concerned preservation agency or citizens groups will be given equal opportunity to present their objectives, plans and rationale for decision making, in a climate conducive to open and frank discussion of the merits and shortcomings of either presentation. Since it is the purpose of all public hearings (1) to

present current plans and alternatives for any proposed undertaking to the interested public, and (2) to develop a dialogue whereby the suggestions and recommendations of interested local officials and citizens can be incorporated into the highway planning decision making process, it is imperative that the moderator or chairman of the hearing conduct the meeting in such a manner as to promote trust and a spirit of cooperation between the highway department and citizen participants. There will be cases where the state will be asked or required to conduct the public hearing, but it is important that the highway departments be urged to show its willingness to pass this responsibility on by requesting an independent moderator or meeting chairman.

3. Graphics to Be Used as Part of the Public Hearing Process

The use of carefully prepared graphic materials to explain proposals of the highway department can be the most effective mechanism for discussing and ameliorating potential highway conflicts at the public hearings.

Paragraph 10.b.(1)(b) of PPM 20-8 requires that "design study reports must describe essential elements such as design standards, number of traffic lanes, access control features, general horizontal and vertical alignment, right-of-way requirements and location of bridges, interchanges, and other structures," and "(2) appropriate maps or drawings of the location or design for which approval is requested." Except for requiring that "a list of any prior studies relevant to the undertaking" be included as part of the study report, no directions for preparing graphics and the kinds of visual studies needed are included in the memorandum. General guidelines for graphic materials are presented below, with specific listings of required graphics included in the discussion of each public hearing.

The most important consideration should be that all material, visual and written, should convey the fact that the state highway department is not defending a specific center-line alignment or set of design standards, but is actively appealing for direction in the selection of the various alternatives developed during the course of planning the facility under study. Comments from participants in highway department public hearings have shown an unwillingness to comment on specific proposals if that alternative is presented in a final form through the use of rendered drawings, elaborate perspectives and even scale models, with other alignments or designs

shown through unfinished sketches, usually on cheap tracing paper overlays. In the case of the first public hearing, no finished, detailed drawings should be presented, and all alternatives should receive the same graphic treatment. Discussions and communications will improve if all proposals are shown at the same level of sophistication, in a format that appears subject to future change. Often, a rendered drawing is looked on as inviolate and takes on the same importance as the highway itself, since lay people consider it as the final, selected proposal.

The state highway department, in preparation for the public hearings, should transfer all mapped material prepared as part of the Historic Sites Inventory onto plastic overlays, at a constant scale. The overlays should be designed so that multiple combinations of data can be studied at the same time, yet provide for the review of any single input. The base map for this series of overlays should have all alternative highway proposals identified, with their actual locations plotted on a map of the affected community. The overlays should show the results of each of the various surveys completed during the inventory process, and any other material considered appropriate. Normally, highway plans are presented in two-dimensional engineering drawings, plans, profiles and cross sections. Such technical drawings are often unclear to non-engineers and the use of more readable materials may deserve consideration. Oblique aerial photographs can be used as the base, with the alternative proposals drawn in on a plastic overlay sheet as perspective sketches. Cross section drawings, like those normally used in engineering studies can be expanded to include more of the surrounding terrain, with landmark structures and other features sketched in at the approximate scale.

Photographs of existing conditions can be overlaid with sketches of elevated segments or bridges in place, and in areas of critical importance a scale model can be of great study value with photographs of the model used in the presentation. These models need not be of great detail, especially in rural areas where the relationship of a highway to the surrounding region is of paramount concern. Detailed scale models may be useful whenever a highway is proposed to transverse a historic area listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Especially helpful would be a working model with interchangeable parts to permit study of alternative alignments during the early stages of highway planning and final design solutions before construction activity is approved.

C. Additional Liaison between the State Highway Department and the State Historic Preservation Agency

The two-meeting public hearing process has helped to foster greater communications between highway planners and the public including preservationists, but a closer relationship between planners and preservationists should be promoted from the beginning of any highway project that might affect a historic site or district. This liaison will already have been established during the Historic Sites Inventory, since the highway department and a representative of the SHPA will complete the inventory in a partnership of efforts. This arrangement should be utilized to promote periodic review of the highway department's plans, on an informal basis, when various stages of the planning process are being studied. In all cases, the two agencies should hold a pre-public hearing meeting to clarify points of interest. The SHPA should invite a representative of the local historic or preservation agency or group to take part in this meeting, as well as the SHPO or his representative and others that may have a significant input to make. The number of people invited to this discussion should be kept to an absolute minimum, however, to promote the active participation of all concerned without the session becoming too unwieldy. A free flowing exchange of information at the earliest possible stage of the planning process is necessary if the goals of both parties-that of building a needed highway facility and the preservation of elements of the national heritage-are to be satisfied in a mutually agreeable fashion. The key to such additional meetings should be the informality and freedom on the part of either agency to call for a review session.

