Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Gateway Corridor Project From Saint Paul to Woodbury in Ramsey to Washington Counties, MN, 8530-8532 [2014-03050]
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8530
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 29 / Wednesday, February 12, 2014 / Notices
requested independent Federal agencies
to provide service to ‘‘customers’’ that
matches or exceeds the best service
available in the private sector. See also
Executive Order 13571 (2011)
(‘‘Streamlining Service Delivery and
Improving Customer Service’’). For
purposes of these orders, ‘‘customer’’
means an individual who or entity that
is directly served by a department or
agency. FRA seeks renewed OMB
approval of a generic clearance to
collect qualitative feedback on our
service delivery (i.e., the products and
services that FRA creates to help
consumers and businesses understand
their rights and responsibilities,
including Web sites, blogs, videos, print
publications, and other content).
Below is a brief summary of the
information collection activity that FRA
will submit for clearance by OMB as
required under the PRA:
Title: Generic Clearance for the
Collection of qualitative Feedback on
Agency Service Delivery OMB Control
Number: 2130–0593.
Status: Regular Review.
Type of Request: Extension without
change of a previously approved
collection.
Abstract: This collection of
information is necessary to enable the
Agency to garner customer and
stakeholder feedback in an efficient,
timely manner, in accordance with our
commitment to improving service
delivery. The information collected
from our customers and stakeholders
will help ensure that users have an
effective, efficient, and satisfying
experience with the Agency’s programs.
This feedback will provide insights into
customer or stakeholder perceptions,
experiences and expectations, provide
an early warning of issues with service,
or focus attention on areas where
communication, training or changes in
operations might improve delivery of
products or services. These collections
will allow for ongoing, collaborative and
actionable communications between the
Agency and its customers and
stakeholders. It also allows feedback to
contribute directly to the improvement
of program management.
Improving agency programs requires
ongoing assessment of service delivery,
by which we mean systematic review of
the operation of a program compared to
a set of explicit or implicit standards, as
a means of contributing to the
continuous improvement of the
program. The Agency will collect,
analyze, and interpret information
gathered through this generic clearance
to identify strengths and weaknesses of
current services and make
improvements in service delivery based
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on feedback. The solicitation of
feedback will target areas such as:
timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of
information, courtesy, efficiency of
service delivery, and resolution of
issues with service delivery. Responses
will be assessed to plan and inform
efforts to improve or maintain the
quality of service offered to the public.
If this information is not collected, vital
feedback from customers and
stakeholders on the Agency’s services
will be unavailable.
The Agency will only submit a
collection for approval under this
generic clearance if it meets the
following conditions:
• Information gathered will be used
only internally for general service
improvement and program management
purposes and is not intended for release
outside of the agency (if released,
procedures outlined in Question 16 will
be followed);
• Information gathered will not be
used for the purpose of substantially
informing influential policy decisions;
• Information gathered will yield
qualitative information; the collections
will not be designed or expected to
yield statistically reliable results or used
as though the results are generalizable to
the population of study;
• The collections are voluntary;
• The collections are low-burden for
respondents (based on considerations of
total burden hours, total number of
respondents, or burden-hours per
respondent) and are low-cost for both
the respondents and the Federal
Government;
• The collections are noncontroversial and do not raise issues of
concern to other Federal agencies;
• Any collection is targeted to the
solicitation of opinions from
respondents who have experience with
the program or may have experience
with the program in the near future; and
• With the exception of information
needed to provide remuneration for
participants of focus groups and
cognitive laboratory studies, personally
identifiable information (PII) is
collected only to the extent necessary
and is not retained.
Affected Public: Individuals and
Households, Business and
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal
Governments.
Frequency of Submission: Once per
request.
Total Annual Number of
Respondents: 2100.
Total Estimated Responses: 2100.
Average Minutes per Response: 10
minutes.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 354
hours.
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Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520.
Issued in Washington, DC on February 6,
2014.
