[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 14 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6748-6749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1859]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Conduct Scoping for Air Traffic Procedural Changes Associated With the 
New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
and conduct scoping meetings.

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[[Page 6749]]

SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Eastern Region, is 
issuing this notice to advise the public, pursuant to the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, (NEPA) 42 U.S.C. 
4332(2)(C) that the FAA intends to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the proposed New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia 
Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project. This Notice of Intent is 
published as required by the President's Council on Environmental 
Quality (CEQ) Regulations implementing the provisions of NEPA, 40 CFR 
parts 1500-1508. The EIS will assess the potential environmental 
impacts resulting from proposed modifications to air traffic routings 
in the metropolitan New York and Philadelphia areas. Airports in this 
are include Newark International Airport, John F. Kennedy International 
Airport, La Guardia Airport, and the Philadelphia International 
Airport, as well as several regional (commuter) and general aviation 
use airports. The redesign project will examine the airspace 
surrounding area airports up to and including the high altitude enroute 
structure. The study area includes the State of New Jersey, and parts 
of New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware. All reasonable 
alternatives will be considered including a no-charge alternative/
option. In order to ensure that all significant issues pertaining to 
the proposed action are identified, public participation, through 
public scoping meetings, will be held.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Moira Keane, Environmental 
Specialist, Federal Aviation Administration, Eastern Region Air Traffic 
Division, Airspace Branch, AEA-522.1, 1 Aviation Plaza, Jamaica, New 
York 11434-4809 (718) 553-4530.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia 
Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project encompasses a large geographic 
area, including the State of New Jersey, and parts of New York, 
Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The airports in the study area 
are: Newark International Airport, John F. Kennedy International 
Airport, La Guardia Airport and Philadelphia International Airport as 
well as several regional (commuter) and general aviation use airports.
    In response to the enormous flow of air traffic in the study area, 
the FAA is examining alternative ways to modify air traffic routes and 
procedures to reduce delays and pilot/controller workloads, while 
enhancing safety. The airspace redesign team is using sophisticated 
modeling tools to develop viable air traffic control (ATC) alternatives 
to current operations. The FAA will examine methods that will take 
advantage of new and emerging ATC technologies, improved performance 
characteristics of modern aircraft, as well as improvements in 
navigation capabilities. The proposed project may include, but will not 
necessarily be limited to the following alternatives: modification of 
existing procedures; identification of new conceptual alternative(s), 
and examination of an ocean routing alternative. The project is not 
associated with any airport development projects nor construction of 
any physical facilities.
    As part of the airspace redesign effort, a FAA environmental team 
will provide detailed analyses that will be used to evaluate the 
potential environmental impacts in the study area. During scoping , and 
upon publication of a draft EIS and a final EIS, the FAA will be 
contacting and coordinating with federal, state, and local agencies, as 
well as the public, to obtain comments and suggestions regarding the 
EIS for the proposed project. The EIS will assess impacts and 
reasonable alternatives, including the ``no change'' alternative, 
pursuant to NEPA, FAA Order 1050.1D, Policies and Procedures for 
Considering Environmental Impacts, DOT Order 5610.1C, Procedures for 
Considering Environmental Impacts, and the President's Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations implementing the provisions of 
NEPA, 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508.
    Public Scoping Process: The FAA will utilize the scoping process as 
outlined in the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations and 
guidelines to facilitate public involvement early in the redesign 
process. Concerned individuals and agencies will be invited to express 
their views either in writing, by letter or by providing oral comments 
at a scoping meeting. The purposes of the scoping process and scoping 
meetings are: (1) To provide a description of the proposed action, (2) 
to provide an early and open process to determine the scope of issues 
to be addressed and to identify potentially significant issues or 
impacts related to the proposed action that should be analyzed in the 
EIS, (3) to identify other coordination and any permit requirements 
associated with the proposed action and (4) to identify and eliminate 
from detailed study those issues that are not significant or those that 
have been adequately addressed during a prior environmental review 
process.
    The FAA will schedule a series of public scoping meetings. Each 
meeting will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at specific sites located 
throughout the study area. Each of the meetings will begin with an 
overview of the project (7 p.m.-7:30 p.m.) and will be followed by an 
informal open house period (7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.). The open house 
portion of each public scoping meeting will include redesign displays 
and graphics and will provide an opportunity for one-on-one interaction 
between the representatives of the FAA and the general public. 
Following the open house part of the meeting, a Question and Answer 
session will be provided (8:30 p.m.-9 p.m.). Comments will be received 
via court reporter or written comment forms throughout the duration of 
the meeting.
    In accordance with NEPA coordination requirements, the FAA will 
schedule three meetings that will be dedicated primarily to federal, 
state and local agency staff. These meetings will be scheduled from 1 
to 3 p.m. at the Manhattan, NY, Philadelphia, PA and Trenton, NJ 
meeting locations. Although these meetings will be held primarily for 
the benefit of federal, state, and local agency staff, they will also 
be open to the public. The scoping period begins with this 
announcement. To ensure that all issues are identified, the FAA is 
requesting comments and suggestions on the project scope from all 
interested federal, state, and local agencies and other interested 
parties. In furtherance of this effort, the FAA has established an 
Internet Website that can be accessed at: http://www.faa.gov/region/aea/atsoeaaa/framedoc.htm. Additional information about the New York/
New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project, 
including the scoping meeting schedule and meeting locations can be 
found at this Internet site. Additionally, the FAA will be maintaining 
the following toll free number for general information: 1-866-EISLine 
(1-866-347-5463).
    The FAA will accept written scoping comments through June 29, 2001. 
Such comments should be directed to the following address: New York/New 
Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project, c/o Mr. 
Mike Merrill, PRC Inc., 12005 Sunrise Valley Dr., Reston, VA 20191-
3423. EMAIL: [email protected].

    Issued in Jamaica, New York on January 5, 2001.
F.D. Hatfield,
Manager, Air Traffic Division.
[FR Doc. 01-1859 Filed 1-19-01; 8:45 am]
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