Notice of Intent (NOI) To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) in the City of Anaheim, Orange County, CA, 47987-47989 [E9-22478]

Agencies

• Federal Transit Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 180 (Friday, September 18, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47987-47989]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-22478]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Notice of Intent (NOI) To Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center 
(ARTIC) in the City of Anaheim, Orange County, CA

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), in cooperation with 
the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and the City of 
Anaheim, is issuing this notice of intent to advise other agencies and 
the public that they will be preparing a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report (DEIS/EIR) for the Anaheim 
Regional Transportation Intermodal center (ARTIC), which is proposed to 
provide a new multimodal transportation facility in the vicinity of the 
existing Metrolink/Amtrak Anaheim Station in Anaheim, California. The 
EIS will be prepared in accordance with regulations implementing the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as well as provisions of the 
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A 
Legacy for

[[Page 47988]]

Users (SAFETEA-LU, 2005). The EIR will be prepared in accordance with 
guidelines implementing the California Environmental Quality Act 
(CEQA). The purpose of this Notice of Intent is to alert interested 
parties regarding the plan to prepare the DEIS/EIR, to provide 
information on the proposed transit project and possible alternatives, 
to invite participation in the DEIS/EIR process, including comments on 
the scope of the DEIS/EIR, and to announce that a public scoping 
meeting will be conducted.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of the DEIS/EIR including the 
project's purpose and need, the alternatives to be considered, the 
impacts to be evaluated, and the methodologies to be used in the 
evaluations should be sent to Ms. Jennifer Bergener, Rail Program 
Manager, at the ADDRESSES below by November 25, 2009. A scoping meeting 
will be held on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the 
location indicated under ADDRESSES below. Representatives of Native 
American tribal governments and all Federal, State, regional and local 
agencies that may have an interest in any aspect of the project will be 
invited to be participating or cooperating agencies, as appropriate.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this Notice of Intent should be sent to 
Ms. Jennifer Bergener, Rail Program Manager, at OCTA, 600 S. Main 
Street, Orange, CA 92868. Comments also may be submitted in writing at 
the public scoping meeting. The address for the public scoping meeting 
is as follows:
     OCTA, 600 S. Main Street, Orange, CA 92868, Room 103/104. 
The Scoping Meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 from 5 
to 7 p.m. The project's purpose and need and the description of 
alternatives currently under consideration for the proposed project 
will be presented at this meeting. The meeting facilities will be 
accessible to persons with disabilities. If special translation or 
signing services or other special accommodations are needed, please 
contact Laura Scheper at (714) 560-5697 or lscheper@octa.net at least 
48 hours before the scoping meeting. Paper copies of scoping materials 
may be obtained from Laura Scheper at (714) 560-5697 or 
lscheper@octa.net. Also, scoping materials will be available at the 
meetings and on the OCTA Web site (https://www.octa.net).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Hymie Luden, City and Regional 
Planner, of the Federal Transit Administration's San Francisco Regional 
Office at (415) 744-2732 or write to FTA Region IX Office, 201 Mission 
Street Suite 1650, San Francisco, CA 94105-1926.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Scoping

    The FTA, OCTA, and the City of Anaheim invite all interested 
individuals, and organizations, public agencies and Native American 
Tribes to provide comments on the scope of the DEIS/EIR, including the 
project's purpose and need, the alternatives currently under 
consideration, the impacts to be evaluated and the evaluation methods 
to be used. Comments should focus on: alternatives that may be less 
costly or have fewer environmental or community impacts while achieving 
similar transportation objectives, and the identification of any 
significant social, economic or environmental issues related to 
alternatives.
    NEPA ``scoping'' (40 CFR 1501.7) has specific and fairly limited 
objectives, one of which is to identify the significant issues 
associated with alternatives that will be examined in detail in the 
document, while simultaneously limiting consideration and development 
of issues that are not truly significant. It is in the NEPA scoping 
process that potentially significant environmental impacts--those that 
give rise to the need to prepare an environmental impact statement--
should be identified; impacts that are deemed not to be significant 
need not be developed extensively in the context of the impact 
statement, thereby keeping the statement focused on impacts of 
consequence. Transit projects may also generate environmental benefits; 
these should be highlighted as well--the impact statement process 
should draw attention to positive impacts, not just negative impacts.
    Once the scope of the environmental study, including significant 
environmental issues to be addressed, is settled, an annotated outline 
of the document will be prepared and shared with interested agencies 
and the public. The outline serves at least three worthy purposes, 
including (1) Documenting the results of the scoping process; (2) 
contributing to the transparency of the process; and (3) providing a 
clear roadmap for concise development of the environmental document
    In the interest of producing a readable and user-friendly public 
document, and pursuant to 40 CFR 1502.10, the EIS shall be limited to 
150 pages exclusive of any 4(f) and/or 6(f) evaluation. The EIS should 
emphasize graphics and virtual visual simulations over technical 
jargon, and technical appendices shall be included in a separate 
volume.

