[Federal Register: March 28, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 59)]
[Notices]
[Page 15511-15513]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28mr06-109]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement for the South
Florida East Coast Corridor Transit Analysis in Southeast Florida;
Including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach Counties, FL
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement.
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SUMMARY: The FTA and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)
are issuing this notice to advise the public that, in accordance with
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Tier 1 of a Tiered,
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) will be prepared for
the South Florida East Coast Corridor Transit Analysis (SFECCTA) to
evaluate transit improvements in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach
Counties, Florida. The SFECCTA is located along the eastern spine of
the tri-county South Florida region, centered on but not limited to the
Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway alignment. The study proposes in Tier
1 to evaluate preferred technologies (e.g., rail, bus, express bus,
etc.) and alignments through areas with heavily congested roadways and
under-served, transit-dependent populations. These areas extend from
Downtown Miami north through Ft. Lauderdale's Central Business District
(CBD) and north of Downtown West Palm Beach to the Town of Jupiter and
Village of Tequesta in northern Palm Beach County. The Tier 1 Analysis
consists of a Regional Transit Alternatives Analysis. The Tier 2
Analyses will consist of subsequent Sectional Alternatives Analyses
(per independent section of the SFECCTA study area).
DATES: Scoping meetings: A series of public scoping meetings will be
held in North Miami, Miami-Dade County; Fort Lauderdale, Broward
County; and, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida between April
17th and April 24th, 2006. See ADDRESSES below. Comment Due Date:
Written comments on the scope of alternatives and impacts to be
considered should be sent to Scott P. Seeburger, Project Manager,
Florida Department of Transportation by May 30th, 2006. See ADDRESSES
below.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the project scope should be sent to:
Scott P. Seeburger, Project Manager, Florida Department of
Transportation, District
[[Page 15512]]
IV Planning and Environmental Management, 3400 West Commercial
Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309-3421, (954) 777-4632,
scott.seeburger@dot.state.fl.us.
All scoping meetings will be held in wheelchair-accessible
locations as follows:
Broward County: Monday, April 17th, 2006, from 3 to 9 p.m. at
Broward County Main Library--6th Floor, 100 South Andrews Avenue--Fort
Lauderdale, Florida.
Miami-Dade County: Wednesday, April 19th, 2006, from 3 to 9 p.m. at
Gwen Margolis Community Center, 1590 N.E. 123rd Street--North Miami,
Florida.
Palm Beach County: Monday, April 24th, 2006, from 3 to 9 p.m. at
Cohen Pavilion at the Kravis Center, Lecture Hall A 701 West Okeechobee
Boulevard--West Palm Beach, Florida.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tony Dittmeier, Transportation Program
Specialist, Federal Transit Administration, Atlanta Federal Center, 61
Forsyth St., SW., Suite 17T50, Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Telephone: (404)
562-3512.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Scoping
FTA, in cooperation with FDOT and the Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA), will establish the scope of the Tiered, PEIS for
the SFECCTA in accordance with NEPA after consulting with Federal,
State, and local resource and regulatory agencies through meetings and
correspondence, and after hearing from the general public. Interested
individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to participate in
defining the alternatives to be evaluated and related issues of concern
with this study. An Advance Notification (AN) describing the proposed
project study in detail with maps, figures and summary tables of socio-
economic, social-cultural, environmental and other information was sent
out by FDOT on January 23, 2006 and is also available on the project
Web site at http://www.sfeccstudy.com/documents.html or by contacting
Scott Seeburger, the FDOT Project Manager at the address, phone number,
or email address given above under ADDRESSES. Also contact Mr.
Seeburger to be placed on the project mailing list and receive
information about the public scoping meetings and the project
newsletter. Written comments on the alternatives and potential impacts
to be considered should be sent to Scott Seeburger of FDOT.
II. Description of Study Area and Project Need
As described in detail in the FDOT AN mentioned above, the proposal
is to improve transit services within a 2-mile wide, 85-mile long
corridor (100 miles with connections to seaports and airports) along
the eastern spine of development in southeast Florida within the
contiguous urbanized portions of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach
Counties, Florida. This 203 square mile (mi2 ) study area is
centered along, but not exclusively considering, the Florida East Coast
(FEC) Railway from Downtown Miami (at the Miami-Dade Government Center)
through the Central Business Districts (CBDs) of Downtown Aventura,
Hollywood, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach,
and Jupiter, Florida. Improvements to transit services in this tri-
county, single Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) are considered
necessary to provide for the existing and projected demands to move
goods and people (i.e., freight and transit).
Federal transit law requires that projects proposed for FTA funding
come from a long range metropolitan transportation plan that is
fiscally constrained and conforms to State air quality plans. The
proposed project has been found consistent with the approved
comprehensive Long Range Transportation Plans of the Miami-Dade,
Broward, and Palm Beach County Metropolitan Planning Organizations
(MPOs) and with the local gubernatorially-approved 2005 Miami-Dade,
Broward, and Palm Beach County MPO Transportation Improvement Plans
(TIPs). The project is also consistent with the Federally-approved
conforming TIPs of each of the three MPOs. The study area is highly
developed, experiencing rapid redevelopment/densification, and project
need is demonstrated in that the capacity of transportation facilities
and services throughout the eastern portion of the tri-county area is
not adequate for the present movement of goods and people. Furthermore,
demographics indicate a growing populace of transit dependent commuters
that current capacity cannot properly service. Freight service also
needs to be upgraded in order to meet future freight demands. The
seaports have focused on the corridor along the FEC Railway for new
intermodal and freight transportation capacity given that roadway
expansion is limited. The safe and efficient movement of freight and
people to and from the South Florida area is important to the overall
economic and environmental health of the region.
