[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 31, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16162-16163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7099]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5408-N-01]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Yesler Terrace Redevelopment Project

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gives 
notice to the public, agencies, and Indian Tribes that the Seattle 
Housing Authority and the City of Seattle Human Services Department 
(Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Administration Unit) intend 
to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Yesler 
Terrace Redevelopment Project, located in the City of Seattle, King 
County, WA. The project proponent is the Seattle Housing Authority. The 
City of Seattle Human Services Department and the Seattle Housing 
Authority, acting jointly as lead agencies, will prepare the EIS under 
the authority of the City of Seattle Human Services Department as the 
Responsible Entity for compliance with the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 5304(g) and 42 U.S.C. 
1437x and HUD regulations at 24 CFR 58.4, and under the Seattle Housing 
Authority's role as lead agency in accordance with the Washington State 
Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The EIS will be a joint NEPA and SEPA 
document. The EIS will satisfy requirements of SEPA (RCW 43.21C) and 
the SEPA Rules (WAC 197-11) which require that all State and local 
government agencies consider the environmental consequences of projects 
over which they have discretionary authority before acting on those 
projects. The proposed action is subject to compliance with NEPA, 
because funds from the public housing programs under Title I of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (HOPE VI, Capital Funds, Demolition/
Disposition) will used for this project (24 CFR 58.1(b)(6)(i)). This 
notice is given in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality 
regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508. All interested Federal, State, 
and local agencies, Indian Tribes, groups, and the public are invited 
to comment on the scope of the EIS. If you are an agency with 
jurisdiction by law over natural or other public resources affected by 
the project, the Seattle Housing Authority and the City of Seattle 
Human Services Department need to know what environmental information 
germane to your statutory responsibilities should be included in the 
EIS.

ADDRESSES: Comments relating to the scope of the EIS are requested and 
will be accepted by the contact persons listed below until May 17, 
2010. Any person or agency interested in receiving a notice and wishing 
to make comment on the scope of the EIS should contact the persons 
listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Van Dyke, Development 
Director of the Seattle Housing Authority, 
[email protected], P.O. Box 19028, Seattle, WA 98109-
1028, (f) 206-615-3539 (SEPA) and Kristen Larson, Project Funding and 
Agreements Coordinator, City of Seattle Human Services Department, CDBG 
Administration Unit, [email protected], P.O. Box 34215, 
Seattle, WA 98124-4215, (f) 206-621-5003 (NEPA).
    For additional background information on the project proposal, 
please see the Seattle Housing Authority Web site: http://www.seattlehousing.org/redevelopment/yesler-terrace/.
    Public Participation: A public EIS Scoping meeting/open house will 
be held to provide an additional opportunity for the public to learn 
more about the proposed actions and to provide verbal or written 
comment on the scope of the EIS. At the meeting, the public will be 
able to view graphics illustrating preliminary redevelopment concepts 
associated with the proposed actions and speak with staff of the 
Seattle Housing Authority, the City of Seattle and members of the 
consultant team providing technical analyses in support of the project. 
Written comments may be mailed, sent via fax or e-mailed to the Seattle 
Housing Authority contact listed above or submitted at the EIS Scoping 
Meeting.
    The meeting/open house will be held at the Yesler Terrace Gym (835 
Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98122) on April 29, 2010. An open house will be 
held from 6-7 p.m. and public comments on the scope will be taken at 7 
p.m. For accommodations and translation services in conjunction with 
the public meeting please contact Collette Frazier, (p) (206) 615-3556.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Project Name and Description

    The Seattle Housing Authority and the City of Seattle Human 
Services Department will consider a proposal for a phased redevelopment 
of the existing Yesler Terrace residential community to a mixed-use 
residential community on a 28-acre site on the southern slope of First 
Hill in Seattle, WA. The proposed project is generally bounded by 
Interstate 5 on the west, Alder Street and Fir Street on the north, 
12th Avenue on the east, and Washington Street on the south.
    The proposed project would include development of a mix of 
affordable and market-rate housing, office and retail uses, as well as 
parks and open space, enhanced landscaping, improved streets and a 
system of pedestrian and bike improvements. All existing residential 
structures on the site would be demolished under the Proposed Action; 
other structures on the site may also be demolished. The existing 
Yesler Terrace

[[Page 16163]]

community center would be retained. It is anticipated that the 
redevelopment of Yesler Terrace will take approximately 15 to 20 years 
to complete.
    The proposed actions may involve the following: Comprehensive Plan 
Amendment, text amendment to the Land Use Code to allow a new zone for 
Yesler Terrace, street vacation, preliminary and final plat approval, 
adoption of a Planned Action Ordinance, Development Agreement approval, 
other construction and building permits and other Federal, State and 
local approvals for redevelopment of the Yesler Terrace community.
    The EIS is also intended to fulfill SEPA requirements for a Planned 
Action environmental review for the portion of the site west of Boren 
Avenue, per RCW 43.21C.031, SMC 25.05.164 [et seq.], and SHA Resolution 
4945. According to SEPA, a ``Planned Action'' is a designation for a 
project or elements of a project that shifts environmental review from 
the time a permit application is made to an earlier phase in the 
process, such as at the Comprehensive Plan amendment and/or rezone 
phase. The intent of this designation is to provide a more streamlined 
environmental process by using an existing EIS prepared at this earlier 
stage for SEPA compliance for long-term actions.
    This is to be a combined document--an EIS under the State of 
Washington State Environmental Policy Act (RCW 43.21C. and WAC 197-11) 
and an EIS under NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321) and implementing regulations of 
the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and HUD 
(24 CFR part 58).
    Alternatives: Preliminary Yesler Terrace redevelopment concepts 
call for redevelopment over a range of: 3,000 to 5,000 residential 
units; 800,000 to 1.2 million square feet of office/institutional 
space; and 40,000 to 88,000 square feet of retail space. The EIS will 
analyze three redevelopment alternatives representing a range of 
densities and intensities of uses, a redevelopment alternative 
consistent with existing zoning, and a no-action alternative.
    Probable Environmental Effects: The following subject areas will be 
analyzed in the combined EIS for probable environmental effects: Earth, 
Air Quality, Water, Plants and Animals, Energy, Environmental Health, 
Noise, Land Use, Housing, Aesthetics, Light and Glare, Recreation, 
Historic Resources, Cultural Resources, Transportation, Public 
Utilities, Public Services, Socioeconomics/Environmental Justice.

Lead Agencies

    As a lead agency, the City of Seattle, through its Human Services 
Department, is the responsible entity (RE) for this project in 
accordance with 24 CFR part 58, ``Environmental Review Procedures for 
Entities Assuming HUD Environmental Responsibilities.'' As a RE, the 
City of Seattle Human Services Department assumes the responsibility 
for environmental review, decision-making, and action that would 
otherwise apply to HUD under NEPA.
    In addition, the Seattle Housing Authority is the State 
Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) lead agency responsible for preparing 
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
    Questions may be directed to the individuals named in this notice 
under the heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

    Date Issued: March 9, 2010.
Mercedes Marquez,
Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development.
[FR Doc. 2010-7099 Filed 3-30-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P