Public Outreach

<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Public Outreach

Public Outreach

Public Participation Plan (PPP)

CRPC encourages active participation by the public and other interested parties in the development of all transportation plans and programs, particularly the major products. CRPC believes that the distribution of information regarding regional transportation planning and decision making needs to be inclusive of as many in the public as can reasonably be reached, and that interested parties and other federal, state, and local agencies are given a fair opportunity to participate in the planning process.

It is the policy of CRPC to take all public and stakeholder comments into account in the development and adoption of plans and programs. The processes outlined in this document form the basis for providing the opportunity for the general public and key stakeholders to participate in the transportation planning process. This Public Participation Plan (PPP) has been developed to meet federal requirements outlined by SAFETEA-LU, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Environmental Justice, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.

Public Participation Planning Goals
The goals of the CRPC Public Participation Plan are as follows:

Education

To develop informational materials that supports a cooperative planning process and explains CRPC plans and activities in a concise and straightforward manner; and

To explain how transportation plans are affected by federal clean air mandates.

Outreach

To increase awareness of and interest in transportation plans and the transportation planning process using innovative approaches. Notification in the official journal will occur at least 30 days prior to adoption or amendment actions by the Transportation Policy Committee to allow for public comment. CRPC will give timely public notice; provide complete information, reasonable public access to key decisions, and support early and continuing involvement of the public in the development of plans and TIPs. There will be opportunities for interested parties including citizens, affected public agencies, representatives of transportation agency employees, users of the systems and the private providers of transportation to be included in the early stages of the plan development/update process. The Capital Region Planning Commission, as the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Baton Rouge urbanized area will include a statement in all public notices for Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) as follows:

“This public notice of public participation activities and the thirty day time period established for public review and comment on the TIP will satisfy the program-of-projects (POP) requirements of Urbanized Area Formula Program.”
The announcement will inform the public of the amount of funds available under section 5307 and the capital, operation and planning projects proposed to be undertaken. Further, the public announcement that summarized the POP will indicate where citizens can examine the proposed program and budget in detail and submit comments on the proposed program. In addition, the final program-of-projects will be made available to the public through publication in the official journal and distribution to public libraries and the CRPC office.

Participation

To provide frequent opportunities for interested parties from the private business community, public officials, neighborhood organizations, the physically challenged and other groups impacted by transportation plans to participate in the development of CRPC transportation plans and to encourage public participation in transportation planning activities at every level.

Title VI

The Capital Region Planning Commission (CRPC) assures that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, income, gender, age, and disability, as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (PL 100.259), be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity.

More specifically, CRPC assures that every effort will be made to prevent discrimination through the impacts of its programs, policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations. Additionally, CRPC will take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to services for persons with Limited English Proficiency.

CRPC further assures that every effort will be made to ensure nondiscrimination in all of its programs and activities, whether those programs and activities are federally funded or not.

CRPC’s Title VI Coordinator is responsible for initiating and monitoring Title VI activities, preparing required reports, and other CRPC responsibilities as required by Title 23 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, and Title 49 CFR Part 21.

Authorities

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 created a foundation for future environmental justice regulations. Since the establishment of Title VI, environmental justice has been considered in local, state and federal transportation project. Section 42.104 of Title VI and related statutes require Federal agencies to ensure that no person is excluded from participation in, denied the benefit of, or subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance on the basis of race, color, national origin, income, gender, age, and disability.

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)addresses both social and economic impacts of environmental justice. NEPA stressed the importance of providing Capital Region Planning Commission for “all Americans safe, healthful, productive and anesthetically pleasing surroundings” and provides a requirement for taking a “systematic, interdisciplinary approach” to aid in considering environmental and community factors in decision making.

The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 further expanded Title VI to include all programs and activities of Federal aid recipients, sub-recipients and contractors whether those programs and activities are federally funded or not.

On February 11, 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations. This piece of legislation directed every Federal agency to make Environmental Justice part of its mission by indentifying and addressing all programs, policies and activities that affect human health or the environment so as to identify and avoid disproportionately high and adverse effects on minority populations and low income populations.
Rather than being reactive, Federal, State, local and tribal agencies must be proactive when it comes to determining better methods to serve the public, who rely on transportation systems and services to increase their quality of life.

In April 1997, as a reinforcement to Executive Order 12898, The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) issued an Order on Environmental Justice (DOT Order 5610.2), which summarized and expanded upon the requirements of Executive Order 12898 to include all policies, programs and other activities that are undertaken, funded or approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) or other U.S. DOT components.

In December 1997, the FHWA issued the FHWA Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations (DOT Order 6640.23), which mandated the FHWA and all its subsidiaries to implement the principles of Executive Order 12898 and U.S. DOT Order 5610.2 into all of its programs, policies and activities.

On October 7, 1999, the FHWA and the FTA issued a memorandum Implementing Title VI Requirements in Metropolitan and Statewide Planning . This memorandum provides clarification for field offices on how to ensure that environmental justice is considered during current and future planning certification reviews. The intent of this memorandum was for planning officials to understand that environmental justice is equally important during the planning stages as it is during the projects development stages.

Documents to Download
Public Participation Plan (Adopted August 2009)
Title VI Plan (Adopted July 2009)
Environmental Justice Report (2008)
Coordinated Human Service Transportation Plan (June 2010)
LADOTD Human Services Transportation Coordination Workshop Power Point Presentation
Inventory of Federal Programs Providing Transportation Services to the Transportation-Disadvantaged