[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 6, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67684-67686]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-28245]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Environmental Impact Statement for the Salt Lake City--Weber 
County Regional Transportation Corridor Project

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), in cooperation with 
the Utah Transit Authority (UTA), is issuing this notice to advise 
interested agencies and the public that, in accordance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) will be prepared for the proposed Salt Lake City--Weber 
County Regional Transportation Corridor project located in Weber, 
Davis, and Salt Lake Counties, Utah. An Environmental Impact Statement 
will be prepared to evaluate transportation improvements, including a 
potential commuter rail line, in the Salt Lake City-Weber County 
Regional Transportation Corridor.
    A commuter rail transit alternative (i.e., the Build Alternative), 
a No-Build Alternative, and any additional alternatives emerging from 
the Scoping Process will be evaluated. The EIS will consider any 
reasonable alternatives identified during scoping that provide similar 
transportation benefits while reducing or avoiding adverse impacts. 
Scoping will be accomplished through coordination with interested 
persons, organizations, and federal, state and local agencies. Three 
(3) public scoping meetings, one meeting in each of the three counties, 
and one (1) interagency scoping meeting are currently planned.
    Based on the results of the Scoping Process, FTA will make the 
following determinations regarding the environmental review under NEPA:
    1. Identification of environmental issues to be addressed;
    2. Refinement of the alternatives for evaluation.

DATES: Public and agency scoping meetings will be held November 15 to 
22, 2002.

Agency Scoping Meeting: November 15, 2002.
Public Scoping Meeting: November 19, 2002.
Public Scoping Meeting: November 20, 2002.
Public Scoping Meeting: November 21, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the project should be sent to Michelle 
Rust, Strategic Planner, Utah Transit Authority, 3600 South 700 West, 
Salt Lake City, Utah 84130 (801) 262-5626, ext. 3255.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Don Cover, Federal Transit 
Administration, 216-16th Street, Suite 650, Denver, Colorado 80202. 
Phone: (303)844-2174.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

    UTA will hold the Interagency Scoping meeting November 15, 2002 
from 8:30 A.M to 10:30 A.M. at UTA's Meadowbrook Offices, in the Board 
Room, located at 3600 South 700 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84130. This 
location is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Individuals 
with special needs should contact Sherry L. Repscher, ADA Compliance 
Officer,

[[Page 67685]]

UTA, 3600 South 700 West, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130 (801)-262-5626.
    UTA will hold the following Public Scoping Meetings:
    1. November 19, 2002 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Davis County 
Library-North Branch located at 562 South 1000 East, Clearfield, UT 
84015. This location is accessible to individuals with disabilities. 
Individuals with special needs should contact Sherry L. Repscher, ADA 
Compliance Officer, UTA, 3600 South 700 West, Salt Lake City, Utah 
84130 (801)-262-5626.
    2. November 20, 2002 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Union Pacific 
Depot at the Gateway, located at 450 West 100 South, Salt Lake City, 
Utah 84101. The meeting location is service by the UTA TRAX Delta 
Center Station and is accessible to individuals with disabilities.
    3. November 21, 2002 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Ogden Union 
Station located at 2501 Wall Avenue, Ogden, Utah 84401. This location 
is also accessible to individuals with disabilities.
    Interested individuals, organizations, and public agencies are 
invited to attend the Scoping Meetings. The purpose of the Scoping 
Meetings is: (1) To determine the scope of the NEPA evaluation 
including the identification of significant environmental or community 
issues and alternatives that would reduce or eliminate adverse impacts; 
and (2) to eliminate issues which are not significant or which have 
already been evaluated by the prior environmental review, the Inter-
Regional Corridor Alternatives Analysis. An information packet, 
referred to as the Scoping Booklet, will be distributed to all public 
agencies and interested individuals and will be available at the 
meetings. Others may request the Scoping Booklet by contacting Michelle 
Rust of UTA at the address listed above in ADDRESSES.
    If you wish to be placed on the mailing list to receive further 
information as the project develops, contact: Michelle Rust, Strategic 
Planner, Utah Transit Authority, 3600 South 700 West, Salt Lake City, 
Utah 84130 (801) 262-5626, ext. 3255.

