[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 212 (Friday, November 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61387-61389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24181]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Early Scoping Notice for the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit 
Authority Proposed Everett Link Extension (EVLE) From Lynnwood to 
Everett, WA

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

ACTION: Early scoping notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Central Puget 
Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit) issue this early 
scoping notice to advise tribes, agencies, and the public that FTA and 
Sound Transit will explore potential route and station alternatives for 
the Everett Link light rail extension (EVLE or Project) and are 
starting to determine the scope of the environmental issues associated 
with the Project. The Project would extend Link light rail from the 
Lynnwood City Center Station to the Everett Station area in Snohomish 
County, Washington, and improve connections to the regional transit 
system and major activity centers. Potential alternatives for a light 
rail operations and maintenance facility (OMF North) in Snohomish 
County will also be explored to support the regional Link light rail 
program, including EVLE.

DATES: Two online public early scoping meetings will be held at the 
following times (all times are Pacific Standard Time):

 Wednesday, November 17, 2021, from 12:00-1:30 p.m.
 Thursday, November 18, 2021, from 6:00-7:30 p.m.

    These early scoping meetings will be conducted in a webinar format, 
accessible via the internet and by teleconference. Registration for an 
online public early scoping meeting can be done in advance of the 
meeting at everettlink.participate.online.
    FTA and Sound Transit have also scheduled an interagency and tribal 
early scoping meeting on November 8, 2021, to receive comments from 
tribes and agencies who have an interest in the proposed Project. 
Invitations to the tribal and agency early scoping meeting will be sent 
to appropriate federal, tribal, state, and local government units and 
will include details on how to participate in the online meeting.
    Supplemental information about the Project is provided in the 
following sections. Sound Transit will also provide information on the 
alternatives analysis at the early scoping meetings, along with 
opportunities for comments. Information is also available on the Sound 
Transit website at https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/everett-link-extension.
    Written early scoping comments are requested by December 10, 2021, 
and can be mailed or emailed to the addresses below. Comments can also 
be provided via the online comment form available at the website 
address below or left as a voicemail at the phone number below.

ADDRESSES: Kathy Fendt, Sound Transit, 401 S Jackson Street, Seattle, 
WA 98104-2826, Email: [email protected], Project 
website: everettlink.participate.online, Voicemail Phone Number: 888-
512-8599. Information in alternative formats: 800-201-4900/TTY: 711 or 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Assam, Environmental Protection 
Specialist, Region 10, Federal Transit Administration, 915 Second 
Avenue, Suite 3142, Seattle WA 98174, phone: 206-220-4465, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Early Scoping

    Early scoping is an optional element of the NEPA process that is 
intended to invite public, agency, and tribal comments at the earliest 
reasonable time in project planning, as in the case for this Project, 
where alignment and siting variations are under consideration in a 
broadly defined study area. FTA is the lead federal agency under NEPA. 
Early scoping is also being conducted under the Washington State 
Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) rules regarding expanded scoping 
(Washington Administrative Code 197-11-410). Sound Transit is the lead 
agency under SEPA.
    Early scoping can ensure that tribes, agencies, and the public have 
the opportunity to review and provide comments on the proposal that can 
then be used to inform subsequent steps in the NEPA process.
    Early scoping is being initiated for EVLE during the Project's 
alternatives development phase. This early scoping notice invites the 
public and other interested parties to comment on the scope of the 
alternatives development analysis, including the following: (a) The 
purpose and need for the Project; (b) the range of alternatives for 
light rail route, station, and OMF locations; (c) the impacts and 
benefits to the social, built, and natural environments; and (d) other 
considerations that are relevant to the evaluation of alternatives. 
These early scoping efforts are being

[[Page 61388]]

conducted in support of NEPA requirements and in accordance with the 
Council on Environmental Quality's regulations for implementing NEPA.

