[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 48 (Monday, March 13, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12773-12779]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2391]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34284]


Southwest Gulf Railroad Company--Construction and Operation 
Exemption--Medina County, TX

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Supplemental Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: This Notice discusses the environmental review process 
conducted thus far for this proceeding and the basis for determining 
that a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement is needed; the 
scope of the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement; and the 
remaining steps necessary to conclude the environmental review process.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Rini Ghosh, Section of 
Environmental Analysis, Surface Transportation Board, 1925 K Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20423-0001, or by phone at (202) 565-1539. 
Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339. The Web site for 
the Surface Transportation Board is http://www.stb.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On February 27, 2003, Southwest Gulf Railroad Company (SGR) filed a 
petition with the Surface Transportation Board (Board) pursuant to 49 
U.S.C. 10502 for authority to construct and operate a new rail line in 
Medina County, Texas. The proposal involves the construction and 
operation of approximately seven miles of new rail line from a Vulcan 
Construction Materials, LP (VCM) proposed limestone quarry to the Union 
Pacific Railroad Company rail line near Dunlay, Texas. The Board's 
Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) issued a Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (Draft EIS) on November 5, 2004, for public review and 
comment. The Draft EIS evaluated the potential environmental impacts 
that could result from SGR's proposed rail line construction and 
operation, four alternatives to SGR's proposed rail line (including the 
No-Action Alternative) and recommended mitigation that could be 
undertaken to reduce the potential impacts identified.
    In response to the Draft EIS, SEA has received approximately 120 
written comment letters to date,\1\ as well as 75 oral comments 
submitted at two public meetings held in Hondo, Texas, on December 2, 
2004 (SEA has considered each time a commenter spoke as one comment, 
even though several commenters spoke multiple times).
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    \1\ Although the official deadline for submitting comments was 
January 10, 2006, SEA has continued to receive comment letters that 
were postmarked after that date. In the interests of providing all 
parties with ample opportunity to participate in the environmental 
review process, SEA is considering all comments received to date. 
These comments have been placed in the public record for this 
proceeding and are available in the Environmental Correspondence 
section of the Board's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.
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    SEA has carefully reviewed all comments received, as well as 
additional information about the project proposal submitted by SGR, and 
has decided to prepare a concise Supplemental Draft EIS (SDEIS) that 
focuses on three specific matters. The SDEIS will contain a discussion 
of the following: (1) Evaluation of three alternative rail routes that 
were not studied in detail in the Draft EIS and a comparison of these 
three alternative routes to the four rail routes previously studied in 
the Draft EIS; (2) a discussion of the progress of additional historic 
property identification efforts; (3) and the additional noise analysis 
that SEA will perform, based on updated operational data (that trains 
may operate during nighttime hours) provided by SGR. Below, we discuss 
the following: (1) The environmental review process for this proceeding 
thus far and the rationale for determining that a SDEIS is needed; (2) 
the scope of the SDEIS; and (3) the remaining steps in the 
environmental review process.

[[Page 12774]]

