[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 168 (Friday, August 29, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52049-52050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21954]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2003-15797]


Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Lake 
Washington Ship Canal Bridge and Proposed Modification of the Duwamish 
Waterway Bridge

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability; notice of public hearing; and request 
for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) for the Seattle Monorail 
Project ``Green Line'' monorail in Seattle, Washington. The Draft EIS 
has been prepared in cooperation with the Seattle Monorail Project, 
which is a municipal transportation agency of the State of Washington 
and is proposing the transit project analyzed in the Draft EIS. The 
Coast Guard and the Seattle Monorail Project agreed to prepare this 
Draft EIS to satisfy the requirements of both the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Washington State Environmental 
Policy Act (SEPA) for the proposed Green Line monorail project. We 
request your comments on the Statement. The Coast Guard will hold a 
public hearing to receive comments on the Draft EIS. The proposed 
location of the bridge is across the Lake Washington Ship Canal, 
approximate milepoint 1.0, at Seattle, Washington. The proposed bridge 
modification is across the Duwamish Waterway, approximate milepoint 
0.3, at Seattle, Washington. The hearing will allow interested persons 
to present comments and information concerning the impact of the 
proposed bridgework on navigation and the human environment. Because 
the Coast Guard is using the EIS process to also conduct public 
outreach under the National Historic Preservation Act, this public 
hearing is also an opportunity for the public to comment on the 
proposed project's impacts to cultural resources, such as historic 
resources or archaeological resources.

DATES: This hearing will be held on Monday, September 29, 2003, with an 
afternoon and evening session. The afternoon session will begin 
promptly at 1 p.m. and adjourn at 3 p.m. The evening session will begin 
promptly at 5 p.m. and adjourn when all evening speakers have spoken. 
Requests to speak, with session preference, and requests for services 
must be received in the Bridge Section at the address given under 
ADDRESSES by September 22, 2003. Attendees at the hearing, who wish to 
present testimony and have not previously made a request to do so, will 
follow those having submitted a request, as time permits. Comments 
pertaining to the Draft EIS must be received by the docket October 14, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: To make sure that your comments and related material are not 
entered more than once in the docket, please submit them by only one of 
the following means:
    (1) Electronically through the Web site for the Docket Management 
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
    (2) By mail to the Docket Management Facility, (USCG-2003-15797), 
U.S. Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
    (4) By delivery to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this 
notice. Comments and material received from the public, as well as the 
Draft EIS, will become part of this docket and will be available for 
inspection or copying at room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. You may also find 
this docket, including the Draft EIS, on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.
    The hearing will be held at the Northwest Rooms, Seattle Center, 
305 Harrison Street, Seattle, Washington. The Northwest Rooms are near 
the northwest corner of the Seattle Center campus, just to the north of 
the Key Arena.
    The Coast Guard point of contact is Mr. Austin Pratt, Bridge 
Section, Commander (oan), Thirteenth Coast Guard District, 915 Second 
Avenue, Room 3510, Seattle, WA 98174-1067.
    Requests to receive copies of the Draft EIS should be sent to the 
Seattle Monorail Project, ATTN: Mr. Ross Macfarlane, 1904 Third Avenue, 
Suite 105, Seattle, WA 98101. Alternatively, the Draft EIS is available 
on the Internet at http://www.elevated.org. Copies are also available 
for inspection at the offices of the Seattle Monorail Project, 1904 
Third Avenue, Suite 105, Seattle, WA 98191 (telephone (206) 328-1220), 
and are available at the City of Seattle public libraries, and at the 
U.S. Coast Guard Bridge Section address given under ADDRESSES.
    Comments, including names and home addresses, may be published as 
part of the Final EIS. If you wish to withhold your name or street 
address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent 
allowed by law. All submissions from organizations and businesses, and 
from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials 
of organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection 
in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
the proposed project, or the associated Draft EIS, call Mr. Austin 
Pratt, Bridge Administrator, telephone (206) 220-7282. Information may 
also be obtained from the Seattle Monorail Project, 1904 Third Avenue, 
Suite 105, Seattle, WA 98101, telephone (206) 382-1220. Information, 
including copies of the Draft EIS, is available over the Internet at 
the Seattle Monorail Project Web site: http://www.elevated.org. If you 
have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call 
Dorothy Beard, Chief, Dockets, Department of

[[Page 52050]]

Transportation, telephone 202-366-5149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the 
Draft EIS. If you do so, please include your name and address, identify 
the docket number for this notice (USCG-2003-15797) and give the 
reasons for each comment. You may submit your comments and material by 
mail, hand delivery, fax, or electronic means to the Docket Management 
Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit your 
comments and material by only one means. If you submit them by mail or 
hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ 
by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit 
them by mail and would like to know they reached the Facility, please 
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will 
consider all comments and material received during the comment period.

