[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 66 (Tuesday, April 6, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18150-18152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7681]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement for the San 
Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) Warm Springs Extension 
Project in the City of Fremont, located in Alameda County, CA

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS).

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration, as lead agency, and the 
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) intend to jointly 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on a proposal by BART to 
extend its existing 91-mile rail network an additional 5.4 miles from 
the existing Fremont BART Station to a new station in the Warm Springs 
district of Fremont. An optional station at Irvington is also being 
considered. The EIS will be prepared to satisfy the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). An Environmental 
Impact Report (EIR) and Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) 
were previously prepared for this project by BART in accordance with 
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The proposed project 
was selected as the preferred alternative by the BART Board of 
Directors following completion and certification of the CEQA SEIR in 
June 2003. The CEQA EIR and SEIR are available for review as described 
in ADDRESSES below. FTA and BART seek public and interagency input on 
the scope of the NEPA EIS for the project, including the alternatives 
to be considered and the environmental impacts to be evaluated.

DATES: Scoping Comments Due Date: Written comments on the scope of the 
NEPA review, including the alternatives to be considered and the 
related impacts to be assessed, should be received no later than May 
17, 2004. Written comments should be sent to the BART Project Manager 
at the address given below in ADDRESSES.
    Scoping Meeting Dates: A public scoping meeting and open house will 
be held at 7 p.m. on April 28, 2004 at the Fremont Main Library, 
located at 2400 Stevenson Boulevard, in the City of Fremont. Oral and 
written comments may be given at the scoping meeting, and a 
stenographer will record oral comments. The formal scoping meeting will 
be preceded by an open house from 6:30 pm to 7 pm allowing the public 
to

[[Page 18151]]

discuss the EIS scope and proposed project informally with BART staff. 
The meeting location is accessible to people with disabilities. Persons 
with special needs should call BART at (510) 476-3900 at least 72 hours 
prior to the scoping meeting.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to San Francisco Bay Area 
Rapid Transit District, Attention: Ms. Shari Adams, Warm Springs Group 
Manager, P.O. Box 12688, MS LKS-21, Oakland, CA 94604-2688. Phone: 
(510) 476-3900. Fax: (510) 287-4747. Email: [email protected]. If you 
wish to be placed on the mailing list to receive further information as 
the EIS study develops, contact Ms. Adams at the address listed above. 
Please specify the mailing list for the WSX EIS (Warm Springs Extension 
Project Environmental Impact Statement). Copies of the EIR and SEIR can 
also be obtained by contacting Ms. Adams as indicated above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lorraine Lerman, Community 
Planner, FTA Region IX, 201 Mission Street, Suite 2210, San Francisco, 
CA 94105. Phone: (415) 744-2735. Fax: (415) 744-2726. Information about 
the project can also be obtained from the BART Web site, http://www.bart.gov/wsx.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

    The FTA and BART invite all interested individuals and 
organizations, and federal, state, and local agencies to comment on the 
scope of the EIS. During the scoping process, comments should focus on 
proposing alternatives that may be less costly or have less 
environmental impacts while achieving similar transportation 
objectives, and on identifying specific social, economic, or 
environmental issues to be evaluated. At this time, comments should not 
focus on a preference for a particular alternative. As part of the 
public participation process, the study website referenced above will 
be periodically updated to reflect the project's current status. 
Additional opportunities for public participation will be announced 
through mailings, notices, advertisements, and press releases.
    The project was originally advanced by BART as a State-funded and 
locally funded project without FTA involvement. At that time, BART 
prepared the CEQA EIR and SEIR and the BART Board of Directors selected 
a preferred alternative. Recent changes in State transportation funding 
priorities have resulted in BART's seeking FTA funding for the project. 
FTA is, therefore, preparing an EIS, but plans to incorporate by 
reference the CEQA EIR and SEIR. FTA does not intend to consider in 
detail alternatives that were evaluated during the CEQA process and 
found not to satisfactorily meet the project's purpose and need. At the 
same time, FTA intends that this EIS not be merely a ratification of 
decisions already made. FTA therefore seeks comments during scoping, on 
the alternatives to be considered in the EIS, in light of the analyses 
and coordination activities performed by BART and publicized prior to 
FTA involvement. FTA must also comply with other environmental 
requirements, such as Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation 
Act (49 U.S.C. 303) and Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act, that apply only to Federal actions.