Rebecca Pennington,
Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014–03054 Filed 2–11–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–06–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Intent To Prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement for the Gateway
Corridor Project From Saint Paul to
Woodbury in Ramsey to Washington
Counties, MN
Federal Transit Administration
(FTA), Department of Transportation
(DOT).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS).
AGENCY:
The Federal Transit Agency
(FTA), as the lead federal agency, the
Washington County Regional Railroad
Authority (WCRRA), and the
Metropolitan Council intend to prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the proposed Gateway Corridor
project. The Gateway Corridor project is
a planned transitway approximately 12
miles in length located in Ramsey and
Washington Counties in the eastern part
of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area,
Minnesota. The project is located in a
corridor generally parallel to Interstate
94 (I–94) and will better connect
downtown Saint Paul with its east side
neighborhoods and the suburban cities
of Maplewood, Landfall, Oakdale, Lake
Elmo, and Woodbury. More broadly, the
Gateway Corridor project will better
connect the eastern Twin Cities
Metropolitan Area to the regional transit
network via the Union Depot
multimodal hub in downtown Saint
Paul. The project is also intended to
serve and draw ridership from other
portions of the metropolitan area,
including portions of eastern
Washington County and western St.
Croix County (Wisconsin) to the east,
Dakota County to the south, and the city
of Minneapolis and Hennepin County to
the west.
The EIS will be prepared in
accordance with the requirements of the
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) and its implementing
regulations with FTA as the lead
agency. The purpose of this notice is to
alert interested parties of the intent to
prepare the EIS; to provide information
on the nature of the proposed action and
possible alternatives; to invite public
participation in the EIS process,
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 29 / Wednesday, February 12, 2014 / Notices
including comments on the scope of the
Draft EIS proposed in this notice; and to
announce that public and agency
scoping meetings will be conducted.
DATES: Written comments on the scope
of the EIS, submitted by email or regular
mail, must be received no later than
April 16, 2014, and must be sent to
Andy Gitzlaff. See ADDRESSES below for
the location to which written comments
may be submitted. Public scoping
meetings to accept comments on the
scope of the EIS will be held on the
following dates:
D Monday, March 24, 2014, from 4:30
to 6:30 p.m., at Guardian Angels
Catholic Church (8260 4th Street N,
Oakdale, MN 55128).
D Tuesday, March 25, 2014, from 4:30
to 6:30 p.m., at Conway Recreation
Center (2090 Conway Avenue, Saint
Paul, MN 55119).
Comments will also be accepted at the
Gateway Corridor Policy Advisory
Committee meeting on Thursday, April
10, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. at Woodbury City
Hall (8301 Valley Creek Road,
Woodbury, MN 55125).
An interagency scoping meeting for
agencies with interest in the project will
be held on the following date:
D Thursday, March 20, 2014, from
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, at the KimleyHorn and Associates, Inc. office (2550
University Avenue West, Suite 238N,
Saint Paul, MN 55114).
All the scoping meetings will be
accessible to persons with disabilities. If
special translation services or other
special accommodations are needed,
please contact Andy Gitzlaff (see
ADDRESSES below) at least 48 hours prior
to the meeting. A Scoping information
packet, providing information on the
Gateway Corridor project including
project purpose and need, as well as
alternatives proposed for evaluation in
the EIS, will be available at public
Scoping meetings, and will also be
available on the project Web site: http:
//www.thegatewaycorridor.com/. Paper
copies of Scoping materials may also be
obtained from Andy Gitzlaff (see
ADDRESSES below).
ADDRESSES: Andy Gitzlaff, Project
Manager, Washington County Public
Works Department, 11660 Myeron Road
North, Stillwater, MN 55082, Phone:
(651) 430–4300, Email: Gateway
Corridor@co.washington.mn.us, Fax:
(651) 430–4350.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Maya Sarna, Environmental Protection
Specialist, FTA Headquarters,
Washington, DC, Phone: 202–366–5811,
Email: maya.sarna@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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17:11 Feb 11, 2014
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Scoping
The FTA, WCRRA, and Metropolitan
Council invite all interested individuals
and organizations, public agencies, and
Native American Tribes to comment on
the scope of the EIS for the proposed
Gateway Corridor project, including the
project’s purpose and need, the
alternatives to be studied, the
environmental impacts to be evaluated,
and the evaluation methods to be used.
