[Federal Register: November 26, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 226)]
[Notices]
[Page 66024-66026]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26no07-93]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Proposed
Transit Improvements in the Draper Corridor of Metropolitan Salt Lake
City, UT
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Utah Transit
Authority (UTA) intend to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) to evaluate proposed public transportation improvements to extend
fixed guideway transit service through the cities of Sandy and Draper
to the southernmost part of Salt Lake County, Utah. The Wasatch Front
Regional Council (WFRC) has adopted a long-range transportation plan,
which is a comprehensive system plan and includes the full build-out of
public transportation improvements in several corridors. The general
alignments of the corridors have been identified in the approved plan.
The Draper Transit Corridor has been identified in the plan as a two-
track extension of the existing North-South Light Rail Transit (LRT)
line from its current terminus at 10000 South in Sandy to about 14600
South in Draper along the UTA owned right-of-way. The Draper Transit
Corridor Project, as defined in the WFRC long-range plan, was
identified as the preferred alternative at the conclusion of a locally
prepared alternatives analysis. The EIS will build on the results of
the local alternatives analysis and evaluate other reasonable
alternatives in accordance with appropriate statutes and regulations.
The EIS will be prepared in accordance with section 102(2)c of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and pursuant to the
Council on the Environmental Quality's regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-
1508), FTA/FHWA joint regulations (23 CFR 771) as well as provisions of
the Safe, Accountable, Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A
Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The purpose of this notice is to alert
interested parties regarding the intent to prepare the EIS, to provide
information on the nature of the proposed project and possible
alternatives, to invite public participation in the NEPA process
(including providing comments on the scope of the DEIS), and to
announce that
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a public scoping meeting will be conducted.
The EIS will examine and evaluate a number of transit alternatives
in the corridor including a Transportation Systems Management (TSM)
Alternative. Any additional alternatives generated by the scoping
process as well as the proposed station locations for the Build
alternatives will also be considered. The alternatives will be compared
to a No-Action Alternative for evaluation purposes.
Scoping of the EIS will be accomplished through a public meeting,
correspondence with interested persons, organizations and Federal,
State and local agencies, and through a meeting with cooperating and
participating public agencies. A scoping information packet will be
posted on the UTA Web site at http://www.rideuta.com and hard copies of
the packet will be distributed on request.
Meeting Dates
Agency Coordination Meeting: An agency coordination meeting will be
held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday December 11, 2007 at the Utah Transit
Authority Meadowbrook office located at 3500 South 700 West, Salt Lake
City, Utah.
Public Scoping Meeting: A Public Scoping meeting to accept comments
on the scope of the EIS will be held on Wednesday, December 12, 2007,
from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Sprucewood Elementary, located at 12025 South
1000 East, Sandy, Utah.
The project's purpose and need, and the initial set of alternatives
proposed for study will be presented at this meeting. Comments may be
given verbally or in writing at the scoping meeting. Every reasonable
effort will be made to meet special needs. The meeting location will be
accessible to persons with disabilities. Individuals who require
special accommodations, such as sign language interpreter, to
participate in the meeting should contact Ms. Sherry L. Repscher, ADA
Compliance Officer, Utah Transit Authority, 3600 South 700 West, Salt
Lake City, UT 84119-0810 or by telephone at (801) 262-5626 or TDD at
(801) 287-4657.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the following address by
December 26, 2007: Mary DeLoretto, Utah Transit Authority, 3600 South
700 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84119 or mdeloretto@rideuta.com. The
location of the public scoping meeting is given above under ``Meeting
Dates''.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charmaine Knighton, Deputy Regional
Administrator, Region VIII, Federal Transit Administration, 12300 West
Dakota Avenue, Suite 310, Denver, CO 80228. Telephone: 720-963-3327.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Scoping
The FTA and UTA invite all interested individuals and
organizations, public agencies, and Native American Tribes to comment
on the scope of the EIS including the project's purpose and need,
alternatives to be evaluated to meet the purpose and need; impacts to
be evaluated, and the evaluation methods to be used. Comments should
focus on refining the purpose and need statement, developing
alternatives to meet the purpose and need that have comparable or lower
cost and fewer adverse impacts, and on identifying specific social,
economic, or environmental impacts to be evaluated.
II. Description of the Project Study Area and Its Purpose and Need
The Draper Transit Corridor Project study area begins in Sandy City
just south of the current end-of-line 10000 South station of the UTA
TRAX North-South LRT line. The study area is generally bounded by 10000
South on the north, along 1300 East and one mile east and south of the
UTA-owned railroad right-of-way on the east and south, and the western
Draper City limits and Jordan River on the west. It is located
primarily in the cities of Sandy and Draper, and includes parts of
White City, South Jordan, and Bluffdale.
