John Cooper, PhD, MDC, Inc., Program for the Rural Carolinas, 17268, Chapel Hill, NC 27510, 9199684531, jcooper@mdcinc.org

A major goal of WERA is to revitalize and sustain the economic, social, and environment health of Mebane's low-income and minority communities through planned development. However, local governments and the NCDOT planned the 119-bypass/interstate for fourteen years without input from residents. WERA and local residents filed administrative complaints under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and EJ Executive Order 12898 at the U.S. Department of Justice in 1999, regarding plans for the 119-bypass/interstate that would destroy WERA communities.

This presentation will discuss efforts to get local/state/federal elected officials to intervene with construction plans for the 119-bypass highway and how residents successfully filed administrative complaints at the U.S. Department of Justice that pointed out violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and EJ Executive Order 12898. It will outline the successes of the legal complaints: 1) the Federal Highway Administration's Civil Rights Office ordered re-alignment of highway 199-bypass to reduce disproportionate impacts upon WERA communities and document input from local residents 2) the project was also placed on moratorium for four years while local governments and N.C. Department of Transportation eliminated “patterns of historic discrimination” by paving dirt streets, installing “basic amenities” including safe water and sewer services, and annexing WERA communities into the city.

This presentation will also detail improper land use planning in Mebane including the placement of businesses and homes on a landfill and how Mebane's twenty-year plan Land Use and Facilities plan redlines WERA communities for major sewer/water improvements.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to

• Discuss the inequities of transportation and land policies in Mebane, NC
• Describe the impacts of transportation policies on human health, quality of life and vitality in WERA communities
• Outline planning strategies to increase quality of life in WERA communities.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.