Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Improvements to the Danbury Rail Branch in Connecticut, 31185-31187 [E8-12098]

Agencies

• Federal Transit Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 105 (Friday, May 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31185-31187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-12098]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
Improvements to the Danbury Rail Branch in Connecticut

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Connecticut 
Department of Transportation (ConnDOT), in cooperation with the 
Southwest Regional Planning Agency and Housatonic Valley Council of 
Elected Officials, intend to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) on proposed commuter rail transit service and infrastructure 
improvements along the New Haven Line, Danbury Branch Rail Line in 
Connecticut. The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Metro 
North Railroad

[[Page 31186]]

operates the New Haven Rail Line service for ConnDOT and is a 
cooperating agency in the EIS process.
    The EIS will be prepared in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and its implementing 
regulations by the Council on the Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 
1500-1508) and FTA/FHWA (23 CFR 771), as well as provisions of section 
6002 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation 
Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The Draft EIS will be 
combined with the planning Alternatives Analysis required by Federal 
Transit law [49 U.S.C. 5309(a)] for projects proposed for New Starts or 
Small Starts funding.
    The purpose of this notice is to alert interested parties regarding 
the intent to prepare the EIS, to provide and solicit information on 
the nature of the proposed project and possible alternatives, to invite 
public participation in the NEPA process (including providing comments 
on the scope of the EIS), and to announce that three public scoping 
meetings will be conducted.

DATES: A series of three public scoping meetings will be held in the 
project's study area. The public scoping meetings will be held the week 
of June 16, 2008 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Towns of Wilton, 
Ridgefield, and New Milford, Connecticut. The following is the meeting 
schedule: Tuesday, June 17th 2008, E. Paul Martin Room, Town Hall, Top 
Floor, 10 Main Street, New Milford, CT 06776; Wednesday, June 18th, 
2008, Town Hall Annex Building, Meeting Room A, 238 Danbury Road, 
Wilton, CT 06897; Thursday, June 19th 2008, Town Hall large conference 
room, Ridgefield Town Hall, 400 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877. The 
project's initial statement of purpose and need, and the initial set of 
alternatives proposed for the study will be presented at these 
meetings. Comments may be given verbally or in writing at the scoping 
meeting. Every reasonable effort will be made to meet special needs. 
The meetings locations will be accessible to persons with disabilities. 
Individuals who require special accommodations, such as sign language 
interpreter, to participate in the meeting should contact Mr. Judd 
Everhart, Public Relations Office, Connecticut Department of 
Transportation, 2800 Berlin Turnpike, Newington, CT 06131-7546 or by 
telephone at (860) 594-3003.
    Agency Scoping Meeting: An agency scoping meeting will be held on 
Tuesday, June 17, 2008, 1-3 p.m., City Hall, 155 Deer Hill Avenue, 
Danbury, CT 06810. Meeting invitations along with the scoping 
information packet will be sent to all Federal, State, local and tribal 
governmental agencies that may have an interest in the proposed 
project.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the following address by 
July 25, 2008: Mr. Andrew H. Davis, Connecticut Department of 
Transportation, 2800 Berlin Turnpike, Newington, CT 06131-7546 or 
http:www.andrew.h.davis@po.state.ct.us">//www.andrew.h.davis@po.state.ct.us. The locations of the scoping 
meetings are given above under DATES.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Donald Burns, AICP, Senior 
Planner, Region II, Federal Transit Administration, One Bowling Green, 
Room 429, New York, NY 10004. Telephone: (212) 668-2170.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    The Feasibility Study: Danbury Branch Electrification--Phase I 
(Feasibility Study), completed in 2006, developed the alternatives 
being considered in the Alternatives Analysis/Draft EIS (AA/DEIS) for 
the New Haven Line's commuter rail branch line service between Norwalk 
and Danbury. The Feasibility Study identified, reviewed, and evaluated 
a range of preliminary improvements to the Branch, including 
electrification, addition of passing sidings, extension of rail 
passenger commuter service to New Milford, and track realignments. 
Public information meetings were held on November 29, 2005 at the 
Wilton Town Hall Annex and on December 1, 2005 at the former New 
Milford Railroad Station, to present and discuss the results of the 
Feasibility Study and the alternatives recommended for further 
consideration in the AA/DEIS. A scoping coordination meeting was held 
on July 11, 2006 to discuss the scope of work with the Federal and 
State resource agencies, including the environmental resources to be 
investigated, the level of detail required for each resource, and 
further refinement of the alternatives.
    The AA/DEIS will continue the evaluation initiated in the 
Feasibility Study with more detailed analysis. The Feasibility Study 
documentation and Final Report was published in May 2006 and can be 
viewed on the project Web site at https://www.danburybranchstudy.com.

I. Scoping

    Scoping of the EIS will be accomplished through public meetings; e-
mail and hard copy correspondence with interested individuals and 
organizations, Federal, State, and local agencies, and Native American 
Tribes; and through a meeting with potential cooperating and 
participating public agencies. Interested parties may comment by: (1) 
Mailing or e-mailing written comments to the address under ADDRESSES 
above; or (2) attending one of the public scoping meetings described 
under DATES above. The FTA and ConnDOT invite all interested 
individuals and organizations, public agencies, and Native American 
Tribes to comment on the scope of the EIS including the project's 
purpose and need, the alternatives to be considered, the impacts to be 
evaluated, and the evaluation methodologies to be used. Comments at 
this stage should focus on refining the purpose and need statement, 
identifying alternatives to meet the purpose and need at lower cost or 
with less impact, and on identifying specific social, economic, or 
environmental impacts to be evaluated. The scoping period will end July 
25, 2008. A scoping information packet will be posted on the project 
Web site at https://www.danburybranchstudy.com and hard copies of the 
packet will be distributed upon request.
    During the scoping process, ConnDOT and FTA will comply with 
section 6002 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) requires 
that the lead agencies: (1) Extend an invitation to other Federal and 
non-Federal agencies and Native American tribes that may have an 
interest in the proposed project to become participating agencies; (2) 
provide an opportunity for involvement by participating agencies and 
the public in defining the purpose and need for the proposed project 
and the range of alternatives to be considered in the EIS; and (3) 
establish a plan for coordinating public and agency participation in, 
and comment on, the environmental review process.