Comments should address: (1) Feasible
alternatives that may better achieve the
project’s purpose and need with fewer
adverse impacts, and (2) any significant
social, economic, or environmental
issues relating to the alternatives.
NEPA ‘‘scoping’’ has specific
objectives: To identify the significant
environmental issues associated with
alternatives to be examined in detail,
while also limiting consideration of
issues that are not truly significant. It is
in the NEPA scoping process that
potentially significant environmental
impacts, which give rise to the need to
prepare an EIS, should be identified.
Transit projects may also generate
environmental benefits that should also
be discussed.
Purpose and Need for the Project
The purpose of the Gateway Corridor
project is to provide transit service to
meet existing and long-term regional
mobility and local accessibility needs
for businesses and the traveling public
within the project area.
Five factors contribute to the need for
the Gateway Corridor project:
D Limited transit service throughout
the day and demand for more frequent
service over a greater time span.
D Policy shift toward travel choices
and multimodal investments.
D Population and employment
growth, increasing access needs and
travel demand.
D Needs of people who depend on
transit.
D Local and regional objectives for
growth.
Project Location and Environmental
Setting
The project is located in Ramsey and
Washington Counties, Minnesota. The
character of the Gateway Corridor
project area changes from an urban
setting in downtown and the east side
of Saint Paul to a transitional suburban/
rural setting as it extends further east
into the suburbs of Maplewood,
Landfall, Oakdale, Lake Elmo, and
Woodbury.
Alternatives Analysis
The Gateway Corridor Alternatives
Analysis (AA) Study was completed by
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8531
the Gateway Corridor Commission in
February 2013. The AA Study evaluated
a No-Build alternative and a range of
Build alternatives, including a
transportation system management
alternative, a commuter rail alternative,
light rail transit (LRT) alternatives, and
bus rapid transit (BRT) alternatives on
various alignments, including various
alignments along East 7th Street in Saint
Paul, and Hudson Road. All eight
alternatives underwent detailed
evaluation. At the end of the AA
process, it was recommended that both
BRT and LRT alternatives adjacent to
Hudson Road move forward for
consideration in the Draft EIS.
Information on the AA process will be
available at scoping meetings/
summarized in the Scoping Booklet.
The results of an investigation of
Gateway Corridor service on East 7th
Street, as re-visited during early phases
of Draft EIS scoping, will be made
available for public review and
comment. This will include the results
of technical analyses used as the basis
for decision-making by Gateway
Corridor project technical and policy
committees, supporting the findings
made through the AA process that
eliminated the East 7th Street
alignment.
Proposed Alternatives
The following alternatives are
currently under consideration for
further study in the EIS:
No-Build Alternative. The No-Build
Alternative serves as the NEPA baseline
against which environmental effects of
the Build alternatives are measured. It is
defined as the 2030 transportation
network with only those improvements
already planned and programmed. The
No-Build alternative does not include
the Gateway Corridor project.
LRT Alternative. The LRT alternative
would include several station stops
between Union Depot in downtown
Saint Paul and Manning Avenue in
Woodbury, for a length of
approximately 12 miles. LRT would
generally travel in double-track,
exclusive right-of-way (guideway)
parallel to Interstate 94 (I–94) west of
Interstate 694 (I–694), and adjacent to
Hudson Road to the east. Between
Woodbury Drive/Keats Avenue, there
are two alignment options: One south of
I–94 in vicinity of the frontage road/
Hudson Road, and one north of I–94
along 4th Street North and Hudson
Boulevard, before crossing I–94 near
Woodbury Drive/Keats Avenue. The
LRT Alternative would include tracks,
stations and support facilities, as well as
transit service for LRT and connecting
bus routes.
