The Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) Project Notification System (PNS) is managed for IDOT by the Transportation Archaeology Section of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS). ISAS is part of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
Purpose
The PNS was created in 2009 in consultation with federally recognized American Indian Tribes. Its primary purpose is to facilitate consultation by providing Tribes with early notification of federally funded IDOT undertakings that may cause an effect to archaeological sites in Illinois counties to which they have identified as an area of interest. The PNS is a statewide digital transportation project information distribution system that is intended to maintain and enhance the efficiency and quality of IDOT's cultural resource investigations, protection, and preservation programs as carried out in compliance with Section 106 of the Nation Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The projects listed in PNS include IDOT undertakings with the Federal Highway Administration.
In the PNS, early notification of proposed projects requiring survey is relayed to ISAS through the digital conveyance of an Environment Survey Request from the IDOT Chief Archaeologist. These documents contain basic preliminary engineering data on the project that is transferred into a password protected, user-friendly database format. ISAS adds information on the locations of known nearby mortuary sites and prepares maps for IDOT showing the project location. When this dataset is uploaded into the PNS, an e-mail notification is automatically generated to Tribes who have expressed an interest in the project or county. This e-mail directs them to the new project information and provides a digital mechanism for them to send questions or comments directly to the IDOT Chief Archaeologist. Notifications are also sent to Tribes when the ISAS survey report and State Historic Preservation Officer comments are posted.
System Security and Access
Project documents and site locations posted on PNS contain restricted information. Consequently, access to PNS is password protected with user access granted by FHWA/IDOT and managed by ISAS. Authorized users who have trouble accessing PNS should contact Michael Farkas at mgfarkas@illinois.edu or 217-244-6706.
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