[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 106 (Friday, June 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36355-36359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11794]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2023-0006]


Notice of Intent To Prepare and Environmental Impact Statement 
for a Proposed Highway Project, Somerset County, PA and Garrett County, 
MD

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Department of 
Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: FHWA in coordination with the Pennsylvania Department of 
Transportation (PennDOT) and the Maryland Department of Transportation 
State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) is issuing the Notice of Intent 
(NOI) to solicit comments and advise the public, agencies, and 
stakeholders that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be 
prepared to study potential improvements to the US 6219, Section 050 
Transportation Improvement Project from Meyersdale, PA to Old Salisbury 
Road, MD. The project includes the proposed construction of an 8.0 mile 
(6 miles in Pennsylvania and 2 miles in Maryland) four-lane limited 
access facility on new alignment from the end of the Meyersdale Bypass 
in Somerset County, Pennsylvania to the newly constructed portion of US 
219 in Garrett County, Maryland. This NOI contains a summary of the 
information required in the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) 
regulations. This NOI should be reviewed together with the 
Supplementary NOI Document, which contains important details about the 
proposed project and complements the information in this NOI. Persons 
and agencies who may be interested in or affected by the proposed 
project are encouraged to comment on the information in this NOI and 
the Supplementary NOI Document. All comments received in response to 
this NOI will be considered and any information presented herein, 
including the preliminary purpose and need, preliminary alternatives 
and identified impacts, may be revised in consideration of the 
comments.

DATES: Comments on the NOI or the Supplementary NOI Document are to be 
received by FHWA through the methods below by July 3, 2023.

ADDRESSES: This NOI and the Supplementary NOI Document are also 
available in the docket referenced above at www.regulations.gov and on 
the project website located at www.penndot.pa.gov/us219meyersdalesouth. 
The Supplementary NOI Document will be mailed upon request. Interested 
parties are invited to submit comments by any of the following methods:
    Website: For access to the documents, go to the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal located at www.regulations.gov or the project website located at 
www.penndot.pa.gov/us219meyersdalesouth. Follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments.
    Mailing address or for hand delivery or courier: Jon Crum, Team 
Leader--Planning and Environment, Federal Highway Administration, 
Pennsylvania Division Office, 30 North 3rd Street, Suite 700, 
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 17101-1720.
    Email address: [email protected].

[[Page 36356]]

    All submissions should include the agency name and the docket 
number that appears in the heading of this Notice. All comments 
received will be posted without change to the www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided. A summary of the comments 
will be included in the Draft EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FHWA: Jon Crum, Team Leader for 
Planning and Environment, Federal Highway Administration--Pennsylvania 
Division, 30 North 3rd Street, Suite 700, Harrisburg, PA 17101-1720; 
email: [email protected]; 717-221-3735. PennDOT: Nicki Donahoe, PE, 
Project Manager, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Engineering 
District 9-0, 1620 N. Juniata Street, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; email: 
[email protected]; 814-317-1650. MDOT: Jeremy Beck, Senior Project 
Manager, Maryland Department of Transportation, State Highway 
Administration, Office of Planning and Preliminary Engineering, 707 
North Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202; email: 
[email protected]; 410-545-8518/800-548-5026.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is important to note that the FHWA, 
PennDOT, and MDOT SHA are committed to public involvement for this 
project. All public comments received in response to this notice will 
be considered and revisions may be made to the information presented 
herein as appropriate. The environmental review of alternatives for the 
transportation project along Section 050 of US 219 will be conducted in 
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), 23 U.S.C. 
139, CEQ regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), FHWA 
regulations implementing NEPA (23 CFR 771.101-771.139) and all 
applicable Federal, State, and local governmental laws and regulations.