The Proposed Project

    The ARTIC Project proposes to provide a new multimodal transit 
center in the Platinum Triangle area of the City of Anaheim. ARTIC 
would provide convenient and efficient transfers between Metrolink, 
Amtrak, local fixed-route bus, the planned Anaheim Fixed-Guideway, the 
planned high-speed trains service, future bus rapid transit, private 
automobiles and other forms of transportation.

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Project

    The primary purpose of the ARTIC Project is to provide a multimodal 
transportation center in the vicinity of the existing Metrolink/Amtrak 
Anaheim Station, with capacity to accommodate the expected population 
growth and the planned new modes of transportation. The project is 
needed because Orange County's travel demand will continue to increase 
overtime, with the highest concentration in central and northern Orange 
County for the foreseeable future. With a population of more than 3 
million, Orange County is the second-largest county in California and 
the fifth-largest county in the nation. Population is expected to 
continue to grow in the coming decades with a population of 3.7 million 
expected by 2040. The city of Anaheim is California's tenth-largest 
city with nearly 350,000 residents and is in the heart of the county. 
ARTIC would serve this growing community, now and into the future. With 
the implementation and integration of additional transit options, it is 
important to maximize the return on the transit services already 
deployed in that area and create new opportunities for transit use. The 
existing Anaheim Station is not able to accommodate some of these 
additional transit options, particularly the high speed train mode. A 
facility is needed that can provide easy connections with other bus, 
taxi, car, other local transit, and other train modes.

Alternatives

    Project alternatives currently under consideration include a no 
build alternative, the proposed ARTIC alternative, at least one 
alternative that would provide a transit facility similar to ARTIC at 
the location of the existing Metrolink/Amtrak Anaheim Station, and at 
least one reduced project alternative. These alternatives are further 
described as follows:
     No Build Alternative--the No Build Alternative assumes 
that the proposed

[[Page 47989]]

ARTIC is not constructed, and that the expansion and addition of 
transportation services planned to occur with the completion of ARTIC 
Phase 1 would be accommodated at the existing Metrolink/Amtrak Anaheim 
Station.
     ARTIC Alternative--The ARTIC Alternative would include 
three phases. Phase 1 would include realignment of the existing Los 
Angeles to San Diego (LOSSAN) rail corridor mainline tracks; relocation 
of track platforms; reconstruction of the existing rail bridge over 
Douglass Road; provisions for new pedestrian access; station terminal 
and other station area improvements with the terminal and supporting 
facilities relocated to the ARTIC site southeast of the intersection of 
Katella Avenue and Douglass Road; associated parking facilities; and 
roadway improvements to facilitate access and egress from the site and 
accommodate predicted traffic levels. Phases 2 and 3 would build upon 
the infrastructure provided in Phase 1 and introduce new or expanded 
transportation facility connections at the ARTIC site. The later phases 
would also include opportunities for potential joint development and 
other private-sector cost-sharing and/or revenue-sharing arrangements. 
The site for this alternative included the existing railroad right-of-
way from approximately Katella Avenue to the Santa Ana River, where 
track improvements would be made; the existing Anaheim Station for 
Amtrak and Metrolink, which would be removed; and two parcels of land 
where the new multimodal station and associated development would 
occur. The first parcel, which is owned by OCTA, is located east of 
Douglass Road between Katella Avenue and the entrance to Angels Stadium 
of Anaheim, south of the existing development on the south side of 
Katella Avenue; west of the Santa Ana River, and north of the railroad 
right-of-way. The second parcel is owned by the City of Anaheim, is a 
smaller, triangular-shaped parcel south of the railroad right-of-way, 
with the Santa Ana River to the east and State Route 57 to the west. 
The current uses of the site are former maintenance facilities and 
storage yards. Adjacent land uses include retail and office/light 
industrial uses, sports/entertainment facilities (Angel Stadium and the 
Honda Center), a hotel, the Santa Ana River, and State Route 57.
     ARTIC On Existing Site Alternative--This alternative would 
provide the facilities proposed under the ARTIC alternative at the 
existing Anaheim Station site adjacent to Angels Stadium. A new 
terminal and supporting facilities would be constructed to replace the 
existing terminal. Existing track will be modified to accommodate 
extension of the existing platforms by approximately 200 feet. This 
alternative would also include improved and expanded pedestrian access, 
station area improvements similar to the ARTIC alternative, improved 
station area roadway access, and expanded parking facilities. Multiple 
options may be considered for this alternative.
     Reduced Development Alternative--This alternative would 
include only the transportation-related aspects of the ARTIC project, 
without some or all of the opportunities for potential joint 
development and other private-sector cost-sharing and/or revenue-
sharing arrangements. Multiple options may be considered for this 
alternative.

