[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 140 (Friday, July 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41508-41509]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-11629]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement on Transit 
Improvements for the Gold Line Corridor

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS).

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Denver 
Regional Transportation District (RTD), in cooperation with the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Colorado Department of 
Transportation (CDOT), will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) to evaluate the impacts of rail transit improvements for the Gold 
Line Corridor which extends from downtown Denver, Colorado west to Ward 
Road in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. The EIS will be prepared in accordance 
with regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), as well as provisions of the recently enacted Safe, 
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy of 
Users. The purpose of this Notice of Intent is to alert interested 
parties regarding the plan to prepare the EIS, to provide information 
on the nature of the proposed transit project, to invite participation 
in the EIS process, including comments on the scope of the EIS proposed 
in this notice, and to announce that public scoping meetings will be 
conducted.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS should be sent to Dave 
Hollis, RTD Project Manager, by September 25, 2006. Public scoping 
meetings will be held on August 22nd and 23rd from 5:30 p.m. to 8:15 
p.m. at the locations indicated below.
    An interagency scoping meeting will be scheduled after agencies 
with an interest in the proposed project have been identified.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS should be sent to 
Dave Hollis, Gold Line Corridor Project Manager, Denver Regional 
Transportation District (RTD), 1560 Broadway, Suite 700, Denver, CO 
80202. Comments may also be offered at the public scoping meetings. The 
addresses for the public scoping meetings are as follows:

Tuesday, August 22, Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada, CO 
80003.
Wednesday, August 23, Highlands Masonic Center, 3550 Federal Blvd., 
Denver, CO 80211.

For more information for special assistance needs for the scoping 
meetings, please contact Dave Hollis at (303) 299-2404 at least 48 
hours before the meeting. All meetings will be conducted in wheelchair 
accessible locations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Beckhouse, Community 
Planner, Federal Transit Administration, Region VIII, 12300 West Dakota 
Ave., Suite 310, Lakewood, CO 80228-2583, (720) 963-3306.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    The Proposed Project: The project extends 11 miles from Denver 
Union Station (DUS) in downtown Denver to Wheat Ridge. The project 
proposes stations at W. 38th Avenue, Pecos Street, Federal Boulevard, 
Sheridan Boulevard, Olde Town, Arvada Ridge, and Ward Road.
    Purposes of and Need for the Proposed Project: The Gold Line area 
is forecast to be one of the fastest growing areas of the region over 
the next 20 years. Growth rates for both population and employment are 
forecast to increase significantly by 2030. Congestion along north I-25 
and I-70 West is already severe, with forecasts indicating increasing 
severity and duration of congestion. In addition to increasing 
congestion, access through and from the corridor area to other areas in 
the metro region is difficult. Many roadways are not continuous, 
requiring circuitous travel. Existing transit service in the area is 
minimal and often requires a transfer in Downtown Denver for service to 
other areas. The project will provide a new rail transportation 
facility to improve local and regional mobility and accessibility for 
the west metropolitan area.
    This transit project is included as part of RTD's FasTracks 
Program, a 12-year comprehensive plan for transit service and 
facilities in the Denver region. The FasTracks Plan is a $4.7 billion 
program that was endorsed by the voters of the Denver metropolitan area 
in 2004. The voters of the region approved an increase in the regional 
sales and use tax from 0.6% to 1.0% in order to provide for the 
expedited build out of the transit system. FasTracks includes a funding 
plan for 119 new miles of rail transit, 18 miles of bus rapid transit, 
21,000 new spaces in park n Rides and significant improvements to the 
bus system. The FasTracks projects have been adopted in the current 
Denver area Regional Transportation Plan.
    Alternatives: The NEPA scoping process will include an evaluation 
of the results of the MIS conducted by RTD between 1998 and 2000 as 
well as the Three Corridors Scoping Study that was completed in October 
2005. The locally preferred alternative (LPA) of the MIS was LRT on the 
BNSF alignment (or Gold Line alignment) from DUS to Ward Road. These 
recommendations were approved by the Denver Regional Council of 
Governments and included in the fiscally constrained Regional 
Transportation Plan (RTP) and the MetroVision 2030 Master Plan.
    FTA and RTD propose that the EIS evaluate the following 
alternatives:
    The No-Action alternative is the option of implementing nothing 
more than the existing and committed road and transit improvements.
    The Transportation System Management (TSM) alternative includes 
various transportation improvements beyond the existing and committed 
projects plus enhanced bus transit service in the Gold Line Corridor.
    The MIS LPA will be evaluated as the proposed project. The EIS will 
also consider any additional reasonable alternatives identified during 
scoping that provide similar transportation benefits while reducing or 
avoiding adverse impacts.
    The EIS Process and the Role of Participating Agencies and the 
Public: The purpose of the EIS process is to explore in a public 
setting potentially significant effects of implementing the proposed 
action and alternatives on the physical, human, and natural 
environment. Areas of investigation include, but are not limited to, 
land use, development potential, land acquisition and displacements, 
historic resources, visual and aesthetic qualities, air quality, noise 
and vibration, energy use, safety and security, and ecosystems, 
including threatened and endangered species. Measures to avoid, 
minimize, or mitigate any significant adverse impacts will be 
identified. Regulations implementing NEPA, as well as provisions of the 
recently enacted Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation 
Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), call for public 
involvement in the EIS process. Section 6002 of SAFETEA-LU requires 
that FTA

