Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Southwest Corridor Light Rail Project, Multnomah and Washington Counties, Oregon, 60774-60777 [2016-21160]

Agencies

• Federal Transit Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 171 (Friday, September 2, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60774-60777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-21160]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Southwest Corridor Light Rail Project, Multnomah and Washington 
Counties, Oregon

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

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

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Metro (the regional 
government and metropolitan planning organization that serves the 
cities and counties of the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area) and the 
Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) 
intend to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate 
the benefits and impacts of the proposed Southwest Corridor Light Rail 
Project (Project). The Project would improve public transportation 
between and through southwest Portland, Tigard and Tualatin. FTA may 
provide funding for the Project through its Capital Investment Grant 
program. FTA, Metro and TriMet will prepare the EIS in accordance with 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), FTA environmental 
regulations, and the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST 
Act). This Notice initiates formal scoping for the EIS, provides

[[Page 60775]]

information on the nature of the proposed transit Project, invites 
participation in the EIS process, and identifies potential 
environmental effects to be considered. It also invites comments from 
interested members of the public, tribes, and agencies on the scope of 
the EIS and announces upcoming public scoping meetings. Comments should 
address (1) feasible alternatives that may better achieve the Project's 
need and purposes with fewer adverse impacts and (2) any significant 
environmental impacts relating to the alternatives.