II. Purpose and Need

    The preliminary statement of the purpose of, and need for, the 
proposed project follows:
    The purpose of the Danbury Branch Improvement Program and 
Electrification is to improve mobility options for the traveling public 
in the South Western and Housatonic Valley regions of Connecticut; to 
maintain and improve existing commuter rail service on the Branch, as 
well as to improve its feeder system and intermodal connections on the 
Branch; and to help reduce congestion in the Route 7 corridor between 
South Norwalk, CT and New Milford, CT.

[[Page 31187]]

    To accomplish these purposes, the following specific objectives are 
defined:
     Improve interstate and intrastate transit mobility, along 
the north-south South Norwalk--New Milford Corridor.
     Examine enhancements to existing transit services in the 
corridor by electrifying the branch or portions of it.
     Enhance economic development and Transit Oriented 
Development (TOD) opportunities in conjunction with participating 
cities and towns land use plans.
     Improve mobility in the South Norwalk--New Milford 
Corridor by attracting trips to transit service.
    Interested parties are invited to consider and comment on this 
preliminary statement of the purpose and need for the proposed project.

III. Alternatives

    The general location of the study corridor is the existing Danbury 
Branch Rail Line which traverses 23.6 miles from South Norwalk, through 
Wilton, Cannondale, Branchville, Redding, and Bethel to Danbury, and 
the potential extension of the line 14.3 miles into New Milford. The 
project termini would be the existing branch line's southern terminus 
at its connection with the New Haven Line in South Norwalk, and the 
proposed new northern terminus in New Milford. The EIS will examine and 
evaluate a number of rail service and infrastructure improvement 
alternatives in the corridor. Additional alternatives generated by the 
scoping process as well as alternative station locations for the Build 
alternatives will also be considered.
    The alternatives proposed for consideration in the EIS as a result 
of the Feasibility Study (2006) include: (A) The No-build alternative; 
(B) a Transportation System Management alternative, which include 
service improvements such as new outbound service, and express service; 
(C) South Norwalk to Danbury Improvements including electrification, 
addition of passing sidings, and minor track realignment; (D) extension 
of diesel passenger service from Danbury to New Milford with 
improvements including new stations and minor track realignment; and 
(E) partial electrification from South Norwalk to the vicinity of the 
Merritt 7 Station with feeder bus/rail service to complement the new 
service. The EIS will incorporate data and findings from the Final 
Report of the Feasibility Study Danbury Branch Electrification (May 
2006). Copies of this report are available from Mr. Andrew H. Davis of 
ConnDOT at the address shown above under ADDRESSES and on the project 
Web site at https://www.danburybranchstudy.com. Interested parties are 
invited to consider and comment on the alternatives proposed for 
consideration in the AA/DEIS.

IV. Probable Effects

    FTA and ConnDOT will evaluate all significant environmental and 
community impacts of the alternatives that emerge from the scoping 
process. FTA expects the major issue to be rail noise and vibration 
impacts at nearby residences, property acquisition and relocation of 
the businesses and residences located on the acquired properties. These 
and any other impacts will be evaluated for both the construction 
period and for the long-term period of operation. Measures to mitigate 
adverse impacts will be developed for the AA/DEIS and finalized in the 
Final EIS. Interested parties are invited to consider and comment on 
the impacts to be evaluated in the AA/DEIS and on options and measures 
to avoid, minimize and mitigate adverse impacts.

V. FTA Procedures

    In accordance with 23 CFR 771.105(a) and 771.133, FTA and ConnDOT 
will comply with all Federal environmental laws, regulations, and 
executive orders applicable to the proposed project during the 
environmental review process. These requirements include, but are not 
limited to, the environmental and public hearing provisions of Federal 
transit laws (49 U.S.C. 5301(e), 5323(b), and 5324); the project-level 
air quality conformity regulation of the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) (40 CFR Part 93); Section 404(b)(1) guidelines of EPA (40 
CFR Part 230); the regulation implementing Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act (36 CFR Part 800); the regulation 
implementing section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR Part 402); 
Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act (23 CFR part 774); 
and Executive Orders 12898 on Environmental Justice, 11988 on 
Floodplain Management, and 11990 on Wetlands.
    ConnDOT anticipates seeking federal assistance from the FTA to fund 
the proposed project under 49 United States Code 5309 and will, 
therefore, be subject to regulations (49 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) Part 611). Accordingly, following the public comment period for 
the AA/DEIS, ConnDOT will select a locally preferred alternative based 
on ridership forecasts, service performance evaluation, estimated 
capital and operating costs, environmental impacts, social and economic 
impacts, and community support. ConnDOT will seek FTA approval to 
initiate Small Starts Project Development, and if FTA so approves, the 
Final EIS will be prepared in conjunction with the New Starts/Small 
Starts process.

    Date Issued: May 21, 2008.
Brigid Hynes-Cherin,
Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Administration.
 [FR Doc. E8-12098 Filed 5-29-08; 8:45 am]
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