[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 130 (Friday, July 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40144-40146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16669]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Adoption of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and 
Participation in the Section 106 Programmatic Agreement for the East 
Side Access Project

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of adoption and recirculation of the Final Environmental 
Impact Statement for the East Side Access Project and participation in 
the Section 106 Programmatic Agreement.

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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public and interested 
agencies that FRA is adopting the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 
March 2001 Final Environmental Impact Statement and subsequent FTA 
reevaluations (collectively, the ``2001 EIS'') for the East Side Access 
project proposed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in 
the State of New York. FRA is adopting the 2001 EIS to satisfy FRA's 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) obligations related to MTA's 
request for financing for the East Side Access project through the FRA 
Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) Program. 
Through Amendment No. 3, FRA is becoming a signatory to the 2006 
Amended Programmatic Agreement to satisfy Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle W. Fishburne; Environmental 
Protection Specialist; Federal Railroad Administration; Office of 
Railroad and Policy Development; 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., MS-20; 
Washington, DC 20590; Phone (202) 493-0398.

DATES: Submit comments regarding adoption of the 2001 EIS no later than 
30 days following EPA's notice of availability of the 2001 EIS to 
Michelle Fishburne, at the address listed above.

ADDRESSES: The 2001 EIS can be inspected at the FRA office at the 
address listed above and locally at the following locations:

Manhattan

     Community Board 4, Muhlenberg Library, 209 West 23rd 
Street, New York, NY 10011-2379; Phone (212) 924-1585.
     Community Board 5, Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth 
Avenue, New York, NY 10016-0122; Phone (212) 340-0863.
     New York Public Library, Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New 
York, NY 10018-2788; Phone (212) 275-6975.
     Community Board 6, Epiphany Library, 228 East 23rd Street, 
New York, NY 10010-4672; Phone (212) 679-2645.

Queens

     Community Board 8, Yorkville Library, 222 East 79th 
Street, New York, NY 10021-1295; Phone (212) 744-5824.
     Community Board 2, Court Square Library, 25-01 Jackson 
Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101; Phone (718) 937-2790.
     Community Board 5, Maspeth Library, 69-70 Grand Avenue, 
Masbeth, NY 11378; Phone (718) 639-5228.
    The 2001 EIS is also located on the FRA Web site at www.fra.dot.gov 
or on the MTA East Side Access project Web site at www.mta.info/capconstr/esas/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: MTA has applied to FRA for a RRIF loan for 
the East Side Access project. The East Side Access project will provide 
direct access for Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) riders to Grand Central 
Terminal (GCT) by connecting to the MTA LIRR Main Line and Port 
Washington tracks. LIRR provides service to 124 stations on 11 branch 
lines, within five counties in New York State: New York County, Kings 
County, Nassau County, Suffolk County, and Queens County. The East Side 
Access will be the LIRR's largest system expansion in over 100 years. 
The East Side Access project will open a second Manhattan gateway, 
greatly expanding its LIRR service by connecting Queens and Long Island 
with East Midtown Manhattan. With direct LIRR service to Midtown East, 
LIRR will further increase its market share by saving up to 40 minutes 
per

[[Page 40145]]

day in subway/bus/sidewalk travel time for commuters who work on 
Manhattan's East Side.
    The East Side Access project includes construction of new tunnel 
connections beneath Sunnyside Yard and approximately three miles of new 
tunnel in Manhattan. The project's multiple tunnels total approximately 
7.5 miles of new tunnels with approximately 13 miles of tracks. The 
project also involves the construction of numerous new structures, 
including new tracks, platforms, new off-street entrances, a new LIRR 
passenger station, ventilation and substation facilities, and new 
storage and maintenance facilities.
    Analysis of environmental effects from the East Side Access project 
began in 1995 with the preparation of a Major Investment Study (MIS) by 
MTA. The MIS evaluated the effectiveness of a wide range of alternative 
investments and strategies for the Long Island Transportation Corridor. 
FTA circulated a Draft EIS in May 2000, and published notices of the 
2000 Draft EIS availability with the public hearing date in the Federal 
Register on May 26, 2000. MTA held the public hearing on June 15, 2000, 
and public comments were accepted through December 1, 2000. FTA 
received over 300 public comments, which FTA addressed in the 2001 
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). FTA published the Record 
of Decision (ROD) in May 2001.
    The FEIS evaluated the environmental impacts for the No Action 
Alternative, the Transportation Systems Management Alternative, and the 
Preferred Alternative described in the MIS. Because the East Side 
Access project has the potential to affect a diverse set of 
stakeholders, MTA developed and implemented a comprehensive 
Communications and Coordination Plan during the development of the 
project. FRA was not a cooperating agency because it had no involvement 
with the project at that time.
    Subsequent to the release of the FEIS and ROD, MTA proposed several 
design changes to the project. In each instance, MTA prepared a 
technical memorandum identifying the need for design revisions and any 
resulting potential environmental impacts. FTA then reviewed and 
analyzed these MTA memoranda to determine if any additional NEPA review 
was required. FTA analyzed the proposed design changes in FTA memoranda 
and issued a letter to MTA finding in each case that the proposed 
design changes would not result in additional significant impacts not 
already analyzed in the FEIS, that the NEPA requirements as outlined in 
23 CFR 771.130 were met, and that no supplemental environmental review 
was required. The following table documents the technical memoranda and 
decision dates by FTA.