The EIS Process and the Role of Participating Agencies and the Public

    The purpose of the EIS process is to explore in a public setting 
the potentially significant effects of implementing the proposed action 
and alternatives on the physical, human, and natural environment. Areas 
of investigation will be developed during the scoping process and may 
include, but not be limited to, aesthetics, air quality, biological 
resources, cultural resources, geology/soils, hazards and hazardous 
materials, hydrology and water quality, land use and planning, noise 
and vibration, population and housing, public services, recreation, 
transportation and traffic, and utilities and service systems. 
Regulations implementing NEPA, as well as provisions of the Safe, 
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy 
for Users (SAFETEA-LU), call for public involvement in the EIS process. 
Section 6002 of SAFETEA-LU requires that FTA, OCTA, and the City of 
Anaheim do the following: (1) Extend an invitation to other Federal and 
non-Federal agencies and Indian 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 
helping to define the purpose and need for a proposed project, as well 
as the range of alternatives for consideration in the impact statement, 
and (3) establish a plan for coordinating public and agency 
participation in and comment on the environmental review process. An 
invitation to become a participating agency, with the scoping 
information packet appended, will be extended to other Federal and non-
Federal agencies and Indian tribes that may have an interest in the 
proposed project. It is possible that we may not be able to identify 
all Federal and non-Federal agencies and Indian tribes that may have 
such an interest. Any Federal or non-Federal agency or Indian tribe 
interested in the proposed project that does not receive an invitation 
to become a participating agency should notify the OCTA Rail Program 
Manager identified above under ADDRESSES, at the earliest opportunity, 
but no later than 30 days following this notice.
    A comprehensive public involvement program has been developed. A 
technical advisory committee called the Project Development Team, 
consisting of representatives of state, regional and local agencies, is 
in place. The program also includes a public scoping process including 
a public review/comment period, a public hearing on the DEIS/EIR, and 
posting of information on the project Web site. We invite the public 
and participating agencies to consider the preliminary statement of 
purpose and need for the proposed project, the alternatives currently 
proposed for consideration, and potential significant environmental 
impacts that may be associated with the proposed project. All comments 
and suggestions will be given serious consideration. In accordance with 
23 CFR 771.105(a) and 771.133, FTA will comply with all Federal 
environmental laws, regulations and executive orders applicable to the 
proposed project during the environmental review process to the maximum 
extent practicable. These requirements include, but are not limited to, 
the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality implementing 
NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and 23 CFR part 771), 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), Executive Orders 11988, 11990 and 12898 regarding 
floodplains, wetlands, and environmental justice, respectively, Section 
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (36 CFR Part 800), 
Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (50 CFR part 402), and section 
4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act (23 CFR 771.135).

    Issued on: September 14, 2009.
Raymond Sukys,
Acting Regional Administrator, FTA, Region 9.
[FR Doc. E9-22478 Filed 9-17-09; 8:45 am]
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