Background

    PennDOT originally studied US 219 improvements south of Somerset, 
Pennsylvania, during the 1990s. These studies identified a five-mile 
section of US 219 through Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, as the area's most 
immediate transportation problem. The Meyersdale Bypass project was 
constructed in 1998 as a four-lane, limited access highway located west 
of existing US 219 in Meyersdale Borough and Summit Township, Somerset 
County, Pennsylvania. This project was followed by the completion of an 
11-mile four-lane limited access facility in 2018 from Somerset to 
Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. In 2021, MDOT SHA completed construction of 
an approximately 1.4-mile section from Interstate 68 (I-68) in Maryland 
to Old Salisbury Road, just south of the State line.
    Preliminary engineering and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) for US 219 originally began in 2001 but was put on hold in 2007 
due to funding constraints. As a result, the document went unpublished. 
Several alternatives were evaluated in the DEIS, and these alternatives 
served as the starting point for the 2016 Planning and Environmental 
Linkages (PEL) Study for this project.
    The PEL concluded that Alignments E and E-shift were considered 
reasonable and recommended to be evaluated in future NEPA Studies. 
However, at the time of the PEL study, adequate funding was not 
available to advance the project in its entirety. As a result, the team 
completed an evaluation to identify whether any stand-alone projects 
existed along the project alignments.
    The PEL identified that the MD 1.4-mile section both improves the 
existing I-68/US 219 interchange and best addresses the PEL's Project 
Vision and Goals by directly serving near future planned development 
(Casselman Farm Development Site) located in Garrett County, Maryland's 
Smart Growth Priority Funding Area. This section was also found to be 
``of sufficient length to address environmental matters on a broad 
scope and does not restrict consideration of alternatives for other 
reasonably foreseeable transportation improvements'' including the 
current study to complete the remaining four-lane US 219 section 
between the Meyersdale Interchange in Pennsylvania and the recently 
completed 1.4-mile section in Maryland.
    After the PEL, MDOT SHA developed seven preliminary concepts for 
the 1.4-mile section and presented them at a public workshop on 
September 8, 2016, and an open house on September 9, 2016. A Joint 
Location/Design Public Hearing was held on February 6, 2017, to obtain 
public input on the alternatives under consideration. Based on the 
evaluation and comparison of the alternatives, including input from the 
public, Alternative 4 Modified was recommended as the MDOT SHA 
Preferred Alternative. This section received FHWA Preferred Alternative 
and Conceptual Mitigation Package/Categorical Exclusion approval on 
July 18, 2018, and was subsequently constructed. The new 1.4-mile 
section opened to traffic in May 2021.
    The US 6219, Section 050 Transportation Improvement Project was re-
initiated November 9, 2020, when the Secretary of Transportation 
announced the commitment of funds for this project.
    The following information provided in the NOI is supplemented with 
more detail in the Supplemental NOI Document.

(a) The Preliminary Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

    The purpose of the US 6219, Section 050 Transportation Improvement 
Project is to complete Corridor N of the Appalachian Development 
Highway System, to improve the system linkage in the region, provide 
safe and efficient access for motorists traveling on US 219, and 
provide transportation infrastructure to support economic opportunities 
in existing and planned communities and employment/business centers and 
natural resource-based industries within the Appalachian Region.
    The project needs identified for this project are that: (1) 
existing US 219 does not provide efficient mobility for trucks and 
freight, (2) there are numerous roadway and geometric deficiencies 
present along the existing US 219 alignment, and (3) the existing 
roadway infrastructure is a limiting factor in economic development 
opportunities in the Appalachian Region.
    The preliminary Purpose and Need was developed with agency 
coordination and public input, as described in section e; see the 
Supplemental NOI Document for details on the development of the Purpose 
and Need. The project purpose and needs were presented to the 
Pennsylvania and Maryland resource agencies at an agency coordination 
meeting on September 22, 2021, a Community Advisory Committee on 
November 3, 2021, and to public officials and the general public at an 
open house meeting on June 23, 2022, and a virtual meeting on June 27, 
2022. Resource agencies and the public were invited to comment on the 
Purpose and Need. The Purpose and Need statement and supporting 
documentation, including data and public input summary, will be 
available in the Draft EIS. No comments were received from either the 
resource agencies or public following the outreach. The Purpose and 
Need may be revised based on comments received during the comment 
period on this notice.

[[Page 36357]]

(b) A Preliminary Description of the Proposed Action and Alternatives 
the Environmental Impact Statement Will Consider

    The proposed action is anticipated to include construction of a new 
8.0-mile (6 miles in Pennsylvania and 2 miles in Maryland) 4-lane 
limited-access facility from the end of the Meyersdale Bypass in 
Pennsylvania to the newly constructed portion of US 219 in Maryland. 
Agencies and the public are invited to comment on the Range of 
Alternatives for the proposed action. Additional information on the 
Range of Alternatives is in the Supplementary NOI Document. The Range 
of Alternatives proposed to be considered in the EIS are the following:

No Build Alternative

    The No Build Alternative involves taking no action, except routine 
maintenance along US 219. The existing two-lane alignment of US 219 
between Meyersdale, Pennsylvania and Garrett County, Maryland would 
remain. No new alignments or additional roadway would be constructed.

