[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 62 (Friday, April 1, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16833-16834]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-1455]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4912-N-12]


Notice of Finding of No Significant Impact for the Proposed 
Refinements to the World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan 
in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, NY

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: HUD gives notice to the public, agencies, and Indian tribes 
that it has made a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the 
Proposed Refinements to the World Trade Center Memorial and 
Redevelopment Plan (Proposed Refinements). This notice is given on 
behalf of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC). LMDC is a 
subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation (a political 
subdivision and public benefit corporation of the State of New York). 
As the recipient of HUD Community Development Block Grant funds 
appropriated for the World Trade Center disaster recovery and 
rebuilding efforts, LMDC acts, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 5304(g), as the 
responsible entity for compliance with the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) in accordance with 24 CFR 58.4. LMDC also acts under 
its authority as lead agency in accordance with the New York State 
Environment Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The environmental assessment 
(EA) and FONSI have been prepared in cooperation with The Port 
Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority). This notice is 
given in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality 
regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508.

DATES: Comment Due Date: All interested agencies, groups and persons 
may submit written comments for consideration at the following address: 
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Attention: Comments on WTC 
Plan EA, One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006. Comments 
must be received by 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on May 2, 2005. 
Comments received after 5 p.m. EDT on May 2, 2005, will not be 
considered. Comments may also be submitted until 5 p.m. EDT on May 2, 
2005, by e-mailing comments to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Further information and a copy of the 
EA and FONSI may be obtained by contacting: William H. Kelley, Planning 
Project Manager, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, One Liberty 
Plaza, 20th floor, New York, NY 10006; Telephone: (212) 962-2300; Fax: 
(212) 962-2431; e-mail: [email protected]. Further 
information and a copy of the EA and FONSI are also available on LMDC's 
Web site: http://www.renewnyc.com in the ``Planning, Design & 
Development'' section. A copy of the EA and FONSI is also available for 
public review at the following locations:

Chatham Square Library, 33 East Broadway, New York, NY 10007
Humanities and Social Sciences Library, 476 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 
10028
Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street, New York, NY 10007
Manhattan Community Board 2, 3 Washington Square Park, New York, NY 
10012
New Amsterdam Library, 9 Murray Street, New York, NY 10002
Hamilton Fish Library, 415 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10002
Manhattan Community Board 1, 49-51 Chambers Street, 715, New 
York, NY 10007
Manhattan Community Board 3, 59 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: LMDC, as lead agency, in cooperation with 
HUD and the Port Authority, released the Draft Generic Environmental 
Impact Statement on January 23, 2004 (69 FR 3382) and the Final Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement (FGEIS) on April 27, 2004 (69 FR 22866) 
for the World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan (Approved 
Plan). On July 8, 2004 (69 FR 42178) LMDC published the Record of 
Decision and the Findings Statement for the Approved Plan and adopted 
the General Project Plan (GPP) for LMDC's World Trade Center Memorial 
and Cultural Program. Implementation of the Approved Plan began with 
the formal groundbreaking for Freedom Tower on July 4, 2004.
    As implementation proceeded, LMDC, working in cooperation with HUD, 
the Port Authority, the City of New York, and Silverstein Properties, 
Inc. and its affiliates as the Port Authority's Net Lessees, has 
continued to develop the Approved Plan. Because the Approved Plan was 
generic, preliminary design and engineering led to certain adjustments 
and refinements based on aesthetics, commercial viability, cost, and 
practical considerations. Many of these refinements are described in 
the proposed GPP amendments preliminarily adopted by LMDC on December 
16, 2004 (Proposed GPP Amendments). LMDC released the Proposed GPP 
Amendments for public review on December 27, 2004, and held a public 
hearing on the Proposed GPP Amendments on January 26, 2005, at St. 
John's University in Lower Manhattan to receive public comments. The 
public comment period remained open until March 10, 2005.
    The Proposed Refinements would introduce several refinements to the 
physical forms and operational aspects of the Approved Plan, including 
the relocation of the entrance ramp for the underground vehicular 
network from the north side of Liberty Street adjacent to the World 
Trade Center (WTC) Memorial to the south side of Liberty Street, 
raising Liberty Park above grade by 20 to 30 feet to accommodate the 
relocation, increasing the at-grade separation of Freedom Tower and the 
Performing Arts Complex, shifting office space square footage within 
the Project Site, as defined below, specifying streetwall heights and 
setbacks, and changing certain pedestrian and vehicular circulation, 
parking, street direction, open space boundaries and street and 
sidewalk widths. Alternatives considered include allowing left turns 
out of the vehicular ramp onto Liberty Street westbound, locating the 
vehicular

[[Page 16834]]

ramp on Route 9A between Cedar and Liberty Streets and locating the 
cultural/museum complex at the northeast corner of Liberty Street and 
Route 9A.
    Located in Lower Manhattan, the Project Site includes both the 
World Trade Center (WTC) Site and the Southern Site. The WTC Site is 
bounded by Route 9A, Vesey, Church, and Liberty Streets. The Southern 
Site is immediately to the south of the WTC Site and comprises two 
adjacent city blocks, one bounded by Liberty, Washington, Albany, and 
Greenwich Streets, and the other bounded by Liberty Street, Route 9A, 
and Cedar and Washington Streets. The Southern Site includes those 
properties commonly known as 130 Liberty Street, 140 Liberty Street, 
and 155 Cedar Street. Also included in the Southern Site are subsurface 
portions of Liberty Street from the eastern side of Route 9A to the 
western side of Greenwich Street; Washington Street from the northern 
side of Cedar Street to the southern side of Liberty Street; and 
subsurface portions of Cedar Street from the eastern side of Route 9A 
to the eastern side of Washington Street.
    An EA for the Proposed Refinements has been prepared by LMDC, as 
lead agency, in cooperation with HUD and the Port Authority. Based on 
this assessment, LMDC has determined that the Proposed Refinements will 
not, either individually or cumulatively, have a significant impact on 
the quality of the human environment or a significant adverse 
environmental impact not already analyzed and disclosed in the FGEIS 
for the Proposed Action. Therefore, a supplemental environmental impact 
statement will not be undertaken under NEPA or SEQRA. LMDC will not 
take any administrative action on the Proposed Refinements prior to the 
expiration of the comment period.
    Questions may be directed to the individual named above under the 
heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Dated: March 24, 2005.
William H. Eargle, Jr.,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations.
[FR Doc. E5-1455 Filed 3-31-05; 8:45 am]
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