KTC-04-13
"Case Study of 4(f) Litigation/Rulings", L. O'Connell, T. Hopwood
ABSTRACT
This study addresses issues related to compliance with Section 4(f). It produced two deliverables: 1) a guidance manual to assist Cabinet personnel in the assessment and handling of projects that encounter 4(f) properties; and 2) a review of court cases to establish the standards used by the courts when evaluating a Section 4(f) situation. The latter is an appendix to the guidance manual. By referring to the manual Cabinet employees will be to: 1) Conduct an assessment of proposed alternatives to evaluate prudence and feasibility of a proposed project alternative; 2) Prepare 4(f) documentation to justify the taking of protected property; 3) Apply context-sensitive design principles to mitigate impacts and stakeholder concerns; 4) Identify potential 4(f) involvement on private properties; 5) Identify mitigation measures to minimize potential harm to 4(f) resources; 6) Develop a decision-making process where 4(f) impacts are unavoidable--the latter based on judicial rulings arising from 4(f) litigation; 7) Develop strategies to ensure implementation of 4(f) mitigation/ project commitments.
The guidance manual and annotated list of court cases were converted to Adobe Acrobat® format (Ver. 6.0). These provided a linkage function so users can navigate from the Table of Contents to both the Guidance Manual and the references in the Annotated List.