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                        MTA technical memoranda                                     FTA reevaluation
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1. Technical Memorandum Assessing Potential Design Changes, February    Aug. 30, 2002.
 26, 2002.
2. Design Changes in Queens Revision 14-4M Environmental Analysis,      Apr. 13, 2006.
 November 2005.
3. Technical Memorandum Assessing Design Refinement: Tail Tracks        July 18, 2008.
 Ventilation Plenum and Grate, February 2008.
4. Technical Memorandum Assessing Design Changes: LIRR Concourse and    Mar. 3, 2010.
 Street Entrances, July 30, 2009.
5. Redundant Elevator for East Side Access Concourse, March 12, 2010..  Aug. 2, 2010.
6. 48th Street Entrance Design, October 6, 2011.......................  Nov. 23, 2011.
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    Additionally, due to proposed modifications to the design of the 
project near East 50th Street, FTA prepared the ``MTA Long Island Rail 
Road East Side Access 50th Street Facility Revised Supplemental 
Environmental Assessment to the East Side Access Final Environmental 
Impact Statement'' (2006 EA) in April 2006, and issued the Finding of 
No Significant Impact in July 2006.
    The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing 
NEPA strongly encourage agencies to reduce paperwork and duplication, 
40 CFR 1500.4. One of the methods identified by CEQ to accomplish this 
goal is adopting the environmental documents prepared by other agencies 
in appropriate circumstances, 40 CFR 1500.4(n), 1500.5(h), and 1506.3. 
In instances where the actions covered by the original environmental 
impact statement and the proposed action are substantially the same, 
the agency adopting another agency's statement is not required to 
recirculate it except as a final statement, 40 CFR 1506.3(b).
    FRA has conducted an independent review of the FEIS, the six MTA 
technical memoranda with the subsequent FTA reevaluations, and the 2006 
EA for the purpose of determining whether FRA could adopt FTA's 
environmental review pursuant to 40 CFR 1506.3 and FRA's NEPA 
implementing procedures, Procedures for Considering Environmental 
Impacts, 64 FR 28545, May 26, 1999. First, FRA's review concluded that 
the action encompassed by the MTA RRIF application is substantially the 
same as the action documented in the 2001 EIS. The RRIF loan 
application encompasses elements of the East Side Access project 
covered by the 2001 EIS. Because specific elements for FRA financing 
have not been determined, FRA is adopting the 2001 EIS in its entirety 
to facilitate funding of multiple RRIF eligible elements of the 
project. Second, the 2001 EIS and subsequent analyses adequately assess 
the environmental impacts associated with the project. Although the 
original FEIS is over 10 years old,\1\ there have been no changes to 
the project that would result in significant environmental impacts that 
were not evaluated in the FEIS. There is no new information or 
circumstance that would result in significant environmental impacts not 
already evaluated in the FEIS, as demonstrated by FTA's reevaluations 
of modifications to the project since the issuance of the FEIS. 
Therefore, because FTA's environmental review covers the same project 
and adequately analyzes the impacts of the currently proposed project, 
FRA has determined that no supplemental EIS or reevaluation under FRA's 
implementing procedures is required. Third, the 2001 EIS meets the 
standards of the CEQ regulations, 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508. Therefore, 
FRA can adopt the 2001 EIS.
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    \1\ See CEQ's Forty Most Asked Questions Concerning CEQ's NEPA 
Regulations, 23 March 1981, number 32, which suggests a hard look at 
EISs older than five years.
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    In addition to NEPA compliance, the 2001 FEIS incorporated the 
analyses required for compliance with additional environmental 
statutes, including Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 
U.S.C. 7506; the National Historic Preservation Act, 16 U.S.C. 470 et 
seq.; and Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966 
(Section 4(f)), 49 U.S.C. 303. With respect to the CAA, FTA projects 
must comply with the Transportation Conformity regulations, 40 CFR part 
51 Subpart T and Part 93 Subpart A, and the 2001 EIS contains the 
requisite analysis. However, FRA projects must comply with the General 
Conformity regulations in accordance with 40 CFR 93.154. Generally, if 
a project meets