Proposed Action

    The project under consideration is a 14-mile monorail line in 
Seattle, Washington, that will provide transit service serving a number 
of Seattle communities and destinations. The project is being proposed 
by the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority (also known as Seattle 
Monorail Project or SMP), which is a city transportation authority 
organized under Washington Revised Code Chapter 35.95A. The Green Line 
would use traditional monorail technology, which consists of linked 
train cars straddling an elevated guideway beam that provides electric 
power to propel the train cars. Green Line trains would run on rubber 
tires that are locked into the beams and would be operated 
automatically and not require drivers.
    The Green Line includes a new bridge crossing of the Lake 
Washington Ship Canal (near the existing Ballard Bridge), for which a 
bridge permit from the Coast Guard and environmental review pursuant to 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are required. A crossing 
of the Duwamish Waterway on the existing West Seattle High-Rise Bridge 
is proposed, and may also require a bridge permit from the Coast Guard 
depending on final design drawings. Comments regarding impacts that the 
proposed Green Line bridgework may have on navigation of the Lake 
Washington Ship Canal or the Duwamish Waterway will be of particular 
relevance to the Coast Guard's bridge permitting responsibilities. In 
order to evaluate indirect and cumulative environmental impacts of the 
Coast Guard's bridge permit actions, the Coast Guard and the SMP have 
agreed that the scope of NEPA review should be the entire 14-mile Green 
Line proposal.
    The Green Line is being proposed in accordance with Seattle 
Citizens' Petition No. 1, which was passed by Seattle voters in 
November 2002. In Petition No. 1, voters adopted the Seattle Popular 
Monorail Plan, created the SMP, required the SMP to adopt and implement 
the Seattle Popular Monorail Plan, and authorized funding for the 
construction and operation of the Green Line as described in the Plan. 
The proposed Green Line would run from the Ballard neighborhood of 
Seattle, through the Interbay and Ballard industrial areas, through 
downtown Seattle, through the South Downtown (SODO) industrial area, 
and then to the West Seattle neighborhood. The Green Line would connect 
the urban neighborhoods in Ballard and West Seattle with the 
industrial/manufacturing areas in the Interbay and SODO areas and with 
the downtown urban core and central business district of the City of 
Seattle.

Procedural

    Individuals and representatives of organizations who wish to 
present testimony at the hearing or who want to be placed on the 
project mailing list, may submit a request to the Bridge Section at the 
address listed under ADDRESSES clearly indicating name and organization 
represented, if applicable. Requests to speak should be received no 
later than September 22, 2003, in order to ensure proper scheduling for 
the hearing. Attendees at the hearing, who wish to present testimony 
and have not previously made a request to do so, will follow those 
having submitted a request, as time permits. Speakers will be called in 
the order of receipt of the request. Depending upon the number of 
scheduled statements, the Coast Guard may limit the amount of time 
allowed for each speaker. Written statements and other exhibits in lieu 
of, or in addition to, oral statements at the hearing may be submitted 
to the Bridge Section at the address listed under ADDRESSES until 
October 14, 2003, to be included in the Public Hearing transcript. 
Beginning at 1 p.m. on the hearing date, Seattle Monorail Project 
representatives will be available with project display materials 
adjacent to the hearing room to explain the project and answer 
questions from the public.

Information on Services for Individuals with Disabilities

    For information about facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting, contact 
the Commander (oan), Thirteenth Coast Guard District. Please request 
these services by contacting the Bridge Section at the phone number 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or in writing at the address 
listed under ADDRESSES. Any requests for an oral or sign language 
interpreter must be received by September 22, 2003.

    Authority: Section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, 40 CFR 1503.1, 36 CFR 800.2(d).

    Dated: July 30, 2003.
N.E. Mpras,
Chief, Office of Bridge Administration, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. 03-21954 Filed 8-28-03; 8:45 am]
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