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 29 / Wednesday, February 12, 2014 / Notices
BRT Alternative. The BRT alternative
would generally include an exclusive,
two-way busway in dedicated
guideway. The length of the alignment
would be approximately 12 miles, with
several stations between Union Depot in
downtown Saint Paul and Manning
Avenue in Woodbury. BRT would
generally travel parallel to I–94 to the
west of I–694 and adjacent to Hudson
Road to the east, similar to the LRT
Alternative. The BRT Alternative would
also include the same two alignment
options between I–694 and Keats
Avenue, as described above. It would
include all facilities associated with the
construction and operation of BRT,
including right-of-way, travel lanes,
stations, and support facilities, as well
as transit service for BRT and
connecting bus routes.
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Potential Impacts for Analysis
The purpose of the EIS process is to
study, in a public setting, the potentially
significant effects of the proposed
project on the quality of the human
environment. Primary areas of
investigation for this project may
include, but might not be limited to:
Transportation; land use and
consistency with applicable plans; land
acquisition and displacements;
socioeconomic impacts; park and
recreation resources; historic and
cultural resources; environmental
justice; visual and aesthetic qualities; air
quality; noise and vibration; water
quality, wetlands, and floodplains;, and
ecosystems, including threatened and
endangered species. Effects will be
evaluated in the context of both shortterm construction and long-term
operation of the Gateway Corridor
project. Direct project effects as well as
indirect and cumulative effects on the
environment will be addressed. The
environmental analysis may reveal that
the proposed project will not affect, or
affect substantially, many of the primary
areas of investigation. However, if any
adverse impacts are identified, measures
to avoid, minimize, or mitigate those
adverse effects will be proposed.
Procedures for Public and Agency
Involvement
The regulations implementing NEPA
call for public involvement in the EIS
Process. 23 U.S.C. 139 requires that
FTA, WCRRA, and the Metropolitan
Council do the following: (1) Extend an
invitation to other federal and nonfederal 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 to
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17:11 Feb 11, 2014
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help define the purpose and need for
the proposed project, as well as the
range of alternatives for consideration in
the EIS; 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 or
cooperating agency, with Scoping
materials appended, will be extended to
other federal and non-federal agencies
and Native American tribes that may
have an interest in the proposed project.
It is possible that FTA, WCRRA, and the
Metropolitan Council will not be able to
identify all federal and non-federal
agencies and Native American tribes
that may have such an interest. Any
federal or non-federal agency or Native
American tribe interested in the
proposed project that does not receive
an invitation to become a participating
agency should notify at the earliest
opportunity the Project Manager
identified above under ADDRESSES.
A comprehensive public involvement
program for public and agency
involvement has been developed for the
project and is available on the project
Web site. The public involvement
program includes a full range of
activities including maintaining the
project Web site and outreach to local
officials, community and civic groups,
and the general public.
Paperwork Reduction
Marisol Simon,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014–03050 Filed 2–11–14; 8:45 am]
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National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
[NHTSA–2014–0020]
Reports, Forms, and Recordkeeping
Requirements; Agency Information
Collection Activity Under OMB Review
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice
announces that the Information
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted
below has been forwarded to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and comment. The ICR describes
the nature of the information collections
and their expected burden. The Federal
Register Notice with a 60-day comment
period was published on November 20,
2013 (78 FR 69744).
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before March 14, 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David Bonelli, Office of Chief Counsel,
NCC–113, telephone (202) 366–1834,
fax (202) 366–3820; NHTSA, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC
20590.
SUMMARY:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Paperwork Reduction Act seeks,
in part, to minimize the cost to the
taxpayer of the creation, collection,
maintenance, use, dissemination, and
disposition of information. Consistent
with this goal and with principles of
economy and efficiency in government,
it is FTA policy to limit insofar as
possible distribution of complete
printed sets of environmental
documents. Accordingly, unless a
specific request for a complete printed
set of environmental documents is
received before the document is printed,
at the latest, FTA and its grantees will
distribute only the executive summary
of environmental documents in printed
form together with a compact disc (CD)
that contains the complete
environmental document. A complete
printed set of the environmental
documents will be available for review
at the grantee’s offices and elsewhere;
an electronic copy of the complete
environmental document will also be
available on the grantee’s Web site.