Background of the Environmental Review Process to Date

    Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321 
et seq. (NEPA), the Board must consider the environmental impacts of 
actions requiring Board authorization and complete its environmental 
review before making a final decision on a proposed action. SEA is the 
office within the Board that carries out the Board's responsibilities 
under NEPA and related environmental laws and regulations, including 
the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations for 
implementing NEPA at 40 CFR part 1500, the Board's environmental 
regulations at 49 CFR part 1105, and the National Historic Preservation 
Act (NHPA) of 1966, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 470.
    SEA began the environmental review of SGR's proposal by consulting 
with appropriate Federal, state, and local agencies, as well as with 
SGR, and conducting technical surveys and analyses. Due to substantial 
early public interest in SGR's proposal, SEA conducted an informational 
Open House in Hondo, Texas, on June 12, 2003, and received over 100 
comment letters in response to the Open House, which raised concerns 
regarding potential environmental impacts.
    SEA reviewed the comments received and continued to conduct 
technical studies, which included the identification of historic 
properties in the project area. SEA also initiated consultation with 
the Texas Historic Commission (THC), in accordance with the regulations 
implementing Section 106 of NHPA at 36 CFR part 800 and identified 
several consulting parties to the Section 106 process.
    On October 10, 2003, SEA issued a Preliminary Cultural Resources 
Assessment report to the then-identified Section 106 consulting parties 
for review and comment. The report summarized the historic properties 
identified in the project area, which included a potential historic 
district, and set forth SEA's preliminary conclusions and 
recommendations regarding the cultural resources in the proposed 
project area. The THC, the consulting parties, and other individuals 
submitted comment letters in response to the report.\2\
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    \2\ The report was also made publicly available by posting on 
the Board's Web site.
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    Based on the nature and content of the numerous public and agency 
comments received, SEA determined that the effects of the proposed 
project on the quality of the human environment are likely to be highly 
controversial, and that thus, pursuant to 40 CFR 1508.27(b)(4), 
preparation of an EIS would be appropriate. On January 28, 2004, SEA 
issued a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS and Draft Scope of Study 
for the EIS (Draft Scope) for public review and comment. SEA received 
approximately 100 comment letters in response to the Draft Scope. SEA 
reviewed and carefully considered the comments in preparing the Final 
Scope of Study for the EIS (Final Scope), which was issued on May 7, 
2004. SEA then continued to conduct appropriate studies and analyses 
for the environmental review of SGR's proposed project.
    Additional cultural resources identification efforts were 
conducted. Through these efforts, SEA identified a potential rural 
historic landscape in the project area. In consultation with the THC 
and SGR, SEA developed a draft Programmatic Agreement to mitigate 
potential effects on cultural resources in the area, which SEA included 
in the Draft EIS for public review and comment.
    As stated above, SEA issued the Draft EIS for public review and 
comment on November 5, 2004. In the Draft EIS, SEA evaluated the 
environmental effects of the proposed rail line construction and 
operation for the following impact categories, as identified in the 
Final Scope: Transportation and traffic safety; public health and 
worker health and safety; water resources; biological resources; air 
quality; geology and soils (including karst features); land use; 
environmental justice; noise; vibration; recreation and visual 
resources; cultural resources; and socioeconomics. SEA also studied the 
potential cumulative effects and indirect effects that could be caused 
by the proposed project. The alternatives that SEA studied in depth 
included four potential rail alignments (the Proposed Route, 
Alternative 1, Alternative 2, and Alternative 3) and the No-Action 
Alternative (which SEA defined as the use of trucks to transport 
limestone from VCM's quarry to the UP rail line, based on SGR's 
statements that VCM would transport the material by truck if SGR's rail 
line were not built).\3\
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    \3\ In prior documents, SEA did not capitalize the terms 
Proposed Route and No-Action Alternative. For the sake of clarity 
and to establish uniformity with the other alternatives being 
discussed in this proceeding, SEA has decided to capitalize these 
terms in this and future documents.
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    While some of the commenters to the Draft EIS expressed support for 
SGR's proposed project, the majority of the commenters expressed 
opposition to the project and raised concerns about the Draft EIS. The 
comments covered the following topics:
     Allegations that the Draft EIS is inadequate and requests 
for an SDEIS to be prepared.
     General statements of opposition or support for the 
project.
     Concerns regarding potential air quality impacts.
     Requests that other alternative rail routes be studied 
(specifically, that an alignment that uses part of the old Medina Dam 
rail route in the area would be reasonable and feasible).
     Allegations that use of trucks to transport limestone from 
the quarry to the UP rail line would not be feasible, and that thus, 
SEA has improperly defined the No-Action Alternative.
     Concerns regarding potential impacts to water and water-
associated resources (such as the Edwards Aquifer, floodplains and 
flooding impacts, groundwater, the Medina Lake Dam, stream crossings, 
surface waters, water supplies, wells, and wetlands).
     Concerns regarding potential impacts to biological 
resources in the area.
     Questions regarding how SGR could be considered a common 
carrier and questions about condemnation of private properties.
     Concerns regarding potential impacts to cultural 
resources.
     Concerns regarding potential cumulative impacts (i.e. 
combined impacts from SGR's rail line construction and operation and 
other projects in the area).
     Concerns about the potential impacts to pipelines in the 
area.
     Concerns about indirect impacts (i.e. impacts that would 
be caused by the proposed rail line construction and operation but that 
would be felt later in time or beyond the proposed project area).
     Concerns about impacts to karst features.
     Concerns about impacts to existing land uses.
     Requests to consider VCM's quarry and SGR's rail line as 
connected actions (i.e. as combined components of one overall proposed 
action).
     Questions regarding SGR's plans to maintain the rail line 
and the rail line right-of-way.
     Requests for more-detailed maps and graphics.
     Requests for additional mitigation.
     Concerns about potential noise impacts.
     Questions regarding the details of SGR's proposed train 
operations.
     Requests for more detailed information about the 
construction and engineering of the proposed rail line.
     Allegations that SEA has not been sufficiently responsive 
to the public.

