[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 129 (Monday, July 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40289-40290]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-17164]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4491-N-12]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Generic Environmental Impact 
Statement for the World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan in 
the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, NY and Notice of Public 
Scoping Meeting and Scoping Comment Period

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and implementing regulations of the 
Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the Lower 
Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), a subsidiary of the Empire 
State Development Corporation (a political subdivision and public 
benefit corporation of the State of New York), has determined to 
prepare a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for the World 
Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan in order to evaluate 
related components of the Plan as a single program. The GEIS will be 
prepared as a joint NEPA and New York State Environmental Quality 
Review Act (SEQRA) document intended to satisfy the requirements of 
both federal and state environmental statutes, including 6 NYCRR 
617.10(a). This notice is given in accordance with the provisions and 
requirements of 40 CFR parts 1500-1508.
    Lead Agency: In accordance with section 104(g) of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304(g)) and HUD's 
regulations under 24 CFR part 58 (Environmental Review Procedures for 
Entities Assuming HUD Environmental Responsibilities), HUD has 
authorized LMDC to assume authority as the NEPA Responsible Entity. The 
GEIS will also be prepared in cooperation with The Port Authority of 
New York and New Jersey (Port Authority). LMDC is the SEQRA Lead 
Agency. Federal agencies with jurisdiction by law, special expertise, 
or other special interest should report their interest and indicate 
their willingness to participate in the GEIS process as a Cooperating 
Agency.

ADDRESSES: Notice of intent to prepare a GEIS is hereby given and all 
interested federal, state, and local agencies, groups, and the public 
are invited to comment on the Draft Scope of the GEIS. Written comments 
on the Draft Scope are requested and will be accepted until 5 p.m. 
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on August 4, 2003, at the following 
address:

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Attention: Comments WTC 
Memorial and Redevelopment Plan/DGEIS, One Liberty Plaza, New York, NY 
10006.

    Written comments may also be submitted until 5 p.m. EDT on August 
4, 2003, on LMDC's website, www.RenewNYC.com, in ``Planning, Design & 
Development.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Further information and a copy of the 
Draft Scope may be obtained by contacting Avalon Simon, Legal 
Assistant, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, One Liberty Plaza, 
New York, NY 10006; Telephone: (212) 962-2300; Fax: (212) 962-2431; E-
mail: [email protected]. A copy of the Draft Scope is also 
available on LMDC's website: www.RenewNYC.com in ``Planning, Design & 
Development.''

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background

    The Proposed Action contemplates the construction of a World Trade 
Center memorial and memorial-related improvements, up to 10 million 
square feet of commercial office space, up to one million square feet 
of retail space, up to one million square feet of conference center and 
hotel facilities, new open space areas, museum and cultural facilities 
and certain infrastructure improvements at the World Trade Center site 
(WTC Site). The WTC Site is bounded generally by Church Street on the 
east, Liberty Street on the south, West Street on the west and Vesey 
Street on the north.
    The proposed design for the 16-acre former WTC Site would divide it 
into unequal quadrants in the context of new street configurations: 
Fulton Street would run east-west through the site and Greenwich Street 
would run north-south through the site.
    The memorial district would encompass the area where the World 
Trade Center Towers once stood in the southwest quadrant. It would be a 
sunken area revealing the ``slurry'' wall on the west side of the WTC 
Site. The preferred memorial design will be identified in the fall of 
2003 and will be described in more detail in the GEIS. Pedestrian 
access would be provided from September 11 Place at the southwest 
corner of Fulton and Greenwich Streets, from Greenwich Street halfway 
down the block south to Liberty Street, and from Liberty Street near 
West Street. A museum and other cultural facilities would also be 
provided on the southwest quadrant.
    The northwest quadrant would be the location of the 1776 Freedom 
Tower (a 1,776-foot-tall structure), Heroes Park, office space, ground 
floor retail, and a performing arts center.
    The northeast corner of the WTC Site would be the location of a 
hotel and office building with ground floor retail. In the southeast 
quadrant will be an open space area called the Wedge of Light and two 
office towers with street level retail and access to lower level retail 
on either side of a pedestrian passageway, Cortlandt Way, extending the 
view corridor of Cortlandt Street west through the WTC Site.
    The portions of the Proposed Action scheduled for initial 
development include the memorial, memorial-related improvements and 
museum and cultural facilities, the 1776 Freedom Tower, and certain of 
the retail uses described above. LMDC, the Port Authority, the Port 
Authority's net lessees, and Studio Daniel Libeskind are

[[Page 40290]]

working together to develop design guidelines for these structures.
    Alternatives that will be looked at in the GEIS will include a no-
build alternative and a reasonable range of other alternatives, such as 
design alternatives or, if feasible, a '''no impact'' or ``reduced 
impact'' alternative that might accomplish LMDC's goals for the 
Proposed Action, as well as additional alternatives generated by the 
scoping process.

B. Need for the GEIS

    The proposed project may constitute an action significantly 
affecting the quality of the human environment. Therefore, the lead 
agency has elected to prepare a GEIS pursuant to 24 CFR part 58 and 
Article 8 of SEQRA and the Regulations promulgated pursuant thereto at 
6 NYCRR part 617. Responses to this notice will be used to: (1) 
determine significant environmental issues; (2) assist in developing 
the range of alternatives to be considered; (3) identify interested 
parties that would like to participate in the GEIS process.

C. Scoping

    Two public comment meetings on the Draft Scope have been scheduled 
for Wednesday, July 23, 2003, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT and from 6 p.m. 
to 9 p.m. EDT at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center at the Borough of 
Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street (between Greenwich and 
West Streets), New York, NY. The public meeting site is accessible to 
the mobility-impaired. Interpreter services will be available for the 
hearing-impaired upon advance request. Public comments on the Draft 
Scope will be solicited at the meetings. Following the public meetings 
on the Draft Scope, the public comment period on the Draft Scope will 
remain open for written comments, which must be received by LMDC by 5 
p.m. EDT on August 4, 2003. Comments should be sent to:

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation,
Attention: Comments WTC Memorial and Redevelopment Plan/DGEIS,
One Liberty Plaza,
New York, NY 10006.

    Comments on the Draft Scope may also be submitted until 5 p.m. EDT 
on August 4, 2003, on LMDC's website: www.RenewNYC.com in ``Planning, 
Design & Development'' (visit http://www.renewnyc.com/plan_des_dev/frm_comments.asp, then choose the category ``Environmental/Plan 
Review'').
    The Draft Scope will be sent to known interested parties and others 
requesting copies in advance of the public comment meeting on the Draft 
Scope. The Draft Scope for the Proposed Action may be viewed at 
www.RenewNYC.com in the section on ``Planning, Design & Development.''

D. GEIS Issues

    The Draft Scope identifies the following areas for potential 
discussion in the GEIS: land use and public policy, socioeconomic 
conditions; community facilities and services; open space areas and 
recreational facilities; shadows, historic resources, urban design/
visual resources; neighborhood character; hazardous materials; 
infrastructure, solid waste and sanitation and energy; traffic and 
parking/transit and pedestrians; air quality; noise; coastal zone; 
floodplain impacts; construction impacts; and environmental justice.
    Questions may be directed to the contact person listed above under 
the heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Dated: July 1, 2003.
Roy A. Bernardi,
Assistant Secretary for Community, Planning and Development.
[FR Doc. 03-17164 Filed 7-3-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-29-P