[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 131 (Wednesday, July 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41039-41040]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-17366]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Environmental Impact Statement on a Light Rail Transit Extension 
From Sierra Madre Villa Station in Pasadena to Montclair in 
Metropolitan Los Angeles, CA

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Los Angeles 
to Pasadena Metro Blue Line Construction Authority (referred to 
hereafter as the Gold Line Construction Authority) intend to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for transit improvements between 
Pasadena and Montclair in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties in 
California. The EIS will be prepared as a joint EIS and Environmental 
Impact Report (EIR) to satisfy the requirements of both NEPA and the 
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
    The purpose of this notice is to notify interested individuals, 
organizations, and business entities, affected Native American Tribes, 
and Federal, State, and local governmental agencies of the intent to 
prepare an EIS/EIR and to invite participation in the study. At 
present, four alternatives are proposed for evaluation in the EIS/EIR. 
These alternatives were developed during a Planning Alternatives 
Analysis undertaken by the Gold Line Construction Authority and the San 
Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG) in 2001-2002. In 
addition, reasonable alternatives identified through the scoping 
process will be evaluated in the EIS/EIR.
    Scoping will be accomplished through correspondence and discussions 
with interested persons, organizations, and Federal, State, and local 
agencies, and through public and agency meetings. FTA intends to invite 
the SGVCOG, the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG), the Los 
Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), and the 
Federal Railroad Administration to be cooperating agencies in preparing 
the NEPA documents.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR, 
including the alternatives and impacts to be considered, must be 
received no later that August 1, 2003. Written comments should be sent 
to the Gold Line Construction Authority at the address given below in 
ADDRESSES.
    Scoping Meeting Dates: Four public open-house scoping meetings will 
be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on July 15, 16, 17, and 21, 2003 at 
locations given below in ADDRESSES. An interagency scoping meeting will 
also be held on July 22, 2003, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Gold Line 
Construction Authority offices, 625 Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 200, South 
Pasadena, CA 91030

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Susan Hodor, Gold Line 
Construction Authority, 625 Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 200, South 
Pasadena, California 91030; phone: (626) 403-5500; fax: (626) 799-8599. 
Information on the project may be obtained from the Gold Line 
Construction Authority by faxing a request to Susan Hodor at (626) 799-
8599 or by e-mail at [email protected] or by visiting the 
project Web site at http://www.metrogoldline.org.
    The public open-house scoping meetings will be held at the 
following four locations. Identical information about the proposed 
project will be provided at each of the meetings and interested parties 
may participate at any of the meetings. There will be no formal 
presentation at the open-house scooping meetings; members of the public 
are invited to attend at any time between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on these 
dates:

July 15, 2003: City Hall, City of San Dimas, 245 E. Bonita Ave., San 
Dimas, CA 91773.
July 16, 2003: City Hall, City of Claremont, 207 Harvard Ave., 
Claremont, CA 91711.
July 17, 2003: Public Library--Community Room, City of South Pasadena, 
1115 El Centro Street, South Pasadena, CA 91030.
July 21, 2003: City Hall, City of Arcadia, 240 W. Huntington Drive, 
Arcadia, CA 91007.

    All meeting locations are accessible to people with disabilities. 
Any individual with a disability who requires special assistance, such 
as a sign language interpreter or a translator, should contact Susan 
Hodor at (626) 403-5500 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting so 
that arrangements can be made.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ervin Poka, Team Leader, or Mr. 
Ray Tellis, Program Specialist, FTA/FHWA Metropolitan Office, 888 S. 
Figueroa St. (Suite 1850), Los Angeles, California 90017; phone: (213) 
202-3950; fax: (213) 202-3961.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Description of Study Area and Scope

    The purpose of the proposed action is to improve east-west mobility 
across the 24-mile long corridor in the San Gabriel Valley, to relieve 
congestion on existing transportation facilities, to increase 
connections to work and educational destinations within the San Gabriel 
Valley and the Los Angeles region, to support economic revitalization 
in each city along the corridor, and to contribute to the preservation 
and enhancement of the natural environment. The corridor includes the 
cities: Pasadena, Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, Azusa, 
Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont, and Montclair; and 
the counties: Los Angeles and San Bernardino.