[[Page 12775]]

     Questions regarding the purpose and need for SGR's 
proposed project.
     Concerns regarding potential impacts to recreational and 
visual resources.
     Concerns regarding potential at-grade crossings and 
potential safety impacts.
     Concerns regarding potential socioeconomic impacts.
     Concerns regarding potential impacts to prime farmland 
soils.
     Concerns regarding impacts to local traffic and 
transportation.
     Concerns regarding impacts from an increase in truck 
traffic on area roadways.
     Concerns about potential vibration impacts.
     Allegations that SEA's field studies and methodology were 
inadequate.
    The comments received included those from some of the Section 106 
consulting parties regarding the results of the cultural resources 
analysis in the Draft EIS. Particular concern was expressed by the THC 
and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation regarding the need to 
further identify the potential rural historic landscape that had been 
discussed in the Draft EIS and to look at additional rail alternatives 
that could potentially avoid historic properties near Quihi, Texas. As 
a result of these consultations, SEA determined that a separate study 
of the rural historic landscape was warranted. The study is currently 
ongoing.
    In order to respond to and to better assess all the comments to the 
Draft EIS, SEA requested and received additional information from 
SGR.\4\ In particular, SEA requested information regarding how SGR had 
developed the four potential rail alignment routes that SEA studied in 
depth in the Draft EIS (the Proposed Route, Alternative 1, Alternative 
2, and Alternative 3) and whether SGR had studied the feasibility of 
rail routes that are farther to the west or farther to the east of 
those four alignments and that could potentially bypass the Quihi area.
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    \4\ SEA's requests for information and SGR's responses can be 
found in the Environmental Correspondence section of the public 
docket for this proceeding and are also available on the Board's Web 
site.
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    The Development of Rail Line Alternatives. In response to SEA's 
request, SGR submitted information stating that initially 15 potential 
rail alignments had been considered, all of which were in the same 
general area as the four alignments considered in depth in the Draft 
EIS. According to SGR, these 15 alignments consisted of eight basic 
alignments and seven variations of those alignments. SGR explained that 
it had screened the alignments by using specific criteria including: 
Avoidance of wetlands; topography (avoidance of grades in excess of 
1%); avoidance of curves in excess of 4 degrees near the ends of the 
line and 3 degrees near the central part of the line; limiting the 
number of properties required to be crossed; and minimization of the 
number of properties that might have to be bisected. According to SGR, 
apart from the Proposed Route, Alternative 1, Alternative 2, and 
Alternative 3, none of the other initial routes fully satisfied these 
screening criteria.
    SGR also asserted that other alternative alignments further to the 
east or to the west of the routes studied in depth in the Draft EIS, 
essentially bypassing the Quihi area, would not be reasonable or 
feasible. According to SGR, among other problems, a western bypass 
route would traverse areas containing a large number of historic 
resources and would also cross more floodplain than any of the four 
routes studied in depth in the Draft EIS.
    As for an eastern bypass route, SGR stated that any such route 
would require a degree of cut and fill that would be much greater than 
the four routes studied in depth in the Draft EIS, making such a route 
infeasible. Nevertheless, in order to address the feasibility of an 
eastern bypass route, and to respond to SEA's specific questions 
regarding the determination of cut and fill volumes, SGR developed two 
eastern alignments (the Eastern Bypass Route and SGR's Modified Medina 
Dam Route) and provided SEA with a study of the cut and fill 
calculations for these two routes as compared to the Proposed Route, 
Alternative 1, Alternative 2, and Alternative 3.
    One of these routes, SGR's Modified Medina Dam Route, had initially 
been developed prior to issuance of the Draft EIS. The Medina County 
Environmental Action Association (MCEAA), as well as several other 
parties, had submitted comments in response to the Draft Scope 
suggesting as an alternative rail alignment one that used a portion of 
railroad right-of-way utilized to facilitate the construction of the 
Medina Dam in the early 1900s. According to MCEAA, such an alignment 
would cause fewer potential environmental impacts than the Proposed 
Route, Alternative 1, Alternative 2, or Alternative 3. In particular, 
MCEAA asserted that a route using a portion or portions of the old 
Medina Dam route would traverse less floodplain and impact fewer 
historic resources than the Proposed Route, Alternative 1, Alternative 
2, or Alternative 3.
    In response to MCEAA's comments, SGR had submitted information 
stating that it had assessed several variations that would utilize part 
of the old Medina Dam route and connect the UP rail line to VCM's 
proposed quarry, including SGR's Modified Medina Dam Route. SGR stated 
at the time that none of these routes would be reasonable and feasible, 
due to the amount of cut and fill that would be needed.
    As discussed in the Draft EIS, SEA independently evaluated the 
information provided by SGR regarding potential routes that could use 
portions of the old Medina Dam route. Based on the information then 
available, SEA concurred that no routes using the old Medina Dam route 
appeared to be reasonable and feasible.
    The cut and fill calculations submitted by SGR subsequent to 
issuance of the Draft EIS and SEA's preliminary review of that 
information supports SEA's initial conclusion that a rail route that 
traverses the area to the east of the alignments considered in depth in 
the Draft EIS would require greater amounts of cut and fill to build.
    However, MCEAA has submitted comments challenging the accuracy of 
the cut and fill calculations prepared by SGR and suggests that another 
alternative rail route that would use a portion of the old Medina Dam 
route should now be studied. According to MCEAA, this other alternative 
(the MCEAA Medina Dam Alternative), is a reasonable and feasible 
alternative that could require less cut and fill than the eastern 
routes developed by SGR. MCEAA also alleges that the grading and design 
considerations used by SGR to determine cut and fill volumes may not be 
appropriate.
    Due to the controversy surrounding the cut and fill volumes here, 
SEA now believes that, in this proceeding, cut and fill volumes alone 
should not be a basis for excluding a potential rail route from being 
considered reasonable and feasible. While cut and fill volumes may be 
important in distinguishing between routes or in determining which 
route is ultimately environmentally preferable, SEA will not rely 
solely on cut and fill volumes to eliminate a potential route from 
detailed study in this proceeding.
    The Reasonable Range of Rail Line Alternatives for this 
Environmental Review Process. As discussed in the Draft EIS, as part of 
the environmental review process required by NEPA, an agency must 
evaluate all reasonable alternatives and the no-action alternative, and 
briefly discuss reasons for eliminating any unreasonable