Purpose and Need for the Project

    The purpose of the EVLE is to expand the Link light rail system 
from the Lynnwood City Center Station to the Everett Station area and 
provide an operations and maintenance facility in order to:
     Provide high quality, rapid, reliable, accessible, and 
efficient light rail transit service to communities in the Project 
corridor as defined through the local planning process and reflected in 
the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) Plan (Sound Transit 2016).
     Improve regional mobility by increasing connectivity and 
capacity in the EVLE corridor from the Lynnwood Transit Center to the 
Everett Station area to meet projected transit demand.
     Connect regional centers as described in adopted regional 
and local land use, transportation, and economic development plans and 
Sound Transit's Regional Transit Long-Range Plan (Sound Transit 2014).
     Implement a system that is technically and financially 
feasible to build, operate, and maintain.
     Expand mobility for the corridor and region's residents, 
including explicit consideration for transit-dependent, low-income, and 
minority populations.
     Encourage equitable and sustainable growth in station 
areas through support of transit-oriented development and multimodal 
integration in a manner that is consistent with local land use plans 
and policies, including South Transit's Equitable Transit Oriented 
Development Policy (Sound Transit 2018) and Sustainability Plan (Sound 
Transit 2019).
     Encourage convenient, safe, and equitable nonmotorized 
access to stations, such as bicycle and pedestrian connections, 
consistent with Sound Transit's System Access Policy (Sound Transit 
2013) and Equity and Inclusion Policy (Sound Transit 2019).
     Preserve and promote a healthy environment and economy by 
minimizing adverse impacts on the natural, built, and social 
environments through sustainable and equitable practices.
     Provide an OMF with the capacity to receive, test, 
commission, store, maintain, and deploy vehicles to support the 
intended level of service for system-wide light rail system expansion.
     Develop an OMF that supports efficient and reliable light 
rail service and minimizes system operating costs.
    The Project is needed because:
     Chronic roadway congestion on Interstate 5 (I-5) and State 
Route (SR) 99--two primary highways connecting communities along the 
corridor--delays today's travelers, including those using transit, and 
degrades the reliability of bus service traversing the corridor, 
particularly during commute periods.
     These chronic, degraded conditions are expected to 
continue to worsen as the region's population and employment grow.
     Puget Sound Regional Council (the regional metropolitan 
planning organization) and local plans call for high-capacity transit 
in the corridor consistent with VISION 2050 (Puget Sound Regional 
Council 2020) and the Regional Transit Long-Range Plan (Sound Transit 
2014).
     Snohomish County residents and communities, including 
transit-dependent residents and low-income or minority populations, 
need long-term regional mobility and multimodal connectivity, as called 
for in the Washington State Growth Management Act (Revised Code of 
Washington 36.70A.108).
     Regional and local plans call for increased residential 
and/or employment density at and around high-capacity stations and 
increased options for multimodal access.
     Environmental and sustainability goals of the state and 
region, as established in Washington state law and embodied in Puget 
Sound Regional Council's VISION 2050 (Puget Sound Regional Council 
2020) and Regional Transportation Plan (Puget Sound Regional Council 
2018), include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by prioritizing 
transportation investments that decrease vehicle miles traveled.
     The current regional system lacks an OMF with sufficient 
capacity and suitable location to support the efficient and reliable 
long-term operations for system-wide light rail expansion, including 
the next phase of light rail expansion in Snohomish and King counties.
     New light rail maintenance and storage capacity needs to 
be available with sufficient time to accept delivery of and commission 
new vehicles to meet fleet expansion needs and to store existing 
vehicles while the new vehicles are tested and prepared.

Project Description

    The Everett Link extension corridor is approximately 16 miles long 
and extends Link light rail service north from the Lynnwood City Center 
Station to the Everett Station area. The Project includes six new Link 
stations and study of one additional provisional station during the 
planning process. The new light rail stations would be located in the 
following areas: (a) West Alderwood; (b) Ash Way; (c) Mariner Station; 
(d) Southwest Everett Industrial Center; (e) State Route (SR) 526/
Evergreen; and (f) Everett. The provisional station is in the SR 99/
Airport Road area. From Lynnwood, the proposed Link route parallels I-5 
to the Mariner Station area, and then travels westward along Airport 
Road to the SW Everett Industrial Center and eastward along SR 526/
Evergreen Way, before it continues northward along I-5 to Everett. The 
Project also includes a new operations and maintenance facility that 
will support the system-wide Link light rail system (OMF North), to be 
located along the alignment in Snohomish County.