II. Alternatives

    The alternatives proposed for evaluation in the EIS/EIR were 
developed during a Planning Alternatives Analysis that began in 
September 2001 and continued through June 2002. The Planning 
Alternatives Analysis can be reviewed on the project Web site: http://www.metrogoldline.org. The Planning Alternatives Analysis looked at 
transportation conditions and possible solutions for improving mobility 
across the 24-mile long corridor from Pasadena to Claremont. Seven 
alternatives were examined in this study and screened down to a Locally 
Preferred Alternative (LPA) selected by the Gold Line Construction 
Authority and the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG). 
The LPA is a continuation of the light rail transit (LRT) technology 
from the existing Sierra Madre Villa LRT station in Pasadena to the 
Claremont Transit Center. The Sierra Madre Villa LRT

[[Page 41040]]

station is the eastern terminus of the ``Phase I area'', in which LRT 
service was implemented from Los Angeles, through South Pasadena, to 
Pasadena. A further extension to the City of Montclair was subsequently 
added to the scope of the EIS/EIR.
    The EIS/EIR will evaluate a No-Action alternative, a Transportation 
System Management/Transportation Demand Management (TSM/TDM) 
alternative, the LRT LPA to Montclair, and a shorter LRT alternative 
from the existing Sierra Madre Villa station to the City of Irwindale. 
Alternative locations for a LRT maintenance and storage facility will 
also be evaluated. The LRT alternatives would use the former BNSF 
railroad right-of-way now owned by the Gold Line Construction Authority 
and the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG). There are still 
a few freight movements that occur on the railroad line. The EIS/EIR 
will examine operating scenarios to determine whether time-separated 
joint-use can occur or whether freight operations must be supplanted. 
The No-Action Alternative is the continuation of existing bus service 
policies in the study area. Under the No-Action Alternative, increases 
in service would track with increases in demand due to population or 
employment growth in the area, in accordance with current transit 
service policies. The TSM/TDM Alternative consists of low-cost mobility 
improvements that attempt to serve the project purpose and need without 
building a transit guideway. The TSM/TDM alternative will be developed 
by the Gold Line Construction Authority in consultation with FTA to 
serve as the New Starts baseline for comparing the LPA to other 
projects nationwide competing for New Starts funding. Any additional 
alternatives that emerge during the scoping of the EIS/EIR, especially 
alternatives that reduce costs or impacts while providing comparable 
transportation benefit, will also be considered.

III. Probable Effects

    The Planning Alternatives Analysis included a screening process to 
identify potential environmental impacts. This screening indicated the 
areas of probable effects of the project would be air quality, cultural 
resources, land use, noise and vibration, and traffic. Most impacts 
appear likely to occur in the vicinity of proposed stations and at the 
maintenance yard sites. Noise impacts, however, are possible along the 
entire corridor because of numerous at-grade crossings that would 
require the sounding of warning horns and the actuation of grade-
crossing warning devices as LRT vehicles move through the intersection. 
The full range of environmental topics will be evaluated in the EIS/
EIR. The EIS/EIR will also evaluate whether the proposed LRT extension 
would generate environmental impacts in the Phase I area (Los Angeles, 
South Pasadena, and Pasadena).

IV. FTA Procedures

    In accordance with FTA policy, all federal laws, regulations and 
executive orders affecting project development, including but not 
limited to the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality and 
FTA implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and 23 CFR part 771), the 
conformity requirements of the Clean Air Act, section 404 of the Clean 
Water Act, Executive Orders 11988, 11990 and 12898 regarding 
floodplains, wetlands, and environmental justice, respectively, the 
National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and 
section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act, will be addressed 
to the maximum extent practicable during the NEPA process.
    The Draft EIS/EIR for the Gold Line Light Rail Extension from the 
Sierra Madre Villa Station in Pasadena to Montclair will be based on 
conceptual engineering of the alternatives, including stations, 
maintenance and storage facilities, and alignment options. Station 
designs, maintenance and storage facility layouts, and alignment 
options as well as operational elements, will be refined to minimize 
and mitigate any adverse impacts.
    After its publication, the Draft EIS/EIR will be available for 
public review and comment, and one or more public hearings will be 
held. The actions taken in response to the comments on the Draft EIS/
EIR will be presented in the Final EIS/EIR, which will be based on 
preliminary engineering of the LPA and other surviving alternatives.

    Issued on: July 2, 2003.
Leslie T. Rogers,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 03-17366 Filed 7-8-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P