The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) both require federal agencies to provide the public with information regarding the impacts of their projects on environmental and cultural resources and then engage the public regarding the minimization or mitigation of impacts to resources. The NEPA and Section 106 processes often run concurrently and occasionally, the NEPA process is substituted for the Section 106 Process.
This webinar will provide concrete examples of successful public engagement processes utilized by a variety of agencies including the Indiana Department of Transportation, the Air Force, and the Federal Transit Authority.
Our expert panel, including a Section 106 expert, a NEPA expert, and a representative of a Federal Agency, will review how agencies can and have engaged the public during the NEPA and Section 106 processes to refine and enhance their projects. Attendees should walk away with a better understanding of the public participation process and with several examples of successful public interactions. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panel at the end of the presentation.
Our expert panel of presenters is comprised of Joe Trnka, Duane Peter, and Patrick Carpenter.
Joe Trnka is a board-approved Certified Environmental Professional (CEP) and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). His 3 decades of professional NEPA experience includes successfully completing multiple NEPA reviews for a wide variety of government agencies. He has spent a decade as an embedded environmental professional in three different agencies and two decades working in private engineering or environmental firms where he specialized in NEPA, NHPA, and Section 4(f) compliance work. His NHPA experience includes being the Principal Investigator (PI) for architectural history and history, primarily of the World War II and Cold War periods and evaluating proposed projects for their potential effects on historic property. His historic property evaluation work has included the national Interstate Highway System; approximately 30 military bases and industrial complexes; North America’s first integrated air defense center; and the world’s first nuclear reactor complex. His Section 4(f) experience includes successfully completing the Section 4(f) evaluation for an 11.5-mile-long Central Corridor urban light rail project between Minneapolis and Saint Paul. This billion-dollar project was proposed to bisect 5 listed historic districts, pass in front of over 1,000 potentially historic buildings, cross a historic bridge, and take the Governor’s parking spot at the historic State Capitol building.
Duane Peter is a professional archaeologist with over 40 years of experience in the cultural heritage industry. He earned his M.A. in Anthropology from Southern Methodist University in 1980 and is a Registered Professional Archaeologist. Duane served as the Associate Director of the Archaeology Research Program at Southern Methodist University before entering private industry in 1987. As a Program Manager, he has been supervising federal contracts and providing cultural resources services nationwide for over 27 years. A founding board member of ACRA, he served as President from 2014–2017 and continues to serve as Chairperson of the Academic Collaboration Committee. Duane contributed to several programs that have been recognized for their excellence by Preservation Action, the Council of Texas Archeologists, the New Mexico Historic Preservation program and ACRA. The Society of American Archaeology recognized Duane’s contributions to the profession with its Award for Excellence in Cultural Resource Management in 2019.
Patrick Carpenter received a B.A. in History from Northern Kentucky University and a M.A. in Folk Studies from Western Kentucky University. Mr. Carpenter has worked in the Cultural Resources Office at the Indiana Department Transportation (INDOT) since 2006. He is currently the Section 106 Specialist for INDOT. Before coming to INDOT, Mr. Carpenter worked at the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) for six-years in their Section 106 compliance program.
Note: This webinar will occur on Eastern Time