BILLING CODE P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Title: Designation of Agent for Service
of Process.
OMB Control Number: 2127–0040.
Requested Expiration Date of
Approval: Three years from the
approval date.
Type of Request: Extension of a
previously approved collection.
Affected Public: Business or other forprofit.
Form Number: N/A.
Abstract: This collection of
information applies to motor vehicle
and motor vehicle equipment
manufacturers located outside of the
United States (‘‘foreign manufacturers’’).
Section 110(e) of the National Traffic
and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966
(49 U.S.C. 30164) requires a foreign
manufacturer offering a motor vehicle or
motor vehicle equipment for
importation into the United States to
designate a permanent resident of the
United States as its agent upon whom
service of notices and processes may be
made in administrative and judicial
proceedings. These designations are
required to be filed with NHTSA.
NHTSA requires this information in
case it needs to advise a foreign
manufacturer of a safety related defect
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8530-8532]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03050]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the
Gateway Corridor Project From Saint Paul to Woodbury in Ramsey to
Washington Counties, MN
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement
(EIS).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Agency (FTA), as the lead federal agency,
the Washington County Regional Railroad Authority (WCRRA), and the
Metropolitan Council intend to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for the proposed Gateway Corridor project. The Gateway
Corridor project is a planned transitway approximately 12 miles in
length located in Ramsey and Washington Counties in the eastern part of
the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, Minnesota. The project is located in
a corridor generally parallel to Interstate 94 (I-94) and will better
connect downtown Saint Paul with its east side neighborhoods and the
suburban cities of Maplewood, Landfall, Oakdale, Lake Elmo, and
Woodbury. More broadly, the Gateway Corridor project will better
connect the eastern Twin Cities Metropolitan Area to the regional
transit network via the Union Depot multimodal hub in downtown Saint
Paul. The project is also intended to serve and draw ridership from
other portions of the metropolitan area, including portions of eastern
Washington County and western St. Croix County (Wisconsin) to the east,
Dakota County to the south, and the city of Minneapolis and Hennepin
County to the west.
The EIS will be prepared in accordance with the requirements of the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its implementing
regulations with FTA as the lead agency. The purpose of this notice is
to alert interested parties of the intent to prepare the EIS; to
provide information on the nature of the proposed action and possible
alternatives; to invite public participation in the EIS process,
[[Page 8531]]
including comments on the scope of the Draft EIS proposed in this
notice; and to announce that public and agency scoping meetings will be
conducted.
DATES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS, submitted by email or
regular mail, must be received no later than April 16, 2014, and must
be sent to Andy Gitzlaff. See ADDRESSES below for the location to which
written comments may be submitted. Public scoping meetings to accept
comments on the scope of the EIS will be held on the following dates:
[ssquf] Monday, March 24, 2014, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., at Guardian
Angels Catholic Church (8260 4th Street N, Oakdale, MN 55128).
[ssquf] Tuesday, March 25, 2014, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., at Conway
Recreation Center (2090 Conway Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55119).
Comments will also be accepted at the Gateway Corridor Policy
Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday, April 10, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. at
Woodbury City Hall (8301 Valley Creek Road, Woodbury, MN 55125).
An interagency scoping meeting for agencies with interest in the
project will be held on the following date:
[ssquf] Thursday, March 20, 2014, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, at
the Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. office (2550 University Avenue
West, Suite 238N, Saint Paul, MN 55114).
All the scoping meetings will be accessible to persons with
disabilities. If special translation services or other special
accommodations are needed, please contact Andy Gitzlaff (see ADDRESSES
below) at least 48 hours prior to the meeting. A Scoping information
packet, providing information on the Gateway Corridor project including
project purpose and need, as well as alternatives proposed for
evaluation in the EIS, will be available at public Scoping meetings,
and will also be available on the project Web site: https://www.thegatewaycorridor.com/. Paper copies of Scoping materials may also
be obtained from Andy Gitzlaff (see ADDRESSES below).