II. Description of the Study Area and Project Need

    The Weber County to Salt Lake City project corridor is centered on 
an existing rail corridor through Weber, Davis, and Salt Lake Counties. 
During the preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) UTA plans to submit an initial section 5309 New Starts evaluation 
to FTA in accordance with 49 CFR part 611, and request FTA approval to 
initiate Preliminary Engineering for the proposed commuter rail line. 
The Final EIS will reflect the results of Preliminary Engineering.
    Recent passage of a \1/4\ cent regional sales tax increase 
indicates broad public support for expansion and improvement of transit 
services throughout Weber, Salt Lake, and Davis Counties. The project 
has undergone more than five years of planning and alternatives 
analysis conducted by the two Metropolitan Planning Organizations, 
Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) and Mountainland Association of 
Governments (MAG), in association with UDOT and UTA. It has been 
included in the financially constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan 
most recently adopted by WFRC, in September 2001.

III. Alternatives

    The Utah Transit Authority, the Wasatch Front Regional Council, the 
Mountainlands Association of Governments, and the Utah Department of 
Transportation conducted an alternatives analysis entitled the Inter-
Regional Corridor Alternatives Analysis which looked at transit 
alternatives in a corridor from Brigham City to Payson in Utah. The 
alternatives considered included commuter rail, light rail and express 
bus. While the corridor covered by the Inter-Regional Corridor 
Alternatives Analysis was longer than the project proposed, the Study 
did completely encompass the Salt Lake City to Weber County corridor 
now being studied and recommended that the Commuter Rail Alternative be 
pursued. The Inter-Regional Corridor Alternatives Analysis (IRCAA) 
concluded that light rail and bus alternatives should be eliminated 
from further consideration. The analysis of the IRCAA will be 
incorporated into the EIS. During Scoping, that document is available 
for public review by contacting Michelle Rust of UTA at the address and 
phone number given above in ADDRESSES.
    UTA and FTA are planning to evaluate the following two alternatives 
(and any others that emerge as the result of scoping) in the EIS:
    [sbull] No Build Alternative: This alternative assumes that there 
will be no change in transportation services or facilities in the 
corridor beyond already committed projects. It includes the highway and 
transit improvements defined in the two MPOs' financially constrained 
Long-Range Transportation Plans but with the proposed commuter rail 
project removed and replaced by bus service comparable to the bus 
service levels in other similar parts of the metropolitan area. It 
includes the recently completed Intermodal Center in Ogden and the 
Intermodal Center in Salt Lake City, which is under development.
    [sbull] Build Alternative: The Build Alternative consists of new 
commuter rail service from northern Weber County, through the recently 
completed Intermodal Center in Ogden to the Intermodal Center in Salt 
Lake City, which is under development. Intermediate stops are planned 
along the route. Ridership and costs have been estimated with the 
assumption that peak period and off-peak service would be provided in 
both directions along the line, even though the majority of the line 
will have single track. The distance between Ogden and Salt Lake City 
is approximately 37 miles.

IV. Probable Effects/Potential Impacts for Analysis

    Among the primary transit issues to be evaluated are the effects on 
transit ridership and mobility for the corridor's transit dependent 
residents, the role of the project in a regional transit network that 
supports the region's air quality goals, capital outlays needed to 
construct the project, cost of operating and maintaining the facilities 
created by the project, and the financial impacts on the funding 
agencies.
    In accordance with NEPA, the impacts on potentially affected 
environmental and social resources will be considered, including land 
use and neighborhood impacts, residential and business displacements 
and relocations, traffic and parking impacts near stations, traffic 
circulation, visual impacts, impacts on cultural and archaeological 
resources, and noise and vibration impacts. Impacts on air and water 
quality, groundwater, hazardous waste sites, and water resources will 
also be examined. The impacts will be evaluated both for the 
construction period and for the long-term period of operation to 
include direct, indirect, and cumulative analysis. Measures to mitigate 
adverse impacts will be considered.

V. FTA Procedures

    The EIS will be prepared in accordance with NEPA and its 
implementing regulations including those of the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), 
and the FTA regulation on environmental procedures shared with the 
Federal Highway Administration (23 CFR part 771). The NEPA process will 
also be used to comply with the requirements of the Clean Air Act 
Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) and with Executive Order

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12898 on Environmental Justice. After publication, the draft NEPA 
document will be available for comment by the public and other 
agencies. The final NEPA review will consider the public and agency 
comments received during the public circulation of the draft EIS, will 
refine the project as appropriate in response to the comments, will 
continue with Preliminary Engineering of the Project, and will develop 
the preferred alternative, including committed mitigation measures. 
Opportunity for additional public comment will be provided throughout 
all phases of the project development, and will be announced through 
the mailing list, on the project Web site, or by other means.

    Issued on: October 30, 2002.
Lee O. Waddleton,
Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Administration.
[FR Doc. 02-28245 Filed 11-5-02; 8:45 am]
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