Alignment DA

    Alignment DA was delineated using suggestions by the study area 
farmers and Cooperating and Participating Agencies during former 2001 
NEPA efforts to avoid natural resource impacts by staying closer to US 
219 and avoiding the mountain slope/ridge. Alignment DA starts at the 
southern end of the Meyersdale Bypass, proceeding in a southerly 
direction to just south of the Mast farm, where it heads westward 
toward existing US 219. The alignment crosses between the Deal and Mast 
farms, then turns in a southwesterly direction, crossing existing US 
219 just south of Salisbury, Pennsylvania. Alignment DA then travels in 
a southerly direction, crossing existing US 219 again just south of the 
Mason-Dixon Line and staying close to existing US 219, and ties into 
the newly constructed section of US 219.

Alignment DA-Shift

    Alignment DA-Shift resulted from combining Alignment DA with 
Alignment E-Shift. Alignment E-Shift was suggested by residents during 
former 2001 NEPA efforts to move the alignment further away from 
residences along Old Salisbury Road. Alignment DA-Shift follows the 
same alignment as Alignment DA from Meyersdale until about one mile 
south of the Mason-Dixon Line, where the alignment is shifted eastward, 
away from Old Salisbury Road.

Alignment DU

    Alignment DU resulted from combining suggestions from the US Fish 
and Wildlife Service (USFWS) with an alignment identified during former 
2001 NEPA efforts. USFWS suggested an alternative to avoid the mountain 
slope/ridge in Pennsylvania and reduce potential impacts to terrestrial 
wildlife. Alignment DU follows Alignment DA until Greenville Road, 
where instead of continuing southwest towards existing US 219, the 
alignment travels south towards the Mason-Dixon Line. Alignment DU and 
Alignment DA coincide again south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Alignment DU-Shift

    Like Alignment DA Shift, Alignment DU-Shift resulted from combining 
Alignment DU with Alignment E-Shift to move the alignment further away 
from residences along Old Salisbury Road. Alignment DU-Shift mimics the 
alignment of Alignment DU from Meyersdale until south of the Mason-
Dixon Line, where the alignment is shifted eastward and away from Old 
Salisbury Road.

Alignment E

    Alignment E was suggested during former 2001 NEPA efforts to avoid 
farmland in Pennsylvania and avoid residential areas along existing US 
219. Alignment E starts at the southern end of the Meyersdale Bypass 
and proceeds in a southerly direction along the face of Meadow 
Mountain. At the Pennsylvania/Maryland border, Alignment E would extend 
in a southwesterly direction, east of the existing US 219.

Alignment E-Shift

    Alignment E-Shift was suggested by residents along Old Salisbury 
Road during former 2001 NEPA efforts and involves moving Alignment E 
further away from the residences on Old Salisbury Road. Alignment E-
Shift follows Alignment E, with the exception of a small shift in 
Maryland, slightly eastward, away from the homes along Old Salisbury 
Road. Alignment E does not directly impact the homes along Old 
Salisbury Road; however, residents requested an evaluation of a 
slightly eastward shift to move the alignment further from their homes. 
The trade-off is that Alignment E-Shift bisects a farm field that is 
only slightly impacted by Alignment E. This shifted section is the same 
as the shifted section of Alignment DA-Shift and Alignment DU-Shift.

(c) Brief Summary of Expected Impacts

    PennDOT and MDOT SHA have conducted scoping activities for the US 
6219, Section 050 Transportation Improvement Project, such as secondary 
source data collection, agency coordination, and public outreach, to 
identify the types of environmental, cultural, and socio-economic 
resources present in the Study Area and those likely to be impacted. 
The following resources will be evaluated in the EIS and supporting 
technical studies: cultural resources (archaeology and historic 
architecture); hazardous materials; air quality; noise-sensitive areas; 
natural resources (wildlife and habitat; threatened, endangered, and 
special status species; waters of the US; water quality; groundwater; 
floodplains; and farmlands); visual resources; Section 4(f) resources 
(recreational facilities, historic properties, and State Game Lands); 
and socioeconomics, land use, and right-of-way (communities and 
community facilities, population and housing, economic resources, land 
use and right-of-way, and Environmental Justice).
    Based on an analysis completed to date using both the EPA's 
EJScreen Tool and the Maryland EJScreen Mapper, EJ populations (low 
income) are present within the study area. However, there are no 
residential or non-residential EJ relocations anticipated.
    The level of review of the identified resources for the EIS will be 
commensurate with the anticipated effects to each resource from the 
proposed project and will be governed by the statutory or regulatory 
requirements protecting those resources. The analyses and evaluations 
conducted for the EIS will identify the potential for effects, 
avoidance measures, whether the anticipated effects would be adverse, 
and mitigation measures for adverse effects. Additional information on 
the expected impacts is provided in the Supplementary NOI document 
available for review in the docket established for this project and on 
the project website as noted in the ADDRESSES section. Comments on the 
expected impacts to be analyzed in the DEIS are welcomed during the NOI 
comment period.
    Agencies, stakeholders, and the public are invited to comment on 
the expected impacts. The environmental impact analysis will not begin 
until the Purpose and Need, Range of Alternatives, and impact 
categories are finalized based on public comment on this notice. The 
identification of impacts may be revised due to the consideration of 
public comments. See

