[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 5, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 551-552]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-201]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


Environmental Impact Statement: Corridor 18 (Proposed Extension 
of I-69 From Indianapolis to Evansville, Indiana)

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that an 
Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared for the proposed 
extension of I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville in Southwest Indiana 
(Corridor 18).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Heil, Planning and Program 
Development Manager, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Building, 
Room 254, 575 North Pennsylvania Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204, 
Telephone (317) 226-7491, or Cristine Klika, Commissioner, Indiana 
Department of Transportation, 100 N. Senate Avenue, Room N755, 
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2217, Telephone (317) 232-5526.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FWHA in cooperation with the Indiana 
Department of Transportation (INDOT) will prepare a Tier 1 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on proposed highway corridors to 
provide better access to Southwest Indiana and better access between 
Indianapolis and Evansville. The southern terminus of the proposed 
action will be I-64 just north of Evansville, Indiana and the northern 
terminus will be I-465 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The length of the 
proposed corridors will vary between 225 and 274 kilometers (140 and 
170 miles).
    A previous Notice of Intent (NOI) was published on December 5, 1990 
to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a section of highway 
between Indianapolis and Evansville titled the Southwest Indiana 
Highway. The Southwest Indiana Highway Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) was approved for circulation by FHWA on March 27, 1996 
and circulated for review and comment. Based upon comments received on 
the DEIS, the scope and termini of the proposed action are hereby being 
expanded to include the entire corridor between Indianapolis and 
Evansville, Indiana. The original December 5, 1999 NOI and March 27, 
1996 DEIS for the Southwest Indiana Highway are hereby formally 
withdrawn. The proposed extension of I-69 from Indianapolis to 
Evansville (Corridor 18) Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement 
described in this NOI will be the decision-making process that serves 
to replace the previous Southwest Indiana Highway decision-making 
process.
    The essence of the Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement for this 
proposed action will be to resolve ``big picture'' planning issues such 
as ``build'' vs. ``no-build''; modal preferences; preferred corridor; 
and logical termini for ``projects of independent utility'' within the 
preferred corridor.
    This proposed action is intended to strengthen the highway network 
in Southwest Indiana by providing improved linkages among the existing 
highway routes in the region and by providing more direct connections 
among the region's major population centers. By strengthening the 
highway network, this proposed action is intended to stimulate economic 
growth in Southwest Indiana by enhancing access to existing centers of 
economic activity and creating new opportunities where possible.
    This proposed action is intended to complete the Indiana portion of 
Corridor 18, a strategic, high priority highway serving east-central 
United States. Corridor 18 is planned to be a continuous north-south 
corridor linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Any alternative 
corridors under evaluation in Southwest Indiana must be analyzed with 
respect to meeting the objectives of Corridor 18.
    The development of the traditional environmental impact study for a 
project of this length (225 to 274 kilometers (140 to 170 miles)) and 
scale (the entire region of Southwest Indiana) would be a lengthy 
process and would result in a voluminous and unwieldy environmental 
impact statement. Consequently, the FHWA after consultation with 
various resource agencies, is using a tiered EIS concept to focus on 
issues in an organized manner as discussed in the Council of

[[Page 552]]

Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations at 40 CFR 1502.20. The Tier 1 
document will be a detailed document with a comprehensive, in-depth 
analysis of alternative corridors. The Tier 1 document will involve 
extensive environmental studies, as well as transportation studies, 
economic impact studies, and cost analysis. This document will provide 
the basis for FHWA to grant corridor location approval for a specific 
corridor.
    The Tier 2 documents will be a series of smaller studies for 
individual sections of the corridor. These sections of the corridor 
would have independent utility--i.e., each section could serve a useful 
transportation purpose by itself. Within each section of the corridor, 
specific alignments would be identified and evaluated based upon their 
social, economic and environmental impacts. The Tier 2 documents would 
be more closely tailored to address the needs of the communities 
located within each project section.
    A scoping meeting will be held for the regulatory agencies followed 
by several public scoping meetings held at various locations in the 
project area. Early Coordination letters describing the proposed action 
and soliciting comments will be sent to appropriate Federal, State, and 
local agencies. As part of the process, public hearings will also be 
held. Public notice will be given as to the time and place of the 
meetings and hearings. The public hearings will be held after the draft 
EIS is available for review.
    To ensure that the full range of issues related to this proposed 
action is addressed and any significant impacts are identified, 
comments and suggestions are invited from all interested parties. 
Comments or questions concerning this proposed action and this Tier 1 
EIS should be directed to the FHWA or the INDOT at the address provided 
above.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 20.205, 
Highway Planning and Construction. The regulations implementing 
Executive Order 12372 regarding intergovernmental consultation on 
Federal programs and activities apply to this program)

    Issued on: December 21, 1999.
Lawrence M. Heil,
Planning and Program Development Manager, Indianapolis, IN.
[FR Doc. 00-201 Filed 01-04-00; 8:45 am]
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