[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 181 (Thursday, September 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54774-54775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-23836]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


Environmental Impact Statement: Placer and Sutter Counties, CA

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public of its 
intent to prepare a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 
Placer Parkway Corridor Preservation, a proposed transportation 
corridor in western Placer and eastern Sutter Counties, California.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Steve Healow, Transportation 
Engineer, Federal Highway Administration, 980 9th St., Suite 400, 
Sacramento, CA 95814-2724. Telephone: (916) 498-5849.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded by using a 
computer, modem and suitable communications software from the 
Government Printing Office's Electronic Bulletin Board Service at (202) 
512-1661. Internet users may reach the Office of Federal Register's 
home page at http://www.nara.gov/fedreg and the Government Printing 
Office's Web page at http://www.access.gpo.gov.nara.

Background

    The FHWA, in cooperation with the California Department of 
Transportation (Caltrans), Sutter County, and the South Placer Regional 
Transportation Authority (SPRTA), will prepare a Tier 1 Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) on a proposal to preserve a right-of-way 
corridor for a future transportation facility approximately 15 miles 
long that would connect State Route 65 in Placer County, north of the 
City of Roseville, and State Route 70/99 in Sutter County, north of the 
City of Sacramento. Three corridor concepts were identified in a 
Project Study Report prepared in 2001. One concept would consist of a 
14.4 mile long, four-lane expressway/freeway connection from SR 65 at 
Whitney Boulevard to SR 70/99 at a point about one mile north of Sankey 
Road. This concept would parallel Sunset Boulevard West and Howsley 
Road for most of its east-west route. Another concept would consist of 
a 14.3 mile long, four-lane freeway connection from SR 65 at Sunset 
Boulevard to SR 70/99 at a point about one mile north of Riego Road. 
West of Fiddyment Road, this concept would travel diagonally through 
the agricultural area that lies between Sunset Boulevard West and 
Baseline Road. A third concept would be 15.6 miles long and connect SR 
65 at Whitney Boulevard to SR 70/99 at a point about one-mile south of 
Riego Road. It would also travel through the agricultural area between 
Sunset Boulevard West and Baseline Road, but would parallel Baseline 
Road more closely. These concepts, together with other feasible 
alignments that may be identified during the scoping process, will be 
evaluated to determine the alternatives that will be analyzed in the 
EIS.
    The Placer Parkway Corridor includes some of the fastest growing 
communities in the Sacramento region. The population in south Placer 
County will nearly double between 2000 and 2025. Employment in the SR 
65 ``high-tech'' corridor is expected to grow even faster than the 
population. Sutter County has designated a large area on the western 
side of the Placer Parkway Corridor for up to 3,500 acres of industrial 
and commercial development. By 2025, total employment in southwest 
Placer County is projected to exceed total employment in downtown 
Sacramento. Anticipated development in the area will dramatically 
increase travel demand over the next 20 years and beyond. At the same 
time, daily traffic volumes on I-80 south of the study area are 
projected to increase nearly 40 percent in the already congested area 
south of the project area. Travel speeds will decline as well on local 
thoroughfares. Congestion on inter-regional roadways will adversely 
impact access to jobs. Free-flowing access and reliable travel times to 
both the Sacramento International Airport and the Lincoln Airport are 
important to this growing regional job center. A new controlled-access 
highway connection between SR 65 and SR 70/99 would benefit the 
regional transportation system by providing an alternative to SR 65 and 
I-80, thereby reducing traffic demand in these existing freeway 
corridors.
    The proposed Parkway project is identified in the Sacramento 
Council of Government's (SACOG) 2025 Metropolitan Transportation Plan 
(MTP) and the 2022 Placer County Regional Transportation Plan.
    Federal and state environmental laws allow ``tiered'' environmental 
review. Tiering is a way to focus environmental studies during the 
planning process at the same level of detail as the plans. The first 
tier document (Tier 1) allows an agency to focus on broad environmental 
issues and areawide air quality and land use implications, which may 
correlate directly to early planning decisions, such as the type, the 
general location, and major design features of a roadway. The Tier I 
EIS will also evaluate potential cumulative and indirect impacts and 
identify potential conceptual mitigation for impacts. This work will 
rely largely on existing Geographic Information System (GIS) data and 
limited fieldwork. The Tier I EIS will not result in any construction.

[[Page 54775]]

    Second tier (Tier 2) documents involve environmental analyses and 
review that address a narrower geographic area, a more focused set of 
issues, and a specific proposed action. A Tier 2 document relies on a 
summary of the work in a Tier 1 document relative to broad 
environmental issues, which avoids unnecessary repetition. This also 
allows the Tier 2 document to be focused on the project impacts based 
on the additional details, such as design, construction, and operation 
of the proposed project, available in later stages of project planning.
    The Tier 1 EIS will evaluate alternatives for corridors ranging 
from 500 to 1,000 feet wide. The 500 foot wide segments will be at the 
east and west ends near the State route connections. The 1,000 foot 
wide central segment will be generally from Fiddyment Road to Pleasant 
Grove Road. Because of pending and anticipated urban development in the 
vicinity, completing a Tier 1 EIS is critical to corridor preservation. 
When the Tier 1 EIS is completed, the selected corridor will be 
protected by acquiring key properties, securing rights in property, or 
other suitable means.
    As a separate project in the future, a Tier 2 document would be 
prepared to evaluate the future transportation facility alignment or 
footprint within the selected corridor. This project-level 
environmental review would examine potential impacts, costs, and 
mitigation for construction and operation of the transportation 
facility.
    The Placer Parkway concept was developed by the following two 
planning studies, both of which were adopted by the Placer County 
Transportation Planning Agency (PCTPA) and SACOG. Copies of these 
studies are available on PCTPA's Web site: http://www.pctpa.org.
    The 2000 Placer Parkway Conceptual Study provided a preliminary 
scope, project goals/policies, concept alignment alternatives, and a 
funding strategy. The 2001 Placer Parkway Project Study Report (PSR) 
clarified policy direction, identified and evaluated several concept 
corridor alternatives for programming purposes, and identified a number 
of potential impacts, including impacts to air quality, biological 
resources, cultural resources, floodplains, hazardous waste, soils and 
seismicity, water quality, noise, land use, socio-economics, and public 
services.
    A new transportation model will be developed and environmental 
information will be collected and mapped. Conceptual corridor 
alternatives identified in the Conceptual Plan and the PSR will be 
refined and new corridor alternatives will be developed. Corridor 
alternatives will be screened using transportation, environmental, and 
engineering criteria. This process will establish the corridor 
alternatives to be considered in the Tier 1 EIS.
    Public meetings will be held to present the identified alternatives 
for evaluation in the Tier 1 EIS. Public scoping meetings will be held 
in:
    [sbull] Placer County--Monday, October 6, 2003, 4 to 8 p.m. Maidu 
Community Center, Meeting Rooms 1 & 2, 1550 Maidu Drive, Roseville, CA 
95661
    [sbull] Sutter County--Thursday, October 9, 2003, 4 to 8 p.m. 
Pleasant Grove School, 3075 Howsley Road, Pleasant Grove, CA 95678
    To ensure that a full range of issues related to this proposed 
action are addressed and all significant issues identified, comments 
and suggestions are invited from all interested parties. Comments or 
questions concerning this proposed action or the Tier 1 EIS should be 
directed to the FHWA at the address provided above or to Celia McAdam, 
Executive Director, PCTPA, 550 High Street, Suite 107, Auburn, CA 
95603.

    Issued on: September 12, 2003.
Leland Dong,
North Region Team Leader, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. 03-23836 Filed 9-17-03; 8:45 am]
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