DATES: The public scoping period will begin on the date of publication 
of this Notice and will continue through September 30, 2016 or 30 days 
from the date of publication, whichever is later. Please send written 
comments on the scope of the EIS, including the preliminary statement 
of the purpose of and need for the Project, the alternatives to be 
considered in the EIS, the environmental and community impacts to be 
evaluated, and any other Project-related issues, to the address below. 
Public scoping meetings will be held at the times and locations 
indicated in ADDRESSES below. FTA, Metro and TriMet will take oral and 
written comments at the scoping meeting. FTA, Metro and TriMet have 
also scheduled a meeting to collect comments of tribes and agencies 
with an interest in the proposed Project.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS must be received by 
September 30, 2016 or 30 days from the publication date of this Notice, 
whichever is later. Please send them to Chris Ford, Investment Areas 
Project Manager, Metro, 600 NE Grand Avenue, Portland Oregon 97232 or 
to swclrt.scoping@oregonmetro.gov . Comments may also be offered at the 
public scoping meeting, which will be held at:
     Wilson High School, 1151 SW. Vermont Street, Portland, 
Oregon, on September 22, 2016, from 6 to 8 p.m.
    A scoping meeting for interested tribes and Federal and non-Federal 
agencies will be at:
     TriMet, 1800 SW 1st Ave, 3rd Floor, Columbia Conference 
Room, Portland, Oregon on September 20 from 1 to 3 p.m.
    All meeting places are accessible to persons with disabilities. Any 
individual with a disability who requires special assistance, such as a 
sign language interpreter, or any individual who requires translation 
or interpretation services, must contact Yuliya Kharitonova at (503) 
813-7535 at least 48 hours before the meeting. A scoping information 
packet will be available before the meetings on the Project Web site or 
by calling Yuliya Kharitonova at (503) 813-7535; copies will also be 
available at the public scoping meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Witmer, FTA Community Planner, 
John.Witmer@dot.gov, phone: (206) 220-7954.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background. NEPA ``scoping'' (40 CFR 1501.7) has specific and 
fairly limited objectives, one of which is to identify the 
alternatives' significant issues that will be examined in detail in the 
EIS, while simultaneously limiting consideration and development of 
issues that are not truly significant. The NEPA scoping process should 
identify potentially significant environmental impacts caused by the 
Project and that give rise to the need to prepare an EIS; impacts that 
are deemed not to be significant need not be developed extensively in 
the context of the impact statement. The EIS must be focused on impacts 
of consequence consistent with the ultimate objectives of the NEPA 
implementing regulations--``to make the environmental impact statement 
process more useful to decision makers and the public; and to reduce 
paperwork and the accumulation of extraneous background data, in order 
to emphasize the need to focus on real environmental issues and 
alternatives. . . [by requiring] impact statements to be concise, 
clear, and to the point, and supported by evidence that agencies have 
made the necessary environmental analyses.'' Executive Order 11991, of 
May 24, 1977. Transit projects may also generate environmental 
benefits, which should also be highlighted; the EIS process should draw 
attention to positive impacts, not just negative impacts.
    FTA, Metro and TriMet are considering two alternatives for the 
Project: (1) A No-Build Alternative, as required by NEPA, that reflects 
the existing transportation system plus the future transportation 
improvements included in the Metro Regional Transportation Plan, but 
not including the Project; and (2) a Light Rail Transit (LRT) 
Alternative (Build Alternative) that would extend the existing TriMet 
MAX system 12 miles from the Transit Mall in downtown Portland to 
Bridgeport Village in Tualatin, generally running along the SW Barbur 
Boulevard/Interstate 5 corridor through Southwest Portland, the Tigard 
Triangle and downtown Tigard. The Build Alternative has design options 
in several locations.
    Metro and TriMet developed the proposed Build Alternative through 
an early scoping process and an analysis of a wide range of potential 
alternatives. FTA and Metro published notice of the early scoping 
process in the Federal Register on Sept. 29, 2011. Please see the 
Project Web site (https://www.swcorridorplan.org) for information about 
the early scoping and other planning activities, the analysis of 
alternatives, the decisions of the Project steering committee, and 
background technical reports.
    The Southwest Corridor is a fast-growing part of the Portland 
metropolitan region. Its major transportation facilities, including 
Interstate 5 (I-5), Oregon State Highway 217, and Oregon State Highway 
99W, are congested and unreliable. As more people and employers locate 
in the corridor, worsening traffic conditions will impact economic 
development and livability. The corridor ranked as the highest priority 
corridor in Metro's 2009 High Capacity Transit System Plan, and in May 
2016 the Project's steering committee chose light rail as the preferred 
mode to provide high capacity transit (HCT) service.
    Preliminary purpose of and need for the Project: The Project's 
purpose is to directly connect Tualatin, downtown Tigard, Southwest 
Portland, and the region's central city with light rail, other high-
quality transit, and appropriate community investments to improve 
mobility and create the conditions that will allow communities in the 
corridor to achieve their land use vision. Specifically, within the 
Southwest Corridor, the Project aims to:
     Provide light rail transit service that is cost-effective 
to build and operate, and that can serve existing and anticipated 
demand in the corridor;
     Improve transit reliability, frequency, and travel times, 
and connect to Westside Express Service (WES) commuter rail and other 
existing and future transit networks;
     Support adopted regional and local plans including the 
2040 Growth Concept, the Barbur Concept Plan, the Tigard Triangle 
Strategic Plan and the Tigard Downtown Vision;
     Create multimodal transportation networks to provide safe 
and convenient access to transit and adjacent land uses;
     Advance active transportation and encourage physical 
activity;
     Provide travel options that reduce overall transportation 
costs;
     Improve multimodal access to existing jobs, housing and 
educational opportunities and foster opportunities for commercial 
development and a

