[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 75 (Friday, April 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19207-19208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-9625]


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ENVIORNMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[ER-FRL-6639-5]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Comprehensive Port Improvement Plan Within the Port of New York 
(NY) and New Jersey (NJ)

AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers (USACE), and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) acting as 
Federal co-lead agencies.

ACTION: Federal co-lead agencies submit this Notice of Intent to 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Comprehensive Port 
Improvement Plan (CPIP-EIS) that may be adopted as state or local 
equivalent documents. The CPIP-EIS will be prepared concurrently with a 
CPIP Plan (CPIP-Plan) for the Port of NY and NJ (Port); the CPIP-Plan 
will be prepared by a Consortium, consisting of the Port Authority of 
NY and NJ, the OMR/NJDOT, NYESDC, and NY City Economic Development 
Corporation (NYCEDC). The CPIP-Plan and CPIP-EIS will: seek to define 
economically viable and environmentally sound Port facility and 
associated transportation network improvement initiatives to the year 
2060; consider separate, ongoing, and planned environmental 
enhancements to natural resources of the Port and associated 
transportation network; incorporate Green Port principles to the 
maximum extent practicable; evaluate, avoid, minimize, and mitigate 
adverse environmental effects.

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    Schedule: Scoping will begin in April 2003 with interviews and 
public announcements to encourage a large turnout for subsequent 
meetings which will follow in June 2003.
    Six scoping meetings for the CPIP EIS are planned to solicit 
comments, to determine the scope of issues, and to identify significant 
issues related to the proposed action. Formal comments may be given at 
the scoping meetings and a court reporter will be available to record 
comments. Scoping will conclude 30 days after the final scoping meeting 
(about late September 2003).
    Services: Meeting locations will be accessible to people with 
disabilities. People with special disability related needs should 
contact the NEPA Coordinator for the CPIP at the address or phone 
number below. Reading materials will be available at meetings and may 
be obtained in advance by contacting the NEPA Coordinator for the CPIP, 
or visiting www.cpiponline.org.
    For further information about Scoping, or the CPIP-EIS process, 
please contact the NEPA Coordinator for the CPIP at: Lorne LaMonica, 
NEPA Coordinator for the CPIP, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Environmental Review Section, 25th Fl., 290 Broadway NY, NY 10007. 
Phone: 1-866-877-CPIP (2747); E-mail: [email protected].
    For your information, the Federal Co-Lead agency contacts are 
listed below:
    Dave Carlson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental 
Review Section, 25th Fl., 290 Broadway, NY, NY 10007.
    Nancy J. Brighton, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, 
26 Federal Plaza, Room 2146, NY, NY 10278-0090.
    Richard E. Backlund, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, One Bowling Green, Room 428, NY, NY 
10004-1415.

Summary Information

    Authority--Authority for completion of the CPIP-EIS for each agency 
can be found at: EPA--Title 40 CFR part 6, FR: October 29, 1998, Number 
209; USACE--33 U.S.C. 403, 33 U.S.C. 1344, and 33 U.S.C. 1413; FHWA--
Title 23 CFR part 771; OMR/NJDOT--Executive Order (EO) No. 215 of 1989, 
23 CFR Part 771.109, NJ CZM Rules, N.J.A.C. 7:7E; NYESDC--6 NYCRR PART 
617 SEQR, ECL Sections 3-0301(1)(b), 3-0301(2)(m) and 8-0113.
    Estimated Date of Draft EIS Release--Summer of 2004.

[[Page 19208]]

    Purpose and Need for Action--The NY and NJ Harbor Navigation Study 
(HNS), prepared by the USACE in 1999, projected a substantial increase 
in the amount of containerized cargo destined for the Port over the 
period to 2060. The ability of existing Port facilities to handle 
future cargo volumes as forecast in the HNS indicates that the Port 
facilities and associated transportation network may need to make 
future additional improvements, beyond those currently planned, to 
efficiently manage projected cargo over that period. Other studies 
concerning the Port, prepared by various federal, state and local 
stakeholders, have identified plans to increase Port capacity and have 
highlighted a number of environmental issues of concern to the Port and 
regional area. The CPIP-Plan will consider the Port region as a 
complete system, and will seek to develop a port-wide plan that is 
economically efficient and environmentally sustainable, and considers 
environmental restoration efforts in the region; the CPIP-EIS will 
evaluate potential impacts of various Federal, state, and local port 
and transportation improvement strategies to achieve this.
    Study Area--Study areas for the analysis of impacts of port and 
transportation improvement alternatives at existing, and potentially 
new, port facilities will encompass the port sites' premises and 
vicinities, and, at a minimum, the Port District.
    Alternatives--The CPIP-EIS will evaluate a variety of alternatives, 
including, but not limited to: the no-action alternative; facility 
productivity and efficiency enhancements and improvements; facility 
expansion; new terminal facilities sited either in uplands or through 
placement of fill in waters and wetlands; and combinations of these 
alternatives. Consideration of alternatives will include identification 
and evaluation of improvements to the transportation infrastructure 
serving the Port. The CPIP-EIS will analyze direct, indirect and 
cumulative impacts of each alternative.
    Scoping--Comments should focus on social, economic, or 
environmental issues to be evaluated; and on identifying the 
alternatives that may achieve both economic and environmental goals.
    Public Involvement--Activities may include stakeholder and 
community meetings, open houses with technical staff, workgroups/
workshops, a web site, and project fact sheets and newsletters.
    Issues for Analysis--The CPIP-EIS will evaluate potential changes 
to the social, economic, and physical environment that would result 
with the defined project alternatives, including: land use and zoning; 
socioeconomics; parklands; historic and archeological resources; 
aesthetics; traffic and transportation; air quality; noise; navigation; 
floodplains and hydrology; topography, geology, and soils; wetlands and 
special aquatic sites; wildlife and waterfowl refuges; water quality; 
groundwater and sole source aquifers; aquatic and terrestrial ecology; 
endangered and threatened species; resource contamination and hazardous 
waste sites; and environmental justice. Impacts will be evaluated both 
for the construction period and for the long-term operation period of 
each alternative. Measures to mitigate any significant adverse impacts 
will be identified.
    Responsible Official--

    Dated: March 11, 2003.
Anne Norton Miller,
Director, OFA.
[FR Doc. 03-9625 Filed 4-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P