Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Construction of a Highway Bridge Across the Manatee River at Parrish, Manatee County, FL, 40488-40490 [2013-16031]

Agencies

• Coast Guard
• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40488-40490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-16031]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2010-0455]


Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 
Proposed Construction of a Highway Bridge Across the Manatee River at 
Parrish, Manatee County, FL

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments; notice of 
public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and announces a public meeting 
regarding the proposed construction of a highway bridge across the 
Manatee River at Parrish, Manatee County, Florida. As a structure over 
navigable waters of the United States, the proposed bridge would 
require a Coast Guard Bridge Permit. We request your comments on the 
DEIS and the proposed project's impact on river navigation.

DATES: Comments and related material must either be submitted to our 
online docket via https://www.regulations.gov on or before August 18, 
2013, or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date. A public 
meeting will be held on August 7, 2013, from 4 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. If 
you wish to request an oral or sign language interpreter, we must 
receive your request for one by July 28, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2010-0455 using any one of the following methods:
    (1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
    (2) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (3) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. 
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on 
submitting comments.
    We have provided a copy of the DEIS in our online docket at https://www.regulations.gov. Also, the following locations will maintain a 
printed copy of the DEIS for public review:
     Coast Guard Seventh District Bridge Office at 909 SE. 1st 
Avenue, Brickell Plaza Federal Building, Ste 432, Miami, Florida, 
33131. The document will be available at this location between 8 a.m. 
and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Manatee County Chamber of Commerce at 4215 Concept Court, 
Lakewood Ranch, Florida, 34211. Call 941-748-3411 for hours of 
operation.
     Manatee County Central Library at 1301 Barcarrota Blvd. 
West, Bradenton, Florida, 34205. Call 941-748-5555 for hours of 
operation.
     Manatee County Rocky Bluff Library at 6750 US 301 North, 
Ellenton, Florida, 34222. Call 941-723-4821 for hours of operation.
    The public meeting on August 7, 2013, will be held at the Manatee 
County Civic Center (also known as the Bradenton Area Convention 
Center), 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto, Florida, 34221.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice 
or the public meeting, call or email Randall Overton, Bridge Management 
Specialist, Seventh Coast Guard District, U.S. Coast Guard; telephone 
305-415-6736, email Randall.D.Overton@uscg.mil. If you have questions 
on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Barbara Hairston, 
Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the 
DEIS and the proposed project's impact on river navigation. All 
comments received, including comments received at the public meeting, 
will be posted, without change, to https://www.regulations.gov and will 
include any personal information you have provided.
    Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include the 
docket number for this notice (USCG-2010-0455) and provide a reason for 
each suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and 
material online, or by fax, mail or hand delivery, but please use only 
one of

[[Page 40489]]

these means. We recommend that you include your name and a mailing 
address, an email address, or a telephone number in the body of your 
document so that we can contact you if we have questions regarding your 
submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to https://www.regulations.gov, 
and follow the instructions on that Web site. If you submit your 
comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no 
larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic 
filing. If you submit comments by mail and would like to know that they 
reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard 
or envelope. We will consider all comments and material received during 
the comment period and may change this proposed rule based on your 
comments.
    Viewing the comments and the DEIS: To view the comments and DEIS go 
to https://www.regulations.gov, insert (USCG-2010-0455) in the SEARCH 
box and follow the instructions on that Web site. If you do not have 
access to the internet, you may view the docket online by visiting the 
Docket Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the 
Department of Transportation West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. We have an agreement with the Department of 
Transportation to use the Docket Management Facility. The DEIS is also 
available online at https://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg551/CGLeadProjects.asp 
and is available for inspection at the Seventh Coast Guard District 
address given under ADDRESSES.
    Copies of all written communications from the public meeting will 
be available for review by interested persons after the meeting on the 
online docket, USCG-2010-0455 via https://www.regulations.gov.
    A transcript of the meeting will be available for public review 
approximately 30 days after the meeting. All comments will be made part 
of the official case record.
    Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review a 
Privacy Act, system of records notice regarding our public dockets in 
the January 17, 2008, issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

