Transportation: Section 4(f)
What is 4(f)?
Fort McHenry, Baltimore, MD
Thanks to Section 4(f), Fort McHenry's flag waves in the sun, not in the shadows of a massive bridge.
"Section 4(f)" doesn't sound important—but it is the strongest federal preservation law on the books, and its loss would be a devastating blow to efforts to protect America's heritage.
Part of the Department of Transportation Act adopted by Congress in 1966, Section 4(f) states that transportation projects must avoid historic sites unless there is "no feasible and prudent alternative" and requires "all possible planning to minimize harm" to historic places. This unequivocal "hands-off" directive has been invoked hundreds of times over the past 35 years to keep the nation's heritage from being bulldozed and blacktopped, as examples from around the country show.
More Recent Developments
- The National Trust testified before the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials on June 5, 2008 against an exemption being sought by the railroad industry from both Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act for railroad facilities. Read this important testimony to learn more about this exemption's potential effect in undermining these important historic preservation protections.
- During the last reauthorization of transportation laws in Congress, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials reached an agreement, with help from Senator George V. Voinovich (R-OH) and the Ohio Department of Transportation, to amend section 4(f) to streamline historic preservation reviews of transportation projects and, at the same time, maintain section 4(f)'s strong standards of protection for historic places. Congress adopted this consensus agreement in the transportation reauthorization measure signed into law on August 10, 2005. However, Senator Voinovich recently cited a Federal Highway Administration report in congressional hearings which states that it still takes 13-and-a-half years to complete environmental and historic preservation reviews on major highway projects. The National Trust will be monitoring congressional hearings and statements for these kinds of developments on 4(f) in advance of the next surface transportation program reauthorization, which begins in 2009.