ADDRESSES: Andy Gitzlaff, Project Manager, Washington County Public
Works Department, 11660 Myeron Road North, Stillwater, MN 55082, Phone:
(651) 430-4300, Email: Gateway Corridor@co.washington.mn.us, Fax: (651)
430-4350.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maya Sarna, Environmental Protection
Specialist, FTA Headquarters, Washington, DC, Phone: 202-366-5811,
Email: maya.sarna@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Scoping
The FTA, WCRRA, and Metropolitan Council invite all interested
individuals and organizations, public agencies, and Native American
Tribes to comment on the scope of the EIS for the proposed Gateway
Corridor project, including the project's purpose and need, the
alternatives to be studied, the environmental impacts to be evaluated,
and the evaluation methods to be used. Comments should address: (1)
Feasible alternatives that may better achieve the project's purpose and
need with fewer adverse impacts, and (2) any significant social,
economic, or environmental issues relating to the alternatives.
NEPA ``scoping'' has specific objectives: To identify the
significant environmental issues associated with alternatives to be
examined in detail, while also limiting consideration of issues that
are not truly significant. It is in the NEPA scoping process that
potentially significant environmental impacts, which give rise to the
need to prepare an EIS, should be identified. Transit projects may also
generate environmental benefits that should also be discussed.
Purpose and Need for the Project
The purpose of the Gateway Corridor project is to provide transit
service to meet existing and long-term regional mobility and local
accessibility needs for businesses and the traveling public within the
project area.
Five factors contribute to the need for the Gateway Corridor
project:
[ssquf] Limited transit service throughout the day and demand for
more frequent service over a greater time span.
[ssquf] Policy shift toward travel choices and multimodal
investments.
[ssquf] Population and employment growth, increasing access needs
and travel demand.
[ssquf] Needs of people who depend on transit.
[ssquf] Local and regional objectives for growth.
Project Location and Environmental Setting
The project is located in Ramsey and Washington Counties,
Minnesota. The character of the Gateway Corridor project area changes
from an urban setting in downtown and the east side of Saint Paul to a
transitional suburban/rural setting as it extends further east into the
suburbs of Maplewood, Landfall, Oakdale, Lake Elmo, and Woodbury.
Alternatives Analysis
The Gateway Corridor Alternatives Analysis (AA) Study was completed
by the Gateway Corridor Commission in February 2013. The AA Study
evaluated a No-Build alternative and a range of Build alternatives,
including a transportation system management alternative, a commuter
rail alternative, light rail transit (LRT) alternatives, and bus rapid
transit (BRT) alternatives on various alignments, including various
alignments along East 7th Street in Saint Paul, and Hudson Road. All
eight alternatives underwent detailed evaluation. At the end of the AA
process, it was recommended that both BRT and LRT alternatives adjacent
to Hudson Road move forward for consideration in the Draft EIS.
Information on the AA process will be available at scoping
meetings/summarized in the Scoping Booklet. The results of an
investigation of Gateway Corridor service on East 7th Street, as re-
visited during early phases of Draft EIS scoping, will be made
available for public review and comment. This will include the results
of technical analyses used as the basis for decision-making by Gateway
Corridor project technical and policy committees, supporting the
findings made through the AA process that eliminated the East 7th
Street alignment.
Proposed Alternatives
The following alternatives are currently under consideration for
further study in the EIS:
No-Build Alternative. The No-Build Alternative serves as the NEPA
baseline against which environmental effects of the Build alternatives
are measured. It is defined as the 2030 transportation network with
only those improvements already planned and programmed. The No-Build
alternative does not include the Gateway Corridor project.