The primary purpose of the Draper Transit Corridor Project is to
extend LRT transit service to the southernmost geographic reach of the
Salt Lake Valley. The overall goal of the proposed project is to
improve mobility in the corridor by extending the existing UTA rail
transit line in order to reduce congestion on arterial streets and I-15
during peak travel periods and improve reliability of travel times. The
UTA TRAX LRT extension increases transportation system capacity in
South Salt Lake County.
The public and participating and cooperating agencies are invited
to consider and comment on this preliminary statement of the purpose
and need for the proposed project.
III. Alternatives
In addition to a No-Action Alternative, a range of reasonable
alternatives will be evaluated in the EIS including, the locally
preferred LRT extension in the UTA-owned right-of-way South. Additional
alternatives to be considered include:
Transportation Systems Management (TSM) Alternative: This
alternative consists of the best transit service that can be provided
to meet the project's purpose and need without building the LRT line
extension.
Other reasonable Build alternatives resulting from the
project scoping process, including those that involve other modes or
alignments and that satisfy the project purpose and need.
The location of stations will also be developed and presented in
the EIS for each build alternative that is advanced.
IV. Probable Effects
The purpose of the EIS is to evaluate the environmental
consequences of proposed alternatives for meeting the purpose and need
for transit in the Draper corridor before committing financial and
other resources to implementing the proposed project. The EIS will
examine the extent to which the alternatives result in adverse
environmental impacts and identify corresponding actions to eliminate,
reduce, or mitigate those impacts.
UTA and FTA will evaluate all significant environmental, social,
and economic impacts of the alternatives analyzed in the EIS. Impact
areas to be addressed include: Land use, zoning and economic
development; secondary development; land acquisition, displacements and
relocations; cultural resources (including impacts on historical,
archaeological and paleontological resources); parklands/recreational
areas; visual and aesthetic qualities; neighborhood compatibility;
environmental justice; natural resource impacts (including air quality,
wetlands, water resources, geology/soils, wildlife, threatened and
endangered species; noise and vibration; and hazardous materials);
energy; safety and security; utilities; traffic and transportation
impacts and airport operations. Potential impacts will be addressed for
the long-term operation of each alternative and the short-term
construction period. Measures to avoid, minimize, or mitigate all
adverse impacts will be identified, evaluated, and adopted as
appropriate.
V. FTA Procedures
The regulation implementing NEPA, as well as provisions of the
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A
Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), call for public involvement in the NEPA
process. Section 6002 of SAFETEA-LU requires that FTA and UTA do the
following: (1) Extend an invitation to other Federal and non-Federal
agencies and Native American tribes that may have an interest in the
proposed project to become ``participating agencies;'' (2)
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provide an opportunity for involvement by participating agencies and
the public to help define the purpose and need for a proposed project,
as well as the range of alternatives for consideration in the EIS; and
(3) establish a plan for coordinating public and agency participation
in, and comment on, the environmental review process. An invitation to
become a participating or cooperating agency, with scoping materials
appended, will be extended to other Federal and non-Federal agencies
and Native American tribes that may have an interest in the proposed
project. It is possible that FTA and UTA will not be able to identify
all Federal and non-Federal agencies and Native American tribes that
may have such an interest. Any Federal or non-Federal agency or Native
American tribe interested in the proposed project that does not receive
an invitation to become a participating agency should notify the
Project Manager identified above under ADDRESSES at the earliest
opportunity.
UTA is seeking federal assistance from the FTA to fund the proposed
project under 49 United States Code 5309 and will, therefore, be
subject to regulations (49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 611)
related to New Starts projects.
The EIS will be prepared in accordance with NEPA and its
implementing regulation issued by the Council on Environmental Quality
(40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and with the FTA/Federal Highway
Administration regulations ``Environmental Impact and Related
Procedures'' (23 CFR part 771). In accordance with 23 CFR 771.105(a)
and 771.133, FTA will comply with all Federal environmental laws,
regulations, and executive orders applicable to the proposed project
during the environmental review process to the maximum extent
practicable. These requirements include, but are not limited to, the
environmental and public hearing provisions of Federal transit laws (49
U.S.C. 5301(e), 5323(b), and 5324); the project-level air quality
conformity regulation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
(40 CFR part 93); The section 404(b)(1) guidelines of EPA (40 CFR part
230); the regulation implementing section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act (36 CFR Part 800); the regulation implementing section
7 of the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR part 402); Section 4(f) of the
Department of Transportation Act (23 CFR 771.135); and Executive Orders
12898 on environmental justice, 11988 on floodplain management, and
11990 on wetlands.
Issued on: November 14, 2007.
Charmaine Knighton,
FTA Deputy Regional Administrator, Region VIII.
[FR Doc. E7-22913 Filed 11-23-07; 8:45 am]
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