[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 169 (Monday, August 31, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53903-53904]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19069]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Early Scoping Notice for Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) 
Proposed LYNX Silver Line Project in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area, 
North Carolina

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Early scoping notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Charlotte 
Area Transit System (CATS) issue this early scoping notice to advise 
other agencies and the public that they intend to explore, through the 
early scoping process of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), 
proposed light rail transit in the West and Southeast Corridors, now 
known as the proposed LYNX Silver Line Project (SLP).

DATES: Written comments on the scope of the ongoing planning analysis, 
including previous studies developed by local planning and 
transportation agencies, purpose and need, alternatives to be 
considered, potential impacts to be assessed, and public outreach 
methods should be sent to CATS by October 14, 2020. See ADDRESSES below 
for the address to which written public comments may be sent. 
Instructions for participating in online and live virtual early scoping 
meetings are available at http://RideTransit.org/LYNXSilverLine, along 
with early scoping materials. CATS will conduct live virtual public 
meetings on the following dates:
Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.; Focus Area 1: Wilkinson 
Boulevard (City of Belmont to I-485)
Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.; Focus Area 2: Wilkinson 
Boulevard (I-485 to West Morehead Street)
Thursday, September 17, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.; Focus Area 3: Center City 
(West Morehead Street to Charlottetowne Avenue)
Tuesday, September 22, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.; Focus Area 4: Independence 
Boulevard (Charlottetowne Avenue to Idlewild Road)
Thursday, September 24, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.; Focus Area 5: Independence 
Boulevard (Idlewild Road to just south of I-485 at CPCC Levine)
Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.; Focus Area 6: Union County 
Extension

    Individuals who require special assistance to participate in early 
scoping should contact Ms. Ajonelle Poole, CATS Public and Community 
Relations Specialist, at 704-336-RIDE or [email protected] 
at least seven days prior to the meetings. Ms. Poole can also be 
contacted for hard copies of the early scoping materials.
    An interagency early scoping meeting will be conducted virtually on 
Monday, September 14, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Representatives 
of Native American tribal governments and of Federal, State and local 
agencies that may have an interest in the project will be invited by 
phone, letter, or email.
    In addition to the early scoping meetings described herein, CATS 
and FTA will conduct the scoping activities required by the subsequent 
NEPA process to identify the nature and scope of environmental issues 
to be addressed in the NEPA document. If the proposed action resulting 
from the planning analysis would have significant impacts requiring an 
environmental impact statement (EIS), FTA will publish a Notice of 
Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS in the Federal Register, and that NOI 
will announce the dates and locations for EIS scoping meetings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Ms. Ajonelle Poole, CATS 
Public and Community Relations Specialist, 600 E. Fourth Street, 
Charlotte, NC 28202, phone: 704-336-RIDE, email: 
[email protected]. The details of early scoping meetings 
are given above under DATES.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Julia Walker, Environmental 
Protection Specialist, Region 4, Federal Transit Administration, 230 
Peachtree Street NW, Suite 1400, Atlanta, GA 30303, phone: 404-865-
5600, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The early scoping process will be part of 
the ongoing planning analysis required by Title 49, United States Code 
(U.S.C.) Sec. 5309. Early scoping meetings have been planned and are 
announced below. The planning analysis completed to date has resulted 
in a locally preferred, planning-level light rail transit alternative 
which was adopted by the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) and the 
metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) for the Charlotte region. 
CATS recently initiated further study to refine the locally preferred 
alternative, which will then be the ``proposed action'' subject to 
environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
and other environmental laws and regulations.
    The SLP Corridor is approximately 26 miles in length. From the City 
of Belmont, it traverses through Center City Charlotte, and the Town of 
Matthews, with a potential two-mile extension into Union County. The 
transit improvements passing through these communities would serve 
residential neighborhoods and employment centers, key destinations like 
Charlotte Douglas International Airport, future Charlotte Gateway 
Station (with intercity rail and bus connections), Bank of America 
Stadium, BB&T Ballpark, Ovens Auditorium, Bojangles Coliseum, Novant 
Health Presbyterian and Matthews Medical Center, and Central Piedmont 
Community College, and will connect to the existing CATS LYNX Blue Line 
Light Rail and the CATS CityLYNX Gold Line Streetcar.
    At the conclusion of the planning analysis, the MTC will adopt a 
refined locally preferred planning-level alternative, which will then 
be the ``proposed action'' subject to an appropriate environmental 
review under NEPA. If the proposed action would have significant 
impacts, FTA and CATS would initiate an EIS by conducting a scoping 
process to determine the appropriate scope of the EIS. In particular, 
the purpose and need for the project, the range of alternatives to be 
considered in the EIS, the environmental and community impacts to be 
evaluated, and the evaluation methodologies to be used would be subject 
to public and interagency review and comment, in accordance with 40 CFR 
parts 1500-1508 and 23 CFR part 771.