II. Description of Study Area

    The FTA, as lead agency, in cooperation with the BART District, 
will prepare an EIS on a proposal to extend BART's rail service from 
the existing Fremont Station to a new station in the Warm Springs 
district of Fremont. An optional station at Irvington is also being 
considered. The project would be located entirely within the City of 
Fremont. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, 
Fremont is the southernmost city in Alameda County. Fremont is bounded 
by the cities of Hayward and Union City on the north, San Francisco Bay 
to the west, the foothills and mountains of the Diablo Range to the 
east, and the City of Milpitas and Santa Clara County on the south.
    The alignment of the proposed BART extension would generally 
parallel portions of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) corridor, which 
lies between Interstate 680 to the east and Interstate 880 to the west. 
The project study area includes the location of the proposed rail 
alignment, stations, auxiliary facilities, and a maintenance facility.

III. Purpose and Need

    Transportation has become a critical issue for people living and 
working in the southern Alameda County and northern Santa Clara County. 
The surge in population, including nearly a 20 percent population 
increase over the past decade in the City of Fremont, has increased 
traffic on regional roadways. Highway improvements have not kept up 
with the demand for more highway capacity. Congestion on Interstate 680 
and Interstate 880, the two major regional roadways linking Santa 
Clara, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties, has worsened considerably 
over the last decade, and escalating traffic volumes have reached 
levels considered unacceptable by the California Department of 
Transportation and other regional monitoring agencies.
    The proposed 5.4-mile BART extension to the Warm Springs district 
of Fremont, would improve the regional transit network by enhancing the 
link between the southern Alameda County-northern Santa Clara County 
area and the rest of the East Bay, and San Francisco. By shortening 
travel times and improving reliability, the BART extension is expected 
to generate additional transit ridership and reduce overall traffic 
congestion. The Warm Springs Extension would help accommodate projected 
future growth in employment and population, reduce pressure to expand 
roads, and support the region's efforts to meet state and federal air 
quality standards.

IV. Alternatives

    In light of prior CEQA studies by BART, FTA intends to evaluate the 
following two alternatives in detail in the EIS:
    1. The No-Build Alternative, which consists of the planned highway 
and transit systems expected to be in place in the design years 2010 
and 2025 if the project is not built. The future No-Build Alternative 
is based on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's long-range 
transportation plan for the area and includes programmed improvements 
in bus service.
    2. BART Warm Springs Extension, the locally preferred alternative 
selected by the BART Board of Directors at the conclusion of the SEIR 
process, consists of a 5.4-mile BART extension from the existing 
Fremont Station to a proposed station in the Warm Springs district of 
Fremont, with an optional station at Irvington. The proposed project 
alignment would generally parallel portions of the UP railroad corridor 
through Fremont, between Interstate 680 to the east and Interstate 880 
to the west. This route reflects a revised alignment designed following 
the 1992 EIR. The revisions were made in order to reduce project 
impacts, and the revised project was the subject of the 2003 SEIR. 
Chief among the project revisions is the proposed subway under Fremont 
Central Park; an alignment segment previously planned as an aerial 
structure.
    The initial segment of the alignment would begin on an embankment 
at the south end of the existing elevated Fremont BART Station. The 
alignment would pass over Walnut Avenue on an aerial structure and 
descend into a cut-and-cover subway north of Stevenson