[[Page 36358]]

the Supplementary NOI Document for a more detailed description of the 
Summary of Expected Impacts. The studies to identify the impacts, as 
well as the analyses of impacts from the retained alternatives, will be 
presented in the Draft EIS.

(d) Anticipated Permits and Other Authorizations

    At the request of the sponsor, the permitting schedule includes the 
following timetable. A Clean Water Act Section 404 permit decision from 
the US Army Corps of Engineers is anticipated on September 17, 2027.\1\ 
Other anticipated State authorizations include a Pennsylvania 
Department of Environmental Protection Section 401 Water Quality 
Certification/Chapter 105 Standard Permit on September 17, 2027, and a 
Maryland Department of the Environment Joint Federal/State Title 5 
Permit Application for the Alteration of any Floodplain, Waterway, 
Tidal or Nontidal Wetland in Maryland on September 17, 2027. Section 7 
consultation under the Endangered Species Act is expected to be 
concluded on June 27, 2023, and Section 106 consultation under the 
National Historic Preservation Act is anticipated to be concluded on 
December 13, 2023. See the Supplemental NOI Document for more detail on 
the anticipated permits and other authorizations.
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    \1\ 23 U.S.C. 139(d)(10) requires all authorization decisions 
necessary for the construction of a major project be completed no 
later than 90 days from the issuance of the ROD for the project. 
This deadline may be extended where Federal law prohibits granting 
the decision within this period of time, the project sponsor 
requests a different timeline, or if the extension would facilitate 
the completion of the environmental review and authorization process 
for the project.
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(e) Scoping and Public Review

Agency Scoping

    FHWA, PennDOT, and MDOT SHA have conducted agency coordination to 
inform the purpose and need and preliminary project alternatives, 
scoping meeting, and other elements outlined in this document. An 
Agency Coordination Plan was reviewed and agreed to by the Pennsylvania 
and Maryland resource agencies, including the Cooperating and 
Participating agencies. It is a living document that will be updated 
through the EIS process. The resource agency meetings in Pennsylvania 
are referred to as Agency Coordination Meetings (ACM) and the resource 
agency meetings in Maryland are referred to as Interagency Review 
Meeting (IRM). Since PennDOT is the lead agency for this project, the 
agency meetings are typically held on the ACM's regularly scheduled 
meeting dates. Some variation does occur and, in that case, the same 
information is presented to both the ACM and the IRM. The list of 
agency coordination meetings held begins after November 9, 2020, the 
date Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary announced the commitment of 
funds for this project.

April 28, 2021 (ACM-PA) and June 16, 2021 (IRM-MD)

 US 219-050: Meyersdale, PA to Old Salisbury Rd., MD 
reintroduction
 Summary of the PEL Process
 Current Project Status
 Agency Involvement

September 9, 2021--Joint ACM and IRM

 Process to Move from PEL to NEPA
 ACM/IRM Role
 Cooperating and Participating Agencies
 Review Purpose and Need/Logical Termini
 Review PEL Alternatives Studied
 Agency PEL comments to be addressed in NEPA

November 16, 2021--Joint Scoping Meeting

 Scoping Meeting Overview
 Review Agency Questions from 9/22/21 Meeting
 Virtual Scoping using Google Earth
 Comparison of PennDOT & MDOT SHA NEPA Planning Processes
 Present Technical Methodologies Matrix
 Review Tentative Project Schedule

May 25, 2022 (ACM-PA) and June 15, 2022 (IRM-MD)

 Recent Activities
 Purpose and Need and Logical Termini Review
 Proposed NEPA Study Alternatives
 Public and Agency Coordination Plan Review
 Review agency input received following from the November 16, 
2021, Virtual Field Scoping Meeting
 Review information to be presented at the June 2 Community 
Advisory Committee (CAC) and June 23 Public Meeting

