[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 117 (Monday, June 18, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32867-32868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-15329]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Major Investment Study/Draft Environmental Impact Statement for
the Northern Branch Corridor, Bergen County, New Jersey
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a major investment study/draft
environmental impact statement (MIS/DEIS).
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the New Jersey
Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT) intend to prepare a Major Investment
Study/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (MIS/DEIS) to study
transportation access improvements along the Northern Branch corridor
in Bergen County, New Jersey. The MIS/DEIS is being prepared in
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA),
as amended, and implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ) regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the FTA/Federal Highway
Administration's Environmental Impact regulations (23 CFR part 771),
and the FTA/FHWA Statewide Planning/Metropolitan Planning regulations
(23 CFR part 450). This study will also comply with the requirements of
the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, section
4(f) of the 1966 U.S. Department of Transportation Act, the 1990 Clean
Air Act Amendments, the Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice,
and other applicable rules, regulations, and guidance documents.
The purpose of the Northern Branch Corridor MIS/DEIS is to examine
solutions for improving mobility in Bergen County, New Jersey and to
document the social, economic, and environmental impacts of
implementing identified study alternatives. The MIS/DEIS will identify
a preferred alternative that will improve mobility within that region.
The MIS/DEIS will evaluate Baseline Alternative and a Build
Alternative. The Build Alternative under consideration was selected as
a result of the findings of the West Shore Region Alternatives Analysis
Report (December 1999). The Alternatives Analysis Report recommended an
alternative for advancement to the MIS/DEIS phase of the project made
up of the following components: West Shore corridor commuter rail
service via the Meadowlands Sports Complex; Northern Branch corridor
light rail service via Hudson Bergen Light Rail Transit (HBLRT); and
NYS&W corridor light rail service via HBLRT. All three of these
proposed new rail services would involve construction of new
transportation infrastructure, including tracks, stations and yards.
This MIS/DEIS will examine the Northern Branch corridor light rail
service via HBLRT.
DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of the MIS/DEIS
should be sent to NJ TRANSIT by August 15, 2001. See ADDRESSES below.
Scoping Meeting: Public scoping meetings for the Northern Branch
Corridor MIS/DEIS will be held on:
Wednesday, July 11, 2001
3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., John Harms Center for the Arts,
Theater 30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, New Jersey 07631.
Registration to speak will begin at 2:30 p.m. and will remain open
until 4:30 for the afternoon session; registration to speak will begin
at 6:30 p.m. and will remain open until 8:30 p.m. for the evening
session. The scoping meeting will conclude at 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.,
respectively, if there are no remaining registered speakers.
People with special needs should contact Joseph Lombardi at NJ
TRANSIT at the address below or call the study toll-free information
line at 1-866-658-9874. The buildings are accessible to people with
disabilities. A sign language interpreter will be made available for
the hearing impaired by calling the study toll-free information line at
1-866-658-9874.
Scoping material will be available at the meetings and may also be
obtained in advance of the meetings by contacting Joseph Lombardi at
the address below or by calling the study toll-free information line
above. Oral and written comments may be given at the scoping meetings;
a stenographer will record all comments.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the project scope should be sent to
Joseph Lombardi, Project Manager, NJ TRANSIT, One Penn Plaza East,
Newark, NJ 07105-2246. The scoping meetings will be held at the
locations identified above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you wish to be placed on the
mailing list to receive further information as the study develops,
contact Joseph Lombardi at the above address or call the study toll-
free information line at 1-866-658-9874. For further information, you
may also contact: Mr. Irwin B. Kessman, Director, Office of Planning
and Program Development, Federal Transit Administration, Region II, One
Bowling Green, Room 429, New York, New York, 10004-1415; phone: 212-
668-2170, fax: 212-668-2136.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Scoping
The FTA and NJ TRANSIT invite all interested individuals and
organizations, and federal, state, and local agencies to provide
comments on the scope of the study. During the scoping process,
comments should focus on identifying specific social, economic, or
environmental issues to be evaluated and suggesting alternatives, which
may be less costly or have less environmental impacts, while achieving
the similar transportation objectives. Comments should focus on the
issues and alternatives for analysis and not on a preference for a
particular alternative. Scoping materials will be available at the
meetings or in advance of the meetings by contacting Joseph Lombardi at
NJ TRANSIT, as indicated above. The Northern Branch Corridor MIS/DEIS
will be closely coordinated with major regional initiatives and studies
that are related to this effort, including:
Secaucus Transfer Station, a NJ TRANSIT project currently
under construction that will create a connection between the existing
Main, Bergen County, and Pascack Valley Lines with the Northeast
Corridor Line, improving access to Midtown Manhattan and other
destinations;
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit (HBLRT), a NJ TRANSIT
project currently under construction that will create a new light rail
line operating from the Vince Lombardi Park-and-Ride to Bayonne. The
initial segment in Jersey City and Bayonne opened in April 2000;
Newark Airport Station/Monorail Extension, a NJ TRANSIT
project currently under construction that will connect the Northeast
Corridor Line and the Newark Airport Monorail;
West Shore Corridor DEIS, a study by NJ TRANSIT that will
examine the potential benefits, costs, and impacts of alternatives for
improving access in the West Shore study area, including a potential
commuter rail service via the Meadowlands Sports Complex;
[[Page 32868]]
Bergen--Passaic Cross County Corridor DEIS, a study by NJ
TRANSIT that will examine the potential benefits, costs, and impacts of
alternatives for improving access in the NYS&W study area, including a
potential light rail service via the Hudson Bergen Light Rail;
West Haverstraw Extension Study, a study by Rockland
County and NJ TRANSIT examining the potential to extend the West Shore
Commuter Rail service to West Haverstraw, New York;
Access to the Region's Core Study (ARC), a joint study by
NJ TRANSIT, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The ARC study continues to
study access to Midtown Manhattan from points east and west;
Penn Station Access MIS/DEIS, a study by Metro-North to
examine improving access to Penn Station to/from the Metro-North
service area; and
Conrail/CSX/Norfolk Southern Merger, a change in the
ownership of the freight network, dividing the former Conrail holdings
between CSX and Norfolk Southern.
