[Federal Register: August 29, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 168)]
[Notices]
[Page 52049-52050]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29au03-80]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[USCG-2003-15797]
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Lake
Washington Ship Canal Bridge and Proposed Modification of the Duwamish
Waterway Bridge
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of public hearing; and request
for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of a Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) for the Seattle Monorail
Project ``Green Line'' monorail in Seattle, Washington. The Draft EIS
has been prepared in cooperation with the Seattle Monorail Project,
which is a municipal transportation agency of the State of Washington
and is proposing the transit project analyzed in the Draft EIS. The
Coast Guard and the Seattle Monorail Project agreed to prepare this
Draft EIS to satisfy the requirements of both the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Washington State Environmental
Policy Act (SEPA) for the proposed Green Line monorail project. We
request your comments on the Statement. The Coast Guard will hold a
public hearing to receive comments on the Draft EIS. The proposed
location of the bridge is across the Lake Washington Ship Canal,
approximate milepoint 1.0, at Seattle, Washington. The proposed bridge
modification is across the Duwamish Waterway, approximate milepoint
0.3, at Seattle, Washington. The hearing will allow interested persons
to present comments and information concerning the impact of the
proposed bridgework on navigation and the human environment. Because
the Coast Guard is using the EIS process to also conduct public
outreach under the National Historic Preservation Act, this public
hearing is also an opportunity for the public to comment on the
proposed project's impacts to cultural resources, such as historic
resources or archaeological resources.
DATES: This hearing will be held on Monday, September 29, 2003, with an
afternoon and evening session. The afternoon session will begin
promptly at 1 p.m. and adjourn at 3 p.m. The evening session will begin
promptly at 5 p.m. and adjourn when all evening speakers have spoken.
Requests to speak, with session preference, and requests for services
must be received in the Bridge Section at the address given under
ADDRESSES by September 22, 2003. Attendees at the hearing, who wish to
present testimony and have not previously made a request to do so, will
follow those having submitted a request, as time permits. Comments
pertaining to the Draft EIS must be received by the docket October 14,
2003.
ADDRESSES: To make sure that your comments and related material are not
entered more than once in the docket, please submit them by only one of
the following means:
(1) Electronically through the Web site for the Docket Management
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
(2) By mail to the Docket Management Facility, (USCG-2003-15797),
U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
(4) By delivery to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is 202-366-9329.
The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this
notice. Comments and material received from the public, as well as the
Draft EIS, will become part of this docket and will be available for
inspection or copying at room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. You may also find
this docket, including the Draft EIS, on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov
.
The hearing will be held at the Northwest Rooms, Seattle Center,
305 Harrison Street, Seattle, Washington. The Northwest Rooms are near
the northwest corner of the Seattle Center campus, just to the north of
the Key Arena.
The Coast Guard point of contact is Mr. Austin Pratt, Bridge
Section, Commander (oan), Thirteenth Coast Guard District, 915 Second
Avenue, Room 3510, Seattle, WA 98174-1067.
Requests to receive copies of the Draft EIS should be sent to the
Seattle Monorail Project, ATTN: Mr. Ross Macfarlane, 1904 Third Avenue,
Suite 105, Seattle, WA 98101. Alternatively, the Draft EIS is available
on the Internet at http://www.elevated.org. Copies are also available
for inspection at the offices of the Seattle Monorail Project, 1904
Third Avenue, Suite 105, Seattle, WA 98191 (telephone (206) 328-1220),
and are available at the City of Seattle public libraries, and at the
U.S. Coast Guard Bridge Section address given under ADDRESSES.
Comments, including names and home addresses, may be published as
part of the Final EIS. If you wish to withhold your name or street
address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of
your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent
allowed by law. All submissions from organizations and businesses, and
from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials
of organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection
in their entirety.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
the proposed project, or the associated Draft EIS, call Mr. Austin
Pratt, Bridge Administrator, telephone (206) 220-7282. Information may
also be obtained from the Seattle Monorail Project, 1904 Third Avenue,
Suite 105, Seattle, WA 98101, telephone (206) 382-1220. Information,
including copies of the Draft EIS, is available over the Internet at
the Seattle Monorail Project Web site: http://www.elevated.org. If you
have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call
Dorothy Beard, Chief, Dockets, Department of
[[Page 52050]]
Transportation, telephone 202-366-5149.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request for Comments
We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the
Draft EIS. If you do so, please include your name and address, identify
the docket number for this notice (USCG-2003-15797) and give the
reasons for each comment. You may submit your comments and material by
mail, hand delivery, fax, or electronic means to the Docket Management
Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit your
comments and material by only one means. If you submit them by mail or
hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\
by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit
them by mail and would like to know they reached the Facility, please
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will
consider all comments and material received during the comment period.