[[Page 53904]]

Previous Studies

    Rapid transit has been discussed in Charlotte for decades, and in 
1998, the City of Charlotte prepared the 2025 Integrated Transit/Land 
Use Plan. This was the original transit and land use plan that proposed 
using rapid transit to support focusing future growth in Charlotte's 
key centers and corridors. The West Corridor (along Wilkinson 
Boulevard) and the Southeast Corridor (along Independence Boulevard) 
were two of the identified corridors. Since 1998, there have been 
various planning efforts, and the plan has since been updated to the 
2030 Transit System Plan.
    In 2016, CATS completed the Southeast Corridor Transit Study, which 
considered various transit technologies and alignments. The MTC 
approved the recommendation of a light rail locally preferred 
alternative for the 13-mile Southeast Corridor from Center City 
Charlotte to the Mecklenburg and Union County border. The locally 
preferred alternative resulted from a detailed technical evaluation and 
outreach effort to the public and stakeholders.
    More recently, CATS studied various technology and alignment 
alternatives for the West Corridor and Center City as part of the LYNX 
System Update, and in February 2019, the MTC adopted a light rail 
locally preferred alternative for the West Corridor, and combined the 
West and Southeast Corridor locally preferred alternatives as one 
continuous 26-mile light rail corridor from Belmont to Matthews known 
as the LYNX Silver Line. An extension into Union County will also be 
evaluated, as directed by the MTC.

Purpose and Need for Action

    Previous planning analysis and discussions with stakeholders have 
helped to identify key transportation needs in the West and Southeast 
Corridors. These needs will be refined and detailed during planning and 
through environmental review, as analysis continues, and input is 
received from the public, stakeholders, and regulatory agencies. 
Initially, the key transportation concerns are continued population and 
employment growth in the Charlotte region, a congested roadway network 
with increased travel times, reduced reliability of the transportation 
system, and local goals to address equity concerns such as limited 
transportation options for transit-dependent populations, and 
inadequate connectivity between and access to transit, affordable 
housing, employment, and community services by environmental justice 
populations.
    The preliminary purpose of the SLP is to provide high-capacity 
transit service in dedicated right-of-way along the US 74 (Wilkinson 
Boulevard), Cedar Street/Graham Street, 11th Street, US 74 
(Independence Boulevard), and Monroe Road transportation corridors 
that:
     Provides a competitive and reliable alternative to 
automobiles;
     Improves local connectivity between and access to transit, 
housing, employment, and community services in the corridor;
     Promotes opportunities for development consistent with 
local vision, goals, plans, and policies;
     Provides a transit system that is financially sustainable 
to build, operate, and maintain; and,
     Preserves and protects the natural and built environment.

Alternatives

    FTA and CATS are considering refinements to the light rail locally 
preferred alternative which came out of the Southeast Corridor Transit 
Study and the LYNX System Update, including shifts in alignment to 
address new opportunities and risks, and terminus options including an 
approximate two-mile extension into Union County.
    In addition to what is described above, other reasonable 
alternatives identified through the early scoping process will be 
considered for potential inclusion in the planning analysis.

FTA Procedures

    Early scoping is an optional element of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) process that is particularly useful in situations 
where, as here, alignment variations are under consideration in a 
broadly-defined study area. While NEPA scoping normally begins with 
issuance of a Notice of Intent which describes the proposed action, it 
``may be initiated earlier, as long as there is appropriate public 
notice and enough information available on the proposal so that the 
public and relevant agencies can participate effectively.'' See the 
Council on Environmental Quality's ``Forty Most Asked Questions 
Concerning CEQ's National Environmental Policy Act Regulations,'' 46 FR 
18026, 18030 (1981). In this case, the available information is more 
than adequate to permit the public and relevant agencies to participate 
effectively in early scoping and the planning analysis. Early scoping 
can also serve to link transportation planning and NEPA. CATS intends 
to formalize the Federal Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) 
process with the initiation of early scoping, so that the results of 
planning studies may be considered during the formal NEPA environmental 
review process.
    CATS may seek New Starts funding for the proposed project under 49 
U.S.C. Sec. 5309 and will, therefore, be subject to New Starts 
regulation (49 CFR part 611). The New Starts regulation requires a 
planning analysis that leads to the selection of a locally preferred 
alternative by CATS and the inclusion of the locally preferred 
alternative in the long-range transportation plan adopted by MPOs. The 
planning analysis will examine alignments, station locations, costs, 
funding, ridership, economic development, land use, engineering 
feasibility, and environmental factors in the study area. The New 
Starts regulation also requires the submission of certain project-
justification information in support of a request to initiate the 
engineering phase.


    Authority: 49 CFR 622.101, 23 CFR 771.111, and 40 CFR 1501.7.

Yvette Taylor,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-19069 Filed 8-28-20; 8:45 am]
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