D. Materials to Be Prepared for the Public Hearings

1. Public Hearing One

The "corridor public hearing" is to be concerned with the broad corridors within which it is proposed to locate a highway facility. In addition to the environmental statements required under existing legislation, explained in the following section, and the pamphlet or brochure dealing with the Federal-state relationship in the Federal-aid highway program, required under the provisions of PPM 20-8(8)b(5), the state highway department should prepare the following lists and maps for the corridor public hearing:

(a) List and map of all sites recorded on the National Register of Historic Places, the

Historic American Buildings Survey, and the Historic American Engineering Record. Copies of the National Register and the Historic American Buildings Survey and Historic American Engineering Record forms should be included. All properties on a consensus list, as eligible for National Register listing, if such exists, should be added. The map whould be keyed with symbols to identify the category of all such sites located in the study area (see page 4).

(b) List and map of all existing and potential historic or other aesthetic or visual control districts, with copies of legislation effecting them (see page 4).

(c) List and map of all known archeological, Indian, historic or cultural sites, keyed by type (see page 8).

(d) List and map of all areas exhibiting evidence of significant planning or landscape design (see page 4).

(e) List, map and photos of important vistas, viewpoints, and panoramas, and natural features (see page 4).

(f) Topographical map, and if available, an aerial photograph.

(g) List of all historic preservation agencies or societies active in the affected area (see page 4).

(h) A copy of the latest version of the statewide comprehensive preservation plan (see page

4).

All lists and maps should contain a statement signed by the SHPO or a representative of the SHPA indicating that the survey material has been reviewed and approved by the preservation agency concerned. The base map for the survey maps should be a clear representation of the study area, showing major existing highways, watercourses and railroads, and other reference points to readily define the study area. All alternate corridor locations should be given equal graphic treatment, with no single proposal receiving more weight at this point in the decision making process. The survey maps above should be prepared on acetate or other plastic overlay material, in a way that any single survey or combination can be studied at one time. The maps should be in color,

(see pages 8-11)

(b) Archeological sites, with site number, culture type and priority rating (see pages 11-13)

(c) Historic sites, including associative and cultural sites of importance (see pages 13-14)

(d) Areas and districts of important planning or landscaping design, natural features, vistas and viewpoints (see pages 14-15)

In addition to the above, all buildings and structures ranked as Priority One or Priority Two in the architectural inventory should be recorded on inventory forms consistent with the form employed by the state in the statewide survey. If no form is currently in use, the highway department should request that the SHPA prepare a statement to include in summary form all information required for submission to the National Register of Historic Places. The U.S. National Park Service has prepared a tour page form for recording buildings and sites nominated to the Register under Executive Order 11593. These forms are available from the State Historic Preservation Officer or the NPS. A copy of this form is included as Appendix Q. Photographs of all buildings and sites in the two top priorities should be affixed to the forms. If practical, the state highway department may prepare a slide presentation of the important buildings on the corridor area. The proposed highway facility may or may not be superimposed on the photographs or slides, as deemed appropriate by the highway department and SHPA or SHPO. Slides or a motion picture may be particularly effective if a model of the proposed facility has been prepared showing the highway in relation to the community.

The second primary use of the Historic and Cultural Sites Inventory is to assist the various state and Federal agencies charged with the responsibility of completing the various impact and environmental statements required under existing and forthcoming legislation. The records of the HCSI and the materials prepared for the two public hearings outlined above will have direct applicability to the following:

A. Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 requires that all agencies of the Federal government shall

include in every recommendation or report on proposals for legislation and other major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, a detailed statement by the responsible official on:

(i) the environmental impact of the proposed action,

(ii) any adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided should the proposal be implemented,

(iii) alternatives to the proposed action,

(iv) the relationship between local shortterm uses of man's environment and the maintenance and enhancement of longterm productivity, and

(v) any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources which would be involved in the proposed action should it be implemented.

Prior to making any detailed statement, the responsible Federal official shall consult with and obtain the comments of any Federal agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved.

DOT 5610.1 states that "Section 102(2)(C) statements should serve as the vehicle for all environmental findings, determinations and clearances required under any legislation applicable to the Department of Transportation" and requires that such 102(2)(C) statements be prepared in a manner as to meet the requirements of Section 4(f) of the DOT Act.

B. Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act (49 USC 1653 (f)) directs that

the Secretary shall not approve any program or project which requires the use of any publicly owned land from a public park, recreation area, or wildlife and waterfowl refuge of national, state or local significance as determined by the Federal, state or local officials having jurisdiction thereof, or an historic site of national, state, or local significance as so determined by such officials unless (1) there is no feasible and prudent alternative to the use of such land, and (2) such program includes all possible planning to minimize harm to such park, recreational area, wildlife and waterfowl refuge, or historic site resulting from such use.

The Historic and Cultural Sites Inventory will identify all historic sites, taking the broad meaning of the term, of national, state or local significance as determined by the State Historic Preservation Agency and confirmed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. All sites listed in the National Register will automatically be included and so identified in the inventory, which can be used by the Department of Transportation as an official listing of sites in the project area.

Section 8(c) of the DOT Order 5610.1 requires that the following information be included in all 4(f) statements:

(1) Description of "any publicly owned land from a public park, recreation area or wildlife and waterfowl refuge" or "any land