This course uses the environmental process (40 CFR 1500) in general and HUD’s (24 CFR 58), since it delegates NEPA & other environmental authorities to the local level, as a framework for providing insights into issue identification and analysis pointed to consideration of alternatives. The class makes use of abundant HUD resources but also uses interactive classroom exercises. The case oriented exercises provide participants with simulated hands-on experience and opportunities for Q & A and peer-to-peer education.

Projects with even a small federal nexus must go through an environmental planning process that not only requires a compliance check with specific environmental laws, but also provides opportunities to add value through public input, mitigation of potential adverse impacts, and sustainable design. This course uses the HUD Environmental Review Online System (HEROS), a state-of-the-art platform for NEPA environmental review, to actively engage participants in a classroom simulation.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants should be able to:

• Comply with Federal environmental planning requirements: under NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) which acts as an umbrella for an environmental planning process that includes about 20 other Federal environmental mandates that cover historic preservation, floodplains, wetlands, noise, site contamination, etc.
• Use the NEPA process to promote local or tribal environmental goals and objectives, such as those promoting sustainability.
• Use the NEPA process to influence the design and structure of Federal projects, both from an implementing agency’s perspective and from that of an affected local or tribal government.

Who Should Attend?

Local government staff involved in such programs as HUD, subsidized housing, planning and redevelopment; development professionals

Agenda

Monday: NEPA, Getting Started, and Water

• Overview and NEPA Intro
• Exercise: Name that Level of Review
• Floodplain Management – video
• Water Module
• Wetland Identification and Management
• First Steps – Getting Started (Project Description/Aggregation; Map Reading; Initial Screening and Issue Identification)

Tuesday: Historic Preservation

• American Legacy: The Work of the Natl Reg of Historical Places
• Historic Preservation Background & 106 Process
• Virtual Site Visit
• Historic Preservation Process
• Work on Case Study
   

Wednesday: Site Contamination, Brownfield Redevelopment, Other Authorities, & Healthy Homes

• This is Superfund
• Site Contamination Policy, including Brownfield
• ESA Site Characterization Process
• Noise
• 51C Explosive and Flammable Hazards & 51D Clear Zones
• Coastal Zones & Barriers
• Other Applicable Authorities (Sole Source Aquifer; Prime Farmland; Air Quality; Wild & Scenic Rivers)
• Biodiversity – Endangered Species
• Local Planning Factors
   

Thursday: Using the EA Process to Promote Local Objectives & Environmental Justice

• Finalizing Review & Request for Release of Funds
• Form Book, HEROS & Record Keeping
• Tiering & Programmatic Reviews
• Groups work
• State & Local EA Processes (including CEQA)
• Environmental Justice

Friday: Procedures, Presentations, and Wrap Up

• Environmental Justice, Procedures II
• Tiering & Programmatic Reviews
• State & Local EA Processes (including CEQA)
• Using EA Process to promote Local Goals & Objectives
• Energy Efficient Rehab
• Review of Pretest; Presentation of Cases; Take Home Final Exam

*Agenda subject to modification

Contact Us

Questions about the course should be referred to Eugene Goldfarb at egoldf1@uic.edu.

Questions about registration/logistics should be referred toerc@ph.ucla.edu or (310) 206-2304.

Payment Terms

Classes are subject to cancellation by the host due to low registration or scheduling issues. If a class is cancelled by the host, participants will receive a full refund of their original payment.

(rev. 11/6/09):

Participant cancellations must be in writing. Refund schedule due to participant-requested cancellations is:

• 15 or more business days before the class: 80% of registration fee
• 7-14 business days before the class: 50% of registration fee
• Less than 7 days before the class and “no shows”: No refund

If course materials such as books have been sent to course participants in advance, the cost of that material will be subtracted from the refund.

UCLA reserves the right to postpone an offering 7 days prior to the course date should minimum enrollment requirements not be met. If a program is canceled, you will be notified and your registration fee will be refunded in full, less the cost of course materials sent in advance if they are not returned in the condition in which they were received. The liability of UCLA is limited to the course fee.