[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 15 (Monday, January 26, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4503-4504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1408]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Notice of Limitation on Claims Against Proposed Public 
Transportation Projects

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Limitation on Claims.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces final environmental actions taken by the 
Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for public transportation projects 
in the following areas: San Francisco, California; Miami, Florida; 
Sacramento, California; and Hudson County, New Jersey and New York, New 
York. The purpose of this notice is to announce publicly the 
environmental decisions by FTA on the subject projects and to activate 
the limitation on any claims that may challenge these final 
environmental actions.

DATES: By this notice, FTA is advising the public of final agency 
actions subject to Title 23, United States Code (U.S.C.), section 
139(l). A claim seeking judicial review of the FTA actions announced 
herein for the listed public transportation projects will be barred 
unless the claim is filed on or before July 27, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Zelasko, Environmental 
Protection Specialist, Office of Planning and Environment, 202-366-
0244, or Christopher Van Wyk, Attorney-Advisor, Office of Chief 
Counsel, 202-366-1733. FTA is located at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that FTA has taken 
final agency actions by issuing certain approvals for the public 
transportation projects listed below. The actions on these projects, as 
well as the laws under which such actions were taken, are described in 
the documentation issued in connection with each project to comply with 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and in other documents in 
the FTA administrative record for the corresponding project. The final 
agency environmental decision documents--Records of Decision (ROD) or 
Findings of No Significant Impact (FONSI)--for the listed projects are 
available online at http://www.fta.dot.gov/planning/environment/planning_environment_documents.html or may be obtained by contacting 
the corresponding FTA Regional Office for the metropolitan area where 
the project is located. Contact information for the FTA Regional 
Offices may be found at http://www.fta.dot.gov.
    This notice applies to all FTA decisions on the listed projects as 
of the issuance date of this notice and all laws under which such 
actions were taken, including, but not limited to, the NEPA [42 U.S.C. 
4321-4375], Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act of 
1966 [49 U.S.C. 303], Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
Act [16 U.S.C. 470f], and the Clean Air Act [42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q]. 
This notice does not, however, alter or extend the limitation period of 
180 days for challenges of project decisions subject to previous 
notices published in the Federal Register (e.g., this notice does not 
extend the limitation on claims announced in the Federal Register on 
November 2, 2007, for the ROD issued for the Miami-Dade Orange Line 
Phase 2 Project).
    The projects and actions that are the subject of this notice are:
    1. Project name and location: Central Subway Project, San 
Francisco, California.
    Project sponsor: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority 
(SFMTA).
    Project description: The FTA and SFMTA have completed a Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) and Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (FSEIR) for the Central Subway 
Project, an extension of the Third Street Light Rail Project. SFMTA 
will build a 1.7-mile extension along Fourth and Stockton Streets from 
the existing Third Street Light Rail Station at Fourth and King Streets 
to a new terminus in Chinatown at Stockton and Jackson Streets. The 
light rail transit will transition to subway operation at a portal 
under the I-80 Freeway and continue along Fourth Street in a twin-
tunnel configuration. The Central Subway project includes one surface 
station between Brannan and Bryant Streets and three subway stations: 
Moscone, Union Square/Market Street, and Chinatown. A temporary 
construction tunnel would extend beyond the Chinatown Station under 
Stockton Street to Columbus Avenue near Washington Square. Final Agency 
Actions: ROD signed on November 26, 2008; Section 106 Memorandum of 
Agreement signed on November 5, 2008; Project-level Air Quality 
Conformity determination; and Section 4(f) de minimis impact finding. 
Supporting documentation: Central Subway Project Supplemental Final 
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental

[[Page 4504]]

Impact Report published on October 3, 2008.
    2. Project name and location: Miami-Dade Orange Line Phase 2: North 
Corridor Metrorail Extension, Miami, Florida (the ``Project''). Project 
sponsor: Miami-Dade Transit Project description: The FTA and Miami-Dade 
Transit prepared a Supplemental Environmental Assessment on changes 
made to the Project after FTA signed a Record of Decision on April 26, 
2007. The Project involves a 9.2-mile heavy rail transit extension of 
the existing Metrorail system that would run along NW. 27th Avenue from 
NW. 76th Street to NW. 215th Street. Changes to the Project introduced 
since the ROD include modifying the location and layout of the NW. 82nd 
Street Station, identifying a new relocation site for the North Central 
Branch Library, shifting the alignment and station configuration at NW. 
103rd Street Station, identifying a new location for the NW. 119th 
Street Station, and proposing new locations for the Park and Ride 
facilities at NW. 199th Street and NW. 215th Street Station Park and 
Ride Facilities. Final agency actions: FONSI signed on November 7, 
2008; Section 106 Finding of No Historic Properties Affected. 
Supporting documentation: Miami-Dade Orange Line Phase 2: North 
Corridor Metrorail Extension Supplemental Environmental Assessment 
published in August 2008.
    3. Project name and location: South Sacramento Corridor Phase 2 
Extension Project, Sacramento, California. Project sponsor: Sacramento 
Regional Transit District (RT). Project description: FTA and RT have 
prepared a Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement/Subsequent 
Final Environmental Impact Report for a 4.3-mile Light Rail Transit 
(LRT) extension from the South Line at Meadowview Road to Cosumnes 
River College. The LRT project includes the construction of four 
stations at Morrison Creek, Franklin, Center Parkway, and the Cosumnes 
River College. Final agency actions: ROD signed on December 18, 2008; 
Project-level Air Quality Conformity determination; Consultation with 
U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) under Section 7 of the Endangered 
Species Act resulting in DOI's issuance of a Biological Opinion; 
Section 106 Finding of No Historic Properties Affected. Supporting 
documentation: Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement/
Subsequent Final Environmental Impact Report for the South Sacramento 
Corridor Phase 2 Extension Project published on October 17, 2008.
    4. Project name and location: Access to the Region's Core Project 
(ARC), Hudson County, New Jersey and New York City, New York. Project 
sponsor: New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit). Project description: FTA and 
NJ Transit have completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement for a 
7.6 mile commuter rail project that includes a new commuter rail tunnel 
under the Hudson River from New Jersey into Manhattan, a new commuter 
rail station near the existing Penn Station New York, and the track 
capacity expansion of the Northeast Corridor in New Jersey from the 
Koppers Coke site in Kearny through the Frank R. Lautenberg Station in 
Secaucusto the portal of the new Hudson River tunnel near Tonnelle 
Avenue. Key components of the project include a new direct connection 
at Secaucus between the Northeast Corridor and the Main, Bergen County, 
and Pascack Valley lines; two new single track tunnels under the 
Palisades in New Jersey and the Hudson River and through the west side 
of Manhattan to the new underground 6-track station that will end at 
Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street in Manhattan; and a mid-day train 
storage yard on the Koppers Coke site, two fan plants/construction 
access shafts in New Jersey, and four fan plants/construction access 
shafts in Manhattan. Final agency actions: ROD signed on January 14, 
2009, Project-level Air Quality Conformity Determination, Section 4(f) 
finding, Section 106 Programmatic Agreement dated October 13, 2008, 
Finding of no practicable alternative to significant encroachment into 
floodplains in accordance with Executive Order 11988, and Finding of no 
practicable alternative to new construction in wetlands in accordance 
with Executive Order 11990. Supporting documentation: Access to the 
Region's Core Project Final Environmental Impact Statement published on 
November 7, 2008.

    Issued on: January 15, 2009.
Susan Borinsky,
Associate Administrator for Planning and Environment, Washington, DC.
[FR Doc. E9-1408 Filed 1-23-09; 8:45 am]
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