[[Page 12776]]

alternatives from further consideration.\5\ The reasonable alternatives 
considered in detail, including the proposed action, should be analyzed 
in enough depth for reviewers to evaluate their comparative merits.\6\ 
The goals of an action delimit the universe of the action's reasonable 
alternatives.\7\ The objectives must not be defined so narrowly that 
all alternatives are effectively foreclosed, nor should they be defined 
so broadly that an ``infinite number'' of alternatives might further 
the goals and the project would ``collapse under the weight'' of the 
resulting analysis.\8\ A reasonable range of alternatives need not 
include all possible alternatives as long as examples from a full 
spectrum of alternatives are covered.\9\
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    \5\ 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c)(iii).
    \6\ See 40 CFR 1502.14.
    \7\ Citizens Against Burlington v. Busey, 938 F.2d 190, 195 
(D.C. Cir. 1990).
    \8\ Id. at 196. See also Forty Most Asked Questions Concerning 
CEQ's National Environmental Policy Act Regulations, 46 Fed. Reg. 
18026 (1981) (Forty Questions), Question 1.
    \9\ See Forty Questions, Question 1.
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    The primary purpose of SGR's proposed rail line construction and 
operation is to transport limestone from VCM's quarry to the UP rail 
line for shipments to markets in eastern Texas. Thus, in order to serve 
this purpose, a reasonable and feasible rail alignment would need to 
connect to the proposed rail loading track at the quarry site and to 
the existing UP rail line in a manner that would enable outbound 
shipments from the quarry to travel east.\10\
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    \10\ See SGR's Petition for Exemption filed with the Board on 
February 27, 2003 and letter from SGR to SEA dated May 4, 2004 
(Environmental Correspondence Traking Number EI-793).
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    As discussed in the Draft EIS, SEA has already conducted an in-
depth analysis of four potential rail alignments (Proposed Route, 
Alternative 1, Alternative 2, and Alternative 3) that would meet SGR's 
stated purpose. With several reasonable and feasible rail line 
alternatives in existence, there is no need at this point to study 
alternative routes that would clearly have the potential for causing 
greater environmental impacts. Thus, any alignment that is less 
environmentally preferable than the four routes identified above would 
not be reasonable and feasible. Moreover, due to the potential impacts 
to transportation and traffic safety that would be associated with 
constructing a grade separated crossing of U.S. Highway 90,\11\ a 
reasonable and feasible rail line alternative would need to connect to 
the UP rail line north of U.S. Highway 90. Also, because of the 
associated increase in potential environmental impacts from an increase 
in the length of the rail line (air quality impacts; transportation and 
traffic safety impacts; land use impacts; and impacts to biological 
resources), an alignment that would be significantly longer than the 
reasonable and feasible alternatives already studied need not be 
developed.
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    \11\ According to the Texas Department of Transportation's San 
Antonio District Highway Map for 2004 (2004 Map), the annual Average 
Daily Traffic (ADT) for U.S. Highway 90 between Castroville, Texas 
and Dunlay, Texas was 12,900 vehicles and the ADT for U.S. Highway 
90 in Hondo, Texas was 16,400 vehicles. Thus, at a minimum, 
construction of a grade separated crossing of U.S. Highway 90 would 
cause traffic flow disruptions much greater than construction of the 
four routes studied in depth in the Draft EIS. Farm to Market Road 
2676, the one state road that would be crossed by the Proposed 