Proposed Action
The project under consideration is a 14-mile monorail line in
Seattle, Washington, that will provide transit service serving a number
of Seattle communities and destinations. The project is being proposed
by the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority (also known as Seattle
Monorail Project or SMP), which is a city transportation authority
organized under Washington Revised Code Chapter 35.95A. The Green Line
would use traditional monorail technology, which consists of linked
train cars straddling an elevated guideway beam that provides electric
power to propel the train cars. Green Line trains would run on rubber
tires that are locked into the beams and would be operated
automatically and not require drivers.
The Green Line includes a new bridge crossing of the Lake
Washington Ship Canal (near the existing Ballard Bridge), for which a
bridge permit from the Coast Guard and environmental review pursuant to
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are required. A crossing
of the Duwamish Waterway on the existing West Seattle High-Rise Bridge
is proposed, and may also require a bridge permit from the Coast Guard
depending on final design drawings. Comments regarding impacts that the
proposed Green Line bridgework may have on navigation of the Lake
Washington Ship Canal or the Duwamish Waterway will be of particular
relevance to the Coast Guard's bridge permitting responsibilities. In
order to evaluate indirect and cumulative environmental impacts of the
Coast Guard's bridge permit actions, the Coast Guard and the SMP have
agreed that the scope of NEPA review should be the entire 14-mile Green
Line proposal.
The Green Line is being proposed in accordance with Seattle
Citizens' Petition No. 1, which was passed by Seattle voters in
November 2002. In Petition No. 1, voters adopted the Seattle Popular
Monorail Plan, created the SMP, required the SMP to adopt and implement
the Seattle Popular Monorail Plan, and authorized funding for the
construction and operation of the Green Line as described in the Plan.
The proposed Green Line would run from the Ballard neighborhood of
Seattle, through the Interbay and Ballard industrial areas, through
downtown Seattle, through the South Downtown (SODO) industrial area,
and then to the West Seattle neighborhood. The Green Line would connect
the urban neighborhoods in Ballard and West Seattle with the
industrial/manufacturing areas in the Interbay and SODO areas and with
the downtown urban core and central business district of the City of
Seattle.
Procedural
Individuals and representatives of organizations who wish to
present testimony at the hearing or who want to be placed on the
project mailing list, may submit a request to the Bridge Section at the
address listed under ADDRESSES clearly indicating name and organization
represented, if applicable. Requests to speak should be received no
later than September 22, 2003, in order to ensure proper scheduling for
the hearing. Attendees at the hearing, who wish to present testimony
and have not previously made a request to do so, will follow those
having submitted a request, as time permits. Speakers will be called in
the order of receipt of the request. Depending upon the number of
scheduled statements, the Coast Guard may limit the amount of time
allowed for each speaker. Written statements and other exhibits in lieu
of, or in addition to, oral statements at the hearing may be submitted
to the Bridge Section at the address listed under ADDRESSES until
October 14, 2003, to be included in the Public Hearing transcript.
Beginning at 1 p.m. on the hearing date, Seattle Monorail Project
representatives will be available with project display materials
adjacent to the hearing room to explain the project and answer
questions from the public.
Information on Services for Individuals with Disabilities
For information about facilities or services for individuals with
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting, contact
the Commander (oan), Thirteenth Coast Guard District. Please request
these services by contacting the Bridge Section at the phone number
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or in writing at the address
listed under ADDRESSES. Any requests for an oral or sign language
interpreter must be received by September 22, 2003.
Authority: Section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, 40 CFR 1503.1, 36 CFR 800.2(d).
Dated: July 30, 2003.
N.E. Mpras,
Chief, Office of Bridge Administration, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. 03-21954 Filed 8-28-03; 8:45 am]
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