August 24, 2022--Joint ACM and IRM

 Present results of the CAC meeting, Public Officials meeting, 
Open House meeting and Virtual meeting
 Reviewed secondary source impacts of Proposed NEPA Study 
Alternatives

Public Review

    PennDOT and MDOT SHA conducted public outreach activities during 
the Pre-NOI phase of the US 6219, Section 050 Transportation 
Improvement Project to present information and collect public input. 
However, for purposes of documenting activities in this NOI, the start 
date is November 9, 2020, which is when the Pennsylvania Transportation 
Secretary announced the commitment of funds for this project.
    To date, PennDOT and MDOT SHA reconvened the CAC that had been 
previously established for this project and have held two CAC meetings. 
The purpose of the CAC is to provide an additional method of 
communication between PennDOT, MDOT SHA, FHWA, and the local 
communities, and to provide input into project development. The CAC 
serves as an advisory group to the Project Team to ensure that local 
interests and concerns are considered in a timely manner. These 
meetings allowed the CAC the opportunity to comment on any changes to 
the project study area since the 2016 PEL document and the revised 
Purpose and Need (November 2021), and to provide input on the 
preliminary range of NEPA alternatives (June 2022). Additionally, 
PennDOT and MDOT SHA offered a public officials meeting (June 23, 
2022), an open house public meeting (June 23, 2022), and virtual 
meeting (June 27, 2022). These meeting allowed public officials and 
citizens the same opportunity to comment on the information presented 
at the CAC meetings and served as the public scoping meeting. The 
materials for these meetings are on the project website.
    PennDOT and MDOT SHA will maintain and update the project website, 
as identified in the ADDRESSES section of this notice, to direct the 
public to the scoping meeting presentation and solicit public input. 
Additionally, PennDOT and MDOT SHA will continue to conduct targeted 
outreach to communities in and around the study area. A 30-day comment 
period is being held in association with the NOI. There will be at 
least three more public involvement opportunities for the US 6219, 
Section 050 Transportation Improvement Project from Meyersdale, 
Pennsylvania to Old Salisbury Road, Maryland. These will be public 
meetings/hearings to receive input on the detailed alternatives (public 
meeting), recommended preferred alternative and draft EIS (public 
hearing), and selected alternative/conceptual mitigation (public 
meeting).

(f) A Schedule for the Decision-Making Process

    Following the issuance of this notice, FHWA, PennDOT, and MDOT SHA 
will coordinate with the Participating and

[[Page 36359]]

Cooperating Agencies to develop study documentation and the Draft EIS.
     The Draft EIS is anticipated to be issued in March 2024.
     The combined Final EIS and Record of Decision is 
anticipated in February 2025.
     A Section 404 permit decision from the United States Army 
Corps of Engineers is expected in September 2027.
    See the Supplemental NOI Document for additional schedule details.

(g) Request for Identification of Potential Alternatives, Information, 
and Analyses Relevant to the Proposed Action

    To ensure that a full range of issues related to the study are 
addressed and all potential issues are identified, FHWA invites 
comments and suggestions from all interested parties. The project team 
requests comments and suggestions on purpose and need, potential 
alternatives and impacts, and the identification of any relevant 
information, studies, or analyses of any kind concerning impacts 
affecting the quality of the human environment. Any information 
presented herein, including the preliminary purpose and need, 
preliminary range of alternatives, and identification of impacts may be 
revised after consideration of the comments. The purpose of this 
request is to bring relevant comments, information, and analyses to the 
agency's attention, as early in the process as possible, to enable the 
agency to make maximum use of this information in decision making. 
Comments may be submitted according to the instructions in the 
ADDRESSES section of this Notice.

(h) Contact Information

    FHWA: Jon Crum, Team Leader--Planning and Environment, Federal 
Highway Administration, Pennsylvania Division Office, 30 North 3rd 
Street, Suite 700, Harrisburg, PA 17101-1720; email address: 
[email protected]; 717-221-3735.
    PennDOT: Nicki Donahoe, PE, Project Manager, Pennsylvania 
Department of Transportation, Engineering District 9-0, 1620 N Juniata 
Street, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; email: [email protected]; 814-317-1650.
    MDOT SHA: Jeremy Beck, Senior Project Manager, Maryland Department 
of Transportation, State Highway Administration, Office of Planning and 
Preliminary Engineering, 707 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202; 
email: [email protected]; 410-545-8518/800-548-5026.

Alicia E. Nolan,
Pennsylvania Division Administrator, Federal Highway Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-11794 Filed 6-1-23; 8:45 am]
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