Route, Alternative 1, Alternative 2, or Alternative 3, had an ADT of 
between 660 vehicles to 1050 vehicles in the project area, according 
to the 2004 Map.
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    Based on all information to date, and the above-discussed criteria, 
SEA determines that the full spectrum of alternative rail routes for 
this proceeding should include the following: (1) Rail alignments that 
traverse directly through the Quihi area (the central corridor); (2) 
rail alignments that bypass the Quihi area to the east (eastern 
corridor); (3) and rail alignments that bypass the Quihi area to the 
west (western corridor). The four alternative rail routes studied in 
depth in the Draft EIS constitute a reasonable range of alternatives 
for the central corridor and no further routes in this corridor need to 
be studied. SGR's Modified Medina Dam Route, the Eastern Bypass Route, 
and the MCEAA Medina Dam Alternative constitute a reasonable range of 
alternatives for the eastern corridor.\12\ Furthermore, any western 
bypass route that is not significantly longer than the four routes 
studied in the Draft EIS would pass through more floodplain area and 
would impact a large number of historic resources (including historic 
resources in the New Fountain, Texas area).\13\ Therefore, any such 
route would be less environmentally preferable than the four routes 
studied in depth in the Draft EIS and SEA is excluding any such route 
(though no such route has been developed to date) from further 
consideration.
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    \12\ MCEAA has asserted that the other deviations that SGR 
initially studied for an alignment that would use part of the old 
Medina Dam route as well as the original Medina Dam route itself 
need to be studied further (see letter from MCEAA to SEA, dated 
October 5, 2005, Environmental Correspondence Tracking Number 
EI-1698). However, MCEAA has not shown that SGR's Modified 
Medina Dam Route, the Eastern Bypass Route, and the MCEAA Median Dam 
Alternative do not constitute a reasonable range of routes in the 
eastern corridor. Moreover, the original Medina Dam route on its own 
would not meet the purpose and need for SGR's rail line, since it 
does not connect to VCM's proposed quarry.
    \13\ SEA has not approximated the length that such a route would 
need to be (because no such route has been developed). However, from 
a review of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's floodplain map 
for Medina County, it appears that any western bypass route that 
would cross a comparable amount of floodplain to the alternative 
rail routes under consideration would need to connect to the UP rail 
line many miles to the west of the quarry, which would significantly 
increase the line's length.
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    In short, SEA believes that there are currently three alternative 
rail routes that have been developed in this proceeding (SGR's Modified 
Medina Dam Route, the Eastern Bypass Route, and the MCEAA Medina Dam 
Alternative) that are potentially reasonable and feasible but have not 
yet been studied in depth. These alternatives warrant study in a 
supplemental EIS.\14\ Therefore, SEA will issue for public review and 
comment an SDEIS studying these three routes. The attached Figure 1 is 
a map showing the three additional routes to be studied in the SDEIS, 
as well as the four rail routes assessed in depth in the Draft EIS 
(Proposed Route, Alternative 1, Alternative 2, and Alternative 3) and 
the old Medina Dam route (included for reference). No other alternative 
rail alignments will be studied in the SDEIS.
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    \14\ See (Forty Questions), Question 29b.
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Scope of the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement

    The primary purpose of the SDEIS will be to provide the public with 
an opportunity to review and comment on SEA's analysis of SGR's 
Modified Medina Dam Route, the Eastern Bypass Route, and the MCEAA 
Medina Dam Alternative. Thus, the SDEIS will be a focused document, 
containing an appropriate analysis of these three alternative rail 
routes and a comparison to the four routes previously studied in 
detail. The SDEIS will also contain a discussion of the rural historic 
landscape study, which SEA is currently conducting to assess historic 
resources in the project area, and a discussion of additional noise 
analysis that SEA will be performing, based on updated operational data 
(that trains may operate during nighttime hours) recently provided by 
SGR.
    While comments to the Draft EIS have requested that a SDEIS be 
prepared to address other issues, SEA believes that the majority of the 
comments to the Draft EIS can be appropriately responded to in the 
Final EIS, which will be issued after the conclusion of the comment 
period in the SDEIS (see below for more detail) and no additional 
public review and comment is required prior to responding to these 
comments

[[Page 12777]]

in a Final EIS. Commenters need not resubmit the comments they made to 
the Draft EIS; the Final EIS will contain responses to all comments 
that have been received to date, as well as comments on the SDEIS.
    The CEQ regulations implementing NEPA do not require that formal 
scoping activities be undertaken to determine the scope of study for a 
supplement.\15\ While the Board's environmental regulations at 49 CFR 
1105.10(a)(5) indicate that preparation of a draft scope of study for 
public review and comment and then a final scope of study that takes 
into consideration the comments received on the draft scope may be 
appropriate for a supplemental EIS, because the scope of the SDEIS has 
been well-defined by the environmental review process to date, such 
scoping activities need not be undertaken here.
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    \15\ See 40 CFR 1502.9(c)(4) (``Agencies shall prepare, 
circulate, and file a supplement in the same fashion (exclusive of 
scoping) as a draft and final statement unless alternative 
procedures are approved by the Council'').
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    Alternatives considered in detail must be examined in a manner that 
allows reviewers to compare them equally.\16\ Thus, the scope of 
analysis for SGR's Modified Medina Dam Route, the Eastern Bypass Route, 
and the MCEAA Medina Dam Alternative in the SDEIS will be the same as 
the scope of analysis for the alternatives considered in depth in the 
Draft EIS, as defined by the Final Scope, issued on May 7, 2004. This 
will include analysis of the following resource areas: Transportation 
and traffic safety; public health and worker health and safety; water 
resources; biological resources; air quality; geology and soils 
(including karst features); land use; environmental justice; noise; 
vibration; recreation and visual resources; cultural resources; and 
socioeconomics. The SDEIS will also provide a comparison of the three 
eastern routes to the rail routes studied in depth in the Draft EIS.
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    \16\ See 40 CFR 1502.14(b).
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The Remaining Steps in the Environmental Review Process

    Upon its completion, the SDEIS will be made available for public 
and agency review and comment for at least 45 days. After the close of 
the comment period on the SDEIS, SEA will review all comments. Then SEA 
will issue a Final EIS that responds to comments on the Draft EIS and 
the SDEIS, discusses any additional analysis, and presents SEA's final 
recommendations to the Board. After issuance of the Final EIS, the 
environmental review process will be completed.
    The Board then will issue a final decision in this proceeding. In 
reaching a final decision either to approve SGR's proposal, to deny 
SGR's proposal, or to approve SGR's proposal with conditions, the Board 
will take into consideration the Draft EIS, the SDEIS, the Final EIS, 
and all environmental comments that are received.
    A paper copy of the entire SDEIS will be sent to parties on the 
Board's official service list for this proceeding, which includes 
parties of record, Federally-recognized tribes, Federal, state and 
local agencies, elected officials, representatives of organizations, 
and Section 106 consulting parties. The SDEIS will also be posted on 
the Board's website and copies will be made available in libraries in 
the vicinity of the project area.
    SEA is sending a copy of this Notice to all persons on SEA's 
environmental mailing list, which is a compilation of local area 
residents and other individuals who have expressed interest in the 
environmental review process for this proceeding. Individuals on this 
environmental mailing list who would like to remain on the mailing list 
and to receive a paper copy or an electronic copy of the SDEIS are 
requested to complete and return the enclosed postcard. Those 
individuals who do not return the enclosed postcard will be removed 
from the environmental mailing list. If you are not now on and would 
like to be added to SEA's environmental mailing list for this 
proceeding, please contact Rini Ghosh at (202) 565-1539.

    By the Board, Victoria Rutson, Chief, Section of Environmental 
Analysis.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
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[FR Doc. 06-2391 Filed 3-10-06; 8:45 am]
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