Project Context and History

    Sound Move, the first phase of regional transit investments, was 
approved and funded by voters in 1996. Regional transit implemented as 
part of the Sound Move Plan included various Sounder commuter rail, 
regional Sound Transit Express bus, and Link light rail services that 
are now operational, including the Central Link light rail system, and 
the light rail extension to the University of Washington. In 2008, 
voters authorized funding for additional regional transit services as 
part of the Sound Transit 2 (ST2) Plan. The ST2 Plan extends Link light 
rail by approximately 36 miles including extensions east to Bellevue, 
south to Federal Way, and north to Northgate and Lynnwood. The 
Northgate extension opened in October 2021, and the other projects are 
currently under construction with the Lynnwood Link Extension opening 
for revenue service in 2024. The third phase of regional transit 
investments, ST3, was approved and funded by voters in 2016. ST3 will 
further extend the Link light rail system east from Bellevue to 
Redmond, south from Federal Way to Tacoma, north from Lynnwood to 
Everett, and from downtown Seattle to West Seattle and Ballard.
    Based on current revenue projections and cost estimates for the 
Everett Link extension, Sound Transit anticipates opening service from 
Lynnwood to SW Everett Industrial Center in 2037 and from SW Everett 
Industrial Center to Everett Station in 2041. The OMF North is 
currently planned for completion in 2034, and parking at Mariner and

[[Page 61389]]

Everett stations is planned for completion in 2046.

Potential Alternatives

    Previous planning work done to support development of the ST3 Plan 
included an examination of a range of potential high-capacity transit 
modes and alignment options between Lynnwood and Everett, including 
both bus rapid transit and light rail options on several potential 
alignments including I-5, SR 99, SR 525 and SR 526. Based on the 
analysis, a representative project was developed for the Everett Link 
extension for the purposes of establishing project scope, cost 
estimates, and ridership forecasts. The representative project 
developed for all ST3 projects, including the Everett Link extension, 
formed the basis of the ST3 Plan, financing for which was approved by 
the voters in 2016. The ST3 representative project is being used to 
establish the transit mode, corridor, number of stations, and general 
station locations during alternatives development. It is also the 
starting point for investigating other reasonable alternatives 
consistent with the ST3 Plan.
    As part of the alternatives development phase for the Project, FTA 
and Sound Transit will explore alternative alignment, station, and OMF 
North locations and design configurations that could meet the Project's 
purpose and need. During this early scoping comment period, FTA and 
Sound Transit invite comments on the Project purpose and need, the ST3 
representative project, other potential alternatives, and environmental 
issues of concern. Alternatives could include alignments on the west or 
east side of I-5, or other alternatives that arise during the early 
scoping comment period. During the alternatives development phase, FTA 
and Sound Transit will evaluate the relative performance of 
alternatives using performance measures that reflect the purpose and 
need for the Project. Examples of these measures include projected 
light rail ridership; capital, operations and maintenance costs; and 
potential benefits or burdens to vulnerable populations in the 
corridor. As part of early scoping, FTA and Sound Transit also invite 
tribes, agencies, and the public to comment on the types of impacts or 
benefits that should be considered during the alternatives development 
phase.

Next Steps

    Following early scoping, FTA and Sound Transit anticipate narrowing 
the range of alternatives for further evaluation in a combined NEPA/
SEPA environmental document. If the resulting range of alternatives 
involves the potential for significant environmental impacts requiring 
an environmental impact statement (EIS), FTA will publish a Notice of 
Intent to Prepare an EIS in the Federal Register, and Sound Transit 
will publish a Determination of Significance/Scoping Notice. Tribes, 
agencies, and the public will be invited to comment on the scope of the 
EIS at that time.
    Authority: 49 CFR 622.101, 23 CFR 771.111, and 40 CFR 1501.7.

Linda M. Gehrke,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021-24181 Filed 11-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P