LRT Alternative. The LRT alternative would include several station
stops between Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul and Manning Avenue in
Woodbury, for a length of approximately 12 miles. LRT would generally
travel in double-track, exclusive right-of-way (guideway) parallel to
Interstate 94 (I-94) west of Interstate 694 (I-694), and adjacent to
Hudson Road to the east. Between Woodbury Drive/Keats Avenue, there are
two alignment options: One south of I-94 in vicinity of the frontage
road/Hudson Road, and one north of I-94 along 4th Street North and
Hudson Boulevard, before crossing I-94 near Woodbury Drive/Keats
Avenue. The LRT Alternative would include tracks, stations and support
facilities, as well as transit service for LRT and connecting bus
routes.
[[Page 8532]]
BRT Alternative. The BRT alternative would generally include an
exclusive, two-way busway in dedicated guideway. The length of the
alignment would be approximately 12 miles, with several stations
between Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul and Manning Avenue in
Woodbury. BRT would generally travel parallel to I-94 to the west of I-
694 and adjacent to Hudson Road to the east, similar to the LRT
Alternative. The BRT Alternative would also include the same two
alignment options between I-694 and Keats Avenue, as described above.
It would include all facilities associated with the construction and
operation of BRT, including right-of-way, travel lanes, stations, and
support facilities, as well as transit service for BRT and connecting
bus routes.
Potential Impacts for Analysis
The purpose of the EIS process is to study, in a public setting,
the potentially significant effects of the proposed project on the
quality of the human environment. Primary areas of investigation for
this project may include, but might not be limited to: Transportation;
land use and consistency with applicable plans; land acquisition and
displacements; socioeconomic impacts; park and recreation resources;
historic and cultural resources; environmental justice; visual and
aesthetic qualities; air quality; noise and vibration; water quality,
wetlands, and floodplains;, and ecosystems, including threatened and
endangered species. Effects will be evaluated in the context of both
short-term construction and long-term operation of the Gateway Corridor
project. Direct project effects as well as indirect and cumulative
effects on the environment will be addressed. The environmental
analysis may reveal that the proposed project will not affect, or
affect substantially, many of the primary areas of investigation.
However, if any adverse impacts are identified, measures to avoid,
minimize, or mitigate those adverse effects will be proposed.
Procedures for Public and Agency Involvement
The regulations implementing NEPA call for public involvement in
the EIS Process. 23 U.S.C. 139 requires that FTA, WCRRA, and the
Metropolitan Council do the following: (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 to help define the purpose and need for the
proposed project, as well as the range of alternatives for
consideration in the EIS; 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 or cooperating
agency, with Scoping materials appended, will be extended to other
federal and non-federal agencies and Native American tribes that may
have an interest in the proposed project. It is possible that FTA,
WCRRA, and the Metropolitan Council will not be able to identify all
federal and non-federal agencies and Native American tribes that may
have such an interest. Any federal or non-federal agency or Native
American tribe interested in the proposed project that does not receive
an invitation to become a participating agency should notify at the
earliest opportunity the Project Manager identified above under
ADDRESSES.
A comprehensive public involvement program for public and agency
involvement has been developed for the project and is available on the
project Web site. The public involvement program includes a full range
of activities including maintaining the project Web site and outreach
to local officials, community and civic groups, and the general public.
Paperwork Reduction
The Paperwork Reduction Act seeks, in part, to minimize the cost to
the taxpayer of the creation, collection, maintenance, use,
dissemination, and disposition of information. Consistent with this
goal and with principles of economy and efficiency in government, it is
FTA policy to limit insofar as possible distribution of complete
printed sets of environmental documents. Accordingly, unless a specific
request for a complete printed set of environmental documents is
received before the document is printed, at the latest, FTA and its
grantees will distribute only the executive summary of environmental
documents in printed form together with a compact disc (CD) that
contains the complete environmental document. A complete printed set of
the environmental documents will be available for review at the
grantee's offices and elsewhere; an electronic copy of the complete
environmental document will also be available on the grantee's Web
site.
Marisol Simon,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014-03050 Filed 2-11-14; 8:45 am]
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