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Boulevard. The alignment would continue southward in subway under 
Fremont Central Park and the eastern arm of Lake Elizabeth and surface 
to grade between the eastern and western alignments of the UP corridor. 
The BART alignment would pass over Paseo Padre Parkway, which would be 
a vehicular underpass, on a bridge structure. The alignment would then 
continue southward at grade, passing under Washington Boulevard, which 
would be a vehicular overpass. From Washington Boulevard, the proposed 
project alignment would continue south at grade along UP's former 
eastern alignment to a terminus station in the southeast quadrant of 
Warm Springs Road and Grimmer Boulevard.
    The optional Irvington Station, if constructed, would be located on 
the south side of Washington Boulevard, east and west of Osgood Road. 
Auxiliary wayside facilities would be placed periodically along the 
proposed alignment and would include electrical substations, gap 
breaker stations, train control and communications facilities, and 
pumping and emergency access facilities. Two subway ventilation 
structures may be required in Fremont Central Park, if feasible and 
prudent avoidance options cannot be developed. A rail vehicle 
maintenance facility is proposed immediately south of the Warm Springs 
Station site between the UP eastern alignment and Warm Springs Court.
    If additional reasonable alternatives are identified through the 
scoping process, they will be evaluated in the EIS.

V. Probable Effects

    The EIS will evaluate and fully disclose the environmental 
consequences of building and operating the proposed BART extension in 
advance of any decision by FTA to commit financial or other resources 
toward the implementation of a particular alternative. The EIS will 
examine the transportation benefits and environmental impacts of the 
alternatives. In addition, it will discuss actions to reduce or 
eliminate such impacts. Information on preliminary engineering of the 
rail alignment, stations, auxiliary facilities, and a maintenance 
facility will be included in the EIS. In addition, a section on 
financial considerations will be provided that identifies capital and 
operating costs and funding sources.
    Environmental issues to be analyzed in the EIS include: 
transportation and traffic impacts, including changes in intersection 
and roadway levels of service; the use of parkland, including Fremont 
Central Park; biological resources and sensitive species; land use, 
including consistency of proposed stations with local plans and 
policies; potential impacts to historic and cultural resources; noise 
and vibration impacts on homes and other sensitive receptors near the 
tracks. Cumulative and growth-inducing impacts will be examined. 
Impacts will be evaluated for both the temporary construction period 
and for the long-term operation of the alternatives. Measures to 
mitigate any adverse impacts will be identified.
    To ensure that all significant issues related to this proposed 
action are identified and addressed, scoping comments and suggestions 
are invited from all interested parties. Comments should be directed to 
the BART Warm Springs Extension Group Manager as noted in the ADDRESSES 
section above.

VI. FTA Procedures

    The EIS is being prepared in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), its implementing regulations 
by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and 
with the FTA/Federal Highway Administration's ``Environmental Impact 
and Related Procedures'' (23 CFR part 771). In accordance with FTA 
policy, the NEPA process will also address the requirements of other 
applicable environmental laws, regulations, and executive orders, such 
as the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Section 4(f) of the 
U.S. Department of Transportation Act, and Executive Orders on 
Environmental Stewardship and Transportation Infrastructure Project 
Reviews, Environmental Justice, Floodplain Management, and Protection 
of Wetlands.
    The SEIR that resulted in the BART Board of Directors' selection of 
the proposed project as its preferred alternative was issued in 2003. 
To streamline the NEPA process and to avoid duplication of effort, FTA 
and BART will consider and incorporate into the EIS the results of 
previous studies, including the EIR and SEIR.
    Upon completion, the Draft EIS will be distributed for public and 
agency review and comment. A public hearing on the Draft EIS will be 
held within the study area. Based on the Draft EIS and the public and 
agency comments received, FTA and BART may further refine and analyze 
the alternatives in the Final EIS.

    Issued on: March 30, 2004.
Leslie T. Rogers,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 04-7681 Filed 4-5-04; 8:45 am]
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