Background and Purpose

    Manatee County has proposed to construct a new highway bridge 
across navigable waters of the United States to provide improvements to 
north-south transportation movements in eastern Manatee County, 
Florida. Over the past decade, Manatee County has conducted studies to:
     Document potential impacts from proposed improvements;
     Document ways to provide safer operating conditions for 
vehicular and pedestrian traffic;
     Improve capacity of the local roadway network;
     Improve local mobility; reduce congestion; improve 
emergency response times; and
     Improve evacuation capacity across the Manatee River.
    The DEIS identifies the preferred alternative as connecting Upper 
Manatee River Road and Fort Hamer Road with a new highway bridge across 
the Manatee River, approximate mile 15.0, at Parrish, Manatee County, 
Florida. The proposed structure would meet or exceed a vertical 
clearance of 26.0 feet. The purpose of the proposed crossing is to 
provide a transportation route between high-growth areas of Manatee 
County located east of Interstate 75 (I-75) and separated by the 
Manatee River. As a structure over navigable waters of the United 
States, it requires a Coast Guard Bridge Permit pursuant to the General 
Bridge Act of 1946 (33 U.S.C. 525-533). The bridge permit would be the 
major federal action in this undertaking since federal funds will not 
be used, and therefore the Department of Homeland Security, through the 
United States Coast Guard, is the federal lead agency for review of 
potential effects on navigation and on the human environment, including 
historic properties, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the National 
Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
    Manatee County has prepared a DEIS in conjunction with the U.S. 
Coast Guard and in accordance with NEPA. See ``Viewing the comments and 
DEIS'' above. The DEIS identifies and examines the reasonable 
alternatives (including ``No Build'') and assesses the potential for 
impact to the human environment, including historic properties, of the 
alternative proposals. The DEIS provides an in-depth analysis of two 
alternative build sites, Fort Hamer Alternative which is a new two 
lane, low-level fixed span bridge, (Manatee County planning documents 
identified a need for 4-lanes of new capacity across the river east of 
I-75. Due to funding constraints and the lack of additional funding in 
the foreseeable future, the proposed action has been reduced from 
adding four lanes of capacity across the river to two lanes); and the 
Rye Road Alternative which is a second two lane, low-level fixed span 
bridge that would increase the current crossing capacity from two to 
four lanes.
    We are requesting your comments on navigation, environmental and 
historic preservation concerns that you may have related to the DEIS. 
This includes suggesting analyses and methodologies for use in the DEIS 
or possible sources of data or information not included in the DEIS. 
Your comments will be considered in preparing the final Environmental 
Impact Statement.
    The Coast Guard will hold a public meeting on the DEIS on 
Wednesday, August 7, 2013, from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Manatee 
County Civic Center (also known as the Bradenton Area Convention 
Center), 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto, Florida 34221. The purpose of this 
meeting is to consider an application by Manatee County for Coast Guard 
approval of the location and plans of a proposed two-lane fixed, 
highway bridge across the Manatee River, mile 15.0, at Parrish, Manatee 
County, FL. All interested parties may present data, views and 
comments, orally or in writing, concerning the impact of the proposed 
bridge project on navigation and the human environment.
    The public meeting will be informal. A representative of the Coast 
Guard will preside, make a brief opening statement and announce the 
procedure to be followed at the meeting. Attendees who request an 
opportunity to present oral comments at a public meeting must sign up 
to speak at the meeting site at the designated time of the meeting. 
Speakers will be called in the order of receipt of the request. 
Attendees at the meeting, who wish to present testimony, and have not 
previously made a request to do so, will follow those having submitted 
a request, as time permits. All oral presentations will be limited to 
three minutes. The public meeting may end early if all present wishing 
to speak have done so before the meeting is announced as adjourned. Any 
oral comments provided at the meeting will be transcribed and placed 
into the docket by the Coast Guard. Written comments and related 
material may also be submitted to Coast Guard personnel specified at 
that meeting for placement into the docket by the Coast Guard.

[[Page 40490]]

Information on Service for Individuals With Disabilities

    For information on facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities or to request special assistance at the public meeting, 
contact Randall Overton, Bridge Management Specialist, Seventh Coast 
Guard District, U.S. Coast Guard; at the telephone number or email 
address indicated under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this notice. Any requests for an oral or sign language interpreter must 
be received by July 28, 2013. This notice is issued under authority of 
the General Bridge Act of 1946 (33 U.S.C. 525-533), 6 U.S.C. 468, DHS 
Delegation No. 0170.1, the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), 
as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) and the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as implemented by the 
Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), 
Department of Homeland Security Directive 023-01, and Coast Guard 
Commandant Instruction M16475.1D.

    Dated: June 27, 2013.
Shelly Sugarman,
Acting Administrator, Office of Bridge Programs, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. 2013-16031 Filed 7-3-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P