[[Page 40146]]

Transportation Conformity, it will also satisfy General Conformity. FRA 
reviewed the analysis in the 2001 EIS and confirmed with MTA that the 
project remains within the current State Transportation Plan, which, on 
January 3, 2012, received Federal approval for its conformity with the 
State Implementation Plan. The East Side Access project has been in 
continuous progress, is not considered a new action requiring 
redeterminations, and satisfies General Conformity requirements in 
accordance with 40 CFR part 51, Subpart W, and Part 93, Subpart B.
    FRA finds that the undertaking under Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act is substantially the same as the undertaking 
addressed by FTA. FTA, MTA, and the New York State Historic 
Preservation Officer (NYSHPO) developed and executed a Programmatic 
Agreement to address potential effects on historic properties. Because 
of new project elements and modifications, the Programmatic Agreement 
was amended in June 2006 to update the Areas of Potential Effect to 
reflect additional archaeological and historic resources not covered in 
the FEIS. FRA seeks to join the June 2006 Amended Programmatic 
Agreement (2006 Amended PA) as a signatory for the project in its 
entirety. FRA will become a signatory through the execution of 
Amendment No. 3 to the 2006 Amended PA. By becoming a signatory, FRA 
will be able to require MTA to comply with the 2006 Amended PA, as a 
condition of an FRA RRIF loan, and monitor future design decisions 
regarding historic resources, should FRA decide to approve a loan.
    Additionally, in the 2001 EIS, FTA evaluated the use of the 
historic resources and made a determination pursuant to Section 4(f), 
49 U.S.C. 303. Section 4(f) requires that projects undertaken by DOT 
must avoid using parks, recreational areas, wildlife and waterfowl 
refuges, or public and private historical sites unless there is no 
feasible and prudent alternative, and the action includes all possible 
planning to minimize harm to the Section 4(f) resource. FTA implemented 
measures to avoid and minimize harm to the historic resources during 
project development and design phases of the East Side Access project. 
In addition, the 2006 Amended PA includes additional measures to 
minimize harm to these resources. FRA is not aware of any adverse 
effects to historic resources since the construction of the East Side 
Access project began in 2001. FRA anticipates that FTA's Section 106 
process following the 2006 Amended PA will continue the avoidance of 
adverse effects from the undertaking to historic resources identified 
in Exhibits A, B, and C of the 2006 Amended PA.
    In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 
requirements regarding the filing of EISs, FRA has provided EPA with 
electronic copies of FTA's 2001 EIS. EPA will publish a notice of 
availability of the 2001 EIS in the Federal Register consistent with 
its usual practices. Because of the multivolume size of the FEIS and 
its continued availability in libraries in the affected community and 
on the MTA's and FRA's Web sites, FRA is not republishing the document 
on its own. This would be costly, defeat CEQ's goals of reducing 
paperwork and duplication of effort, and be of little or no additional 
value to other agencies or the public. The review period for the 
adoption of the 2001 EIS shall extend for 30 calendar days following 
publication of the EPA notice of availability.
    The final stage in the environmental review process under NEPA is 
the issuance of a ROD describing the agency's decision and the basis 
for it. Under the timelines included in the CEQ regulation, 40 CFR 
1506.10, a ROD cannot be issued by an agency earlier than thirty days 
after EPA publishes its Federal Register notice notifying the public of 
the availability of the final EIS. Any ROD issued by FRA will be 
consistent with 40 CFR 1505.2 and section 15 of FRA's Procedures for 
Considering Environmental Impacts.
    Accordingly, FRA is adopting and recirculating the 2001 FEIS, 
seeking to join the 2006 Amended PA, and has concluded that no 
supplemental or additional environmental review is required to support 
FRA's proposed action.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 2, 2012.
Paul Nissenbaum,
Associate Administrator, Office of Railroad Policy & Development.
[FR Doc. 2012-16669 Filed 7-5-12; 8:45 am]
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