III. Alternatives
Alternatives under consideration include (1) taking no action; (2)
Transportation Systems Management (TSM)/Baseline Alternative (planned
transportation improvements);
(3) Build Alignment Alternatives including:
FEC railway corridor
US 1/Federal Highway/Biscayne Boulevard
Dixie Highway
Other roadways
(4) Build Technology/Transit Services Alternatives including:
Intercity Passenger Rail (IPR)
Commuter Rail Transit (CRT), including Diesel Multiple
Unit (DMU) or Diesel-Electric Multiple Units (DEMU)
Heavy Rail Transit (HRT)
Monorails
Light Rail Transit (LRT), including Light Diesel Multiple
Unit (LDMU) or Light Diesel-Electric Multiple Units (LDEMU)
Automated Guideway Transit (AGT)
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
Express Bus
Waterborne Transit
IV. Probable Effects/Potential Impacts for Analysis
FTA and FDOT will evaluate all environmental, social, and economic
impacts of the alternatives analyzed in the SFECCTA. This study will be
incorporated into and serve as a source of information for the federal
and state resource as well as regulatory agencies participating in
Florida's Efficient Transportation Decision Making (ETDM) Process. The
ETDM process was recently developed in response to the environmental
provisions contained in Section 1309 of the Transportation Equity Act
for the 21st Century (TEA-21), called ``Environmental Streamlining.''
The SFECCTA will be conducted in full compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and other related Federal and
State laws, rules, and regulations. The SFECCTA will also be developed
in accordance with the environmental provisions of the Safe,
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy
for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
The Tiered EIS will evaluate purpose and need for the project,
including project status, capacity, system linkage, legislation, social
demands or economic development, modal interrelationships, and safety.
The impact areas to be addressed include land use (existing, future,
transit supportive/future
[[Page 15513]]
patterns, and redevelopment potential); wetlands; floodplains; wildlife
and habitat; specially designated waters (Outstanding Florida Waters
and Aquatic Preserves); Coastal Zone Consistency Determination;
cultural resources; coastal barrier resources; contamination; sole
source aquifers; noise and vibration; essential fish habitat; potential
environmental justice issues as well as secondary, cumulative, and
construction-related impacts; air and water quality; navigable waterway
crossings; and permits required. The need for right-of-way acquisitions
and relocations will also be evaluated. Alternative alignments,
designs, station locations, and other measures to avoid, minimize, and
mitigate adverse impacts will be developed and evaluated. The exact
Purpose and Need and Range of Alternatives for this project will be
established after an opportunity by the participating agencies and the
public for involvement.
V. Public Involvement
Letters describing the proposed action and soliciting comments will
be sent to appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies, and to
private organizations and citizens who have expressed interest in this
proposal. The environmental review process for this project will
include ``participating agencies'' from Federal, state, local agencies
and tribal nations that have an interest in the project. Further, FTA
and FDOT will establish a coordination plan for agency and public
participation and comment. A public Web site has also been created for
the project (http://www.sfeccstudy.com) where project information,
notification of public meetings, and an opportunity to join the mailing
list are provided. A series of public meetings (in conjunction with the
project scoping meetings) will be held in North Miami, Miami-Dade
County; Fort Lauderdale, Broward County; and, West Palm Beach, Palm
Beach County, Florida between April 17th and April 24th, 2006. In
addition, a public hearing will be held at the completion of each Tier
of the PEIS. Public notice will be given of the time and place of the
meetings and hearing. For each Tier, the Draft PEIS will be made
available for public and agency review and comment. Formal scoping
meetings are being held in conjunction with the public meetings listed
above and are published on the project Web site's public meeting page.
To ensure that the full range of issues related to the proposed
action are addressed and all significant issues identified, comments
and suggestions are invited from all interested parties. Comments or
questions concerning this proposed action and the PEIS should be
directed to the FTA at the address provided previously.
VI. FTA Procedures
In accordance with FTA policy, all Federal laws, regulations, and
executive orders affecting project development, including but not
limited to the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality and
FTA implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508, and 23 CFR part 771),
the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act,
Executive Order 12898 regarding environmental justice, the National
Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and Section 4(f)
of the DOT Act, will be addressed to the maximum extent practicable
during the NEPA process. In addition, FDOT seeks section 5309 New
Starts funding for the project and will therefore be subject to the FTA
New Starts regulation (49 CFR part 611). This New Starts regulation
requires the submission of certain specified information to FTA to
support an FDOT request to initiate preliminary engineering, which is
normally done in conjunction with the NEPA process.
Issued on: March 23, 2006.
Yvette G. Taylor,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. E6-4497 Filed 3-27-06; 8:45 am]
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