Following the public scoping process, public outreach activities
will include meetings with a Community Liaison Committee (CLC)
established for the study and comprised of community leaders; public
meetings and hearings; distribution of study newsletter(s); and use of
other outreach mechanisms. Every effort will be made to ensure that the
widest possible range of public participants has the opportunity to
attend general public meetings (e.g., scoping meetings and public
hearing(s)) held by NJ TRANSIT to solicit input on the Northern Branch
Corridor MIS/DEIS. Attendance will be sought through mailings, notices,
advertisements, and press releases.
II. Description of Study Area and Transportation Needs
The study area includes the Northern Branch corridor, through
Fairview, Ridgefield, Palisades Park, Leonia, Englewood, and Tenafly in
New Jersey. The purpose of the Northern Branch MIS/DEIS is to examine
solutions for addressing mobility issues in Bergen County, New Jersey,
and to identify a preferred alternative that will improve mobility
within that region. The MIS/DEIS will be conducted in coordination with
other major network expansion proposals under study or construction
within the region. The MIS/DEIS will examine and document the social,
economic, and environmental impacts of implementing identified study
alternatives.
Provision of new transportation service in the Northern Branch
Corridor would address:
Commuting to New York City (trans-Hudson), from Bergen
County;
Inter- and intra-corridor commuting, both to employment
centers within the study corridors, and from the study corridors to
employment locations in other areas of New Jersey; and,
Non-work trips including business, shopping, recreational,
and education to New York City, within the corridor, and to
destinations outside the corridor in New Jersey.
III. Alternatives
The alternatives proposed for evaluation include:
(1) The Baseline Alternative, which includes no-build conditions,
plus any cost-effective transit improvements that can be implemented,
short of the proposed new start alternative. The no-build conditions
involve the current infrastructure of highways, trains, and bus
services, in addition to all ongoing, committed and funded roadway and
transit projects outlined in the State Transportation Improvement
Program (STIP) including projects under construction such as the
Secaucus Transfer Station and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit
(HBLRT). Transit improvements lower in cost than the proposed new start
alternative were also identified for inclusion in the Baseline
Alternative, including a bus component, from Bergen County to the East
Midtown Manhattan.
(2) The Build Alternative, Northern Branch light rail service via
HBLRT. The Build Alternative will involve construction of new
transportation infrastructure, including tracks, stations and yards.
Additional reasonable Build alternatives suggested during the scoping
process, including those involving other modes, may be considered.
IV. Probable Effects
The FTA and NJ TRANSIT will evaluate all potential changes to the
social, economic, and physical environment, including air quality,
noise and vibration, traffic, parking, transit, pedestrians and freight
rail, energy and potential for conservation, electric and magnetic
fields, safety and security, water quality, wetlands, flooding,
navigable waterways and coastal zones, ecologically sensitive areas,
endangered species, hazardous waste, land acquisition and
displacements, land use, zoning and economic development, consistency
with local plans, historic properties and resources, parkland,
archaeology, aesthetics, community disruption, environmental justice,
construction impacts, and cumulative impacts. Key areas of
environmental concern would be in the areas of potential new
construction (e.g. new stations, new track, etc.). The impacts will be
evaluated both for the construction period and for the long-term period
of operation of each alternative. Measures to mitigate any significant
adverse impacts will be identified.
V. FTA Procedures
The DEIS will be prepared in conjunction with a major investment
study and will document the results of that study, including an
evaluation of the potential social, economic, and environmental impacts
of the alternatives. Upon completion, the MIS/DEIS will be available
for public and agency review and comment. Public hearing(s) will be
held within the study area. On the basis of the MIS/DEIS and the public
and agency comments received, a locally preferred alternative will be
selected, to be further detailed in the final EIS.
Issued on: June 13, 2001.
Letitia Thompson,
Regional Administrator, TRO-II, Federal Transit Administration.
[FR Doc. 01-15329 Filed 6-15-01; 8:45 am]
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