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and RTD do the following: (1) Extend an invitation to other Federal and 
non-Federal agencies and Indian tribes that may have an interest in the 
proposed project to become ``participating agencies,'' (2) provide an 
opportunity for involvement by participating agencies and the public in 
helping to define the purpose and need for a proposed project, as well 
as the range of alternatives for consideration in the impact statement, 
and (3) establish a plan for coordinating public and agency 
participation in and comment on the environmental review process. An 
invitation to become a participating agency, with the scoping 
information packet appended, will be extended to other Federal and non-
Federal agencies and Indian tribes that may have an interest in the 
proposed project. It is possible that we may not be able to identify 
all Federal and non-Federal agencies and Indian tribes that may have 
such an interest. Any Federal or non-Federal agency or Indian tribe 
interested in the proposed project that does not receive an invitation 
to become a participating agency should notify at the earliest 
opportunity the Project Manager identified above under ADDRESSES.
    A comprehensive public involvement program will be developed and a 
public and agency involvement Coordination Plan will be created. The 
program will include outreach to local and county officials and 
community and civic groups; a public scoping process to define the 
issues of concern among all parties interested in the project; 
organizing periodic meetings with various local agencies, organizations 
and committees; a public hearing on release of the draft environmental 
impact statement (DEIS); and development and distribution of project 
newsletters.
    The purposes of and need for the proposed project have been 
preliminarily identified in this notice. We invite the public and 
participating agencies to consider the preliminary statement of 
purposes of and need for the proposed project, as well as the 
alternatives proposed for consideration. Suggestions for modifications 
to the statement of purposes of and need for the proposed project and 
any other alternatives that meet the purposes of and need for the 
proposed project are welcomed and will be given serious consideration. 
Comments on potentially significant environmental impacts that may be 
associated with the proposed project and alternatives are also 
welcomed. There will be additional opportunities to participate in the 
scoping process at the public meetings announced in this notice.
    In accordance with 23 CFR 771.105(a) and 771.133, FTA will comply 
with all Federal environmental laws, regulations, and executive orders 
applicable to the proposed project during the environmental review 
process to the maximum extent practicable. These requirements include, 
but are not limited to, the regulations of the Council on Environmental 
Quality and FTA implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508, and 23 CFR 
part 771), the project-level air quality conformity regulation of the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (40 CFR part 93), the 
section 404(b)(1) guidelines of EPA (40 CFR part 230), the regulation 
implementing section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (36 
CFR part 800), the regulation implementing section 7 of the Endangered 
Species Act (50 CFR part 402), section 4(f) of the DOT Act (23 CFR 
771.135), and Executive Orders 12898 on environmental justice, 11988 on 
floodplain management, and 11990 on wetlands.
    In accordance with 36 CFR 800.8(c), RTD will utilize the NEPA/
Section 106 merger process for documentation to comply with section 
106. RTD will utilize the Memorandum of Agreement between the FTA, 
Region VIII and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), dated 
January, 2006 for documentation to comply with section 404 mandates.
    In addition, RTD may seek Section 5309 New Starts funding for the 
project. As provided in the FTA New Starts regulation (49 CFR part 
611), New Starts funding requires the submission of certain specific 
information to FTA to support a request to initiate preliminary 
engineering, which is normally done in conjunction with the NEPA 
process.

    Issued on: July 13, 2006.
Lee O. Waddleton,
Regional Administrator, Region VIII, Federal Transit Administration.
 [FR Doc. E6-11629 Filed 7-20-06; 8:45 am]
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