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range of housing types adjacent to transit;
     Ensure that benefits and impacts promote community equity; 
and
     Advance transportation projects that are sensitive to the 
environment, improve water and air quality, and help achieve the 
sustainability goals in applicable plans.
    The Project is needed because:
     Transit service to important destinations in the corridor 
is limited, and unmet demand for transit is increasing due to growth;
     Limited street connectivity and gaps in pedestrian and 
bicycle networks create barriers and unsafe conditions for transit 
access and active transportation;
     Travel is slow and unreliable on congested roadways;
     The corridor has a limited supply and range of housing 
options with good access to multimodal transportation networks, and has 
inadequate transportation between residences, employment, and services;
     Regional and local plans call for High Capacity Transit in 
the corridor to meet land use goals; and
     State, regional and local goals require investments to 
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
    Proposed alternatives: NEPA requires the Draft EIS to analyze a No-
Build Alternative as a baseline against which to assess the impacts of 
the proposed project. The proposed Project in this case is the Light 
Rail Transit (LRT) Alternative. The Project steering committee chose 
light rail as the preferred mode because of its greater long-term 
carrying capacity and superior projected transit performance compared 
to other modes, ability to integrate into the existing light rail 
system and higher level of public support. The alignment and design 
options proposed for the Draft EIS resulted from several years of 
planning, technical analysis, public engagement, and input from 
affected jurisdictions.
    The LRT Alternative travels generally southwest from the south end 
of the Downtown Portland Transit Mall through southwest Portland and 
Tigard to Bridgeport Village in Tualatin. The route is about 12 miles 
long.
    FTA, Metro and TriMet propose to consider several design options 
for the LRT Alternative. The scoping materials (at https://www.swcorridorplan.org) describe the primary alignment and the possible 
options in detail. For purposes of this Notice, the Project can be 
generally described as follows:
    In South Portland, the alignment runs along either SW Barbur 
Boulevard or SW Naito Parkway. Between SW 13th Avenue and SW 60th 
Avenue, the alignment could run either in the center of SW Barbur, 
crossing I-5 at-grade at SW Capitol Highway, or next to I-5, crossing 
I-5 and SW Capitol Highway with an above-grade structure. Near the 
Portland-Tigard city limits the alignment would turn south over I-5 
into the Tigard Triangle on a new structure and then proceed south and 
west to SW 70th Avenue. There are two options from SW 70th Avenue: (1) 
Through-Routed LRT and (2) Branched LRT. Through-Routed LRT would 
extend south from the Portland Transit Mall to downtown Tigard 
following one of two routes--crossing Highway 217 on a new structure 
extending from SW Clinton Street to SW Hall Boulevard, or extending 
from SW Beveland Street to SW Ash Street--and then traveling to 
Bridgeport Village following one of two routes, either generally next 
to I-5 or generally next to the existing WES and freight rail line. 
Branched LRT would diverge at the Tigard Triangle, with one branch 
turning west to terminate in downtown Tigard following one of three 
routes--crossing Highway 217 on a new structure extending from SW 
Clinton Street to SW Hall Boulevard, from SW Beveland Street to SW Ash 
Street, or from SW Beveland Street to SW Wall Street--and one branch 
continuing south on a separate crossing of Highway 217 to terminate at 
Bridgeport Village without traveling through downtown Tigard.
    Under any of the options, the Project would include stations at 
these locations:
     Between SW Gibbs Street and SW Grover Street (on SW Barbur 
or SW Naito)
     Between SW Custer Street and SW 13th Avenue (on SW Barbur 
or adjacent to I-5)
     At the Barbur Transit Center with a modified or expanded 
park-and-ride
     At SW 53rd Avenue with a new park-and-ride (on SW Barbur 
or adjacent to I-5)
     On SW 70th Avenue between SW Atlanta Street and SW Baylor 
Street (could include a new park-and-ride)
     At SW Bonita Road (adjacent to freight rail or adjacent to 
I-5) (at location next to I-5, could include a new park-and-ride)
     At SW Upper Boones Ferry Road (adjacent to freight rail or 
adjacent to I-5) (could include a park-and-ride)
     Bridgeport Village (could include an expanded park-and-
ride)
    In addition, depending on the option, there would be stations at 
these locations:
     SW Capitol Hill Road and SW Barbur Boulevard
     SW 19th Avenue and SW Barbur Boulevard
     SW 26th or SW 30th Avenue and SW Barbur Boulevard
     SW Spring Garden Street and adjacent to I-5
     SW 26th Avenue and adjacent to I-5
     On SW Beveland Street near SW 70th Avenue,
     Adjacent to the WES commuter rail tracks near the existing 
Tigard Transit Center, (could include an expanded park-and-ride)
     On SW Ash Street near SW Commercial Street (could include 
an expanded park-and-ride for the nearby Tigard Transit Center)
     Near SW Wall Street and SW Hunziker Street (could include 
a new park-and-ride)
    The LRT Alternative will include a light rail maintenance facility. 
This could be a new facility, either near SW Wall Street and the WES 
Commuter Rail line, or just west of I-5 north of SW Bonita Road, or an 
expansion of the existing Ruby Junction maintenance facility in 
Gresham.
    The LRT Alternative also includes associated roadway, bicycle and 
pedestrian projects that may be eligible for federal funding and could 
be constructed together with the transit Project, thereby meriting 
joint environmental analysis. Among the most notable are mechanized 
bike/ped connections to Marquam Hill (Oregon Health Sciences 
University) and Mt. Sylvania (Portland Community College); new 
opportunities for bicycles and pedestrians to cross I-405; new and 
upgraded sidewalks, bike lanes, and safe crossings on SW Barbur 
Boulevard from SW 3rd Avenue to SW 60th Avenue, including 
reconstruction of the Vermont and Newbury viaducts; and both major and 
minor roadway improvements along the alignment, including possible 
revisions to the west end of the Ross Island Bridge, crossings of I-5, 
and crossings of Highway 217. Please refer to the scoping materials for 
detailed information about these and many other potential improvements.
    Public and agency input received during scoping will help FTA, 
Metro and TriMet select a range of reasonable alternatives and options 
to evaluate in the Draft EIS. FTA, Metro and TriMet also invite comment 
on potential Joint Development opportunities along the alignment.
    Possible adverse effects: Consistent with NEPA, FTA, Metro and 
TriMet will evaluate, with input from the public and tribes and 
agencies, the potential impacts of the alternatives on the physical, 
human, and natural

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environment. Likely areas of investigation include effects on air 
quality and greenhouse gas emissions, property acquisition and 
displacements, ecosystems (including threatened and endangered 
species), community livability, energy use, environmental justice, 
geology and soils, hazardous materials, historic and cultural 
resources, land use and economic effects, noise and vibration, parks 
and recreation, safety and security, transportation, utilities and 
public services, visual and aesthetic qualities, water quality and 
hydrology, and wetlands. Significant impacts prior to the development 
of mitigation measures may occur in the areas of property acquisition 
and displacements, historic and cultural resources, noise and 
vibration, parks and recreation, transportation, visual and aesthetic 
qualities, water quality and hydrology, and wetlands. Significant 
beneficial impacts could occur in the areas of air quality and 
greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, environmental justice, safety and 
security, and transportation. The EIS will evaluate short-term 
construction impacts and long-term operating impacts and will also 
consider indirect and cumulative impacts. The EIS will propose measures 
to avoid, minimize, and mitigate adverse impacts.
    In accordance with FTA policy and regulations, FTA, Metro and 
TriMet will comply with all Federal environmental laws, regulations, 
and executive orders applicable to the proposed project during the 
environmental review process.
    Roles of Agencies and the Public: NEPA, and FTA's regulations for 
implementing NEPA, call for broad involvement in the EIS process. FTA, 
Metro and TriMet therefore invite Federal and non-Federal agencies and 
Indian tribes to participate in the NEPA process. Any agency or tribe 
interested in the Project that does not receive such an invitation 
should promptly notify the Metro Investment Area Project Manager 
identified above under ADDRESSES.
    Interested parties may review a draft Coordination Plan for public 
and agency involvement at the Project Web site. It identifies the 
Project's coordination approach and structure, details the major 
milestones for agency and public involvement, and includes an initial 
list of interested agencies and organizations.
    Combined FEIS and Record of Decision: Under 23 U.S.C. 139, FTA 
should combine the Final EIS and Record of Decision if it is 
practicable. FTA invites interested parties to comment on a combined 
FEIS/ROD for the Project to help FTA decide whether combining the FEIS/
ROD is practicable.
    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, FTA tries to limit insofar as possible distribution of 
complete printed sets of NEPA documents. Accordingly, unless a specific 
request for a complete printed set of the NEPA document is received 
before the document is printed, FTA, Metro and TriMet will distribute 
only electronic copies of the NEPA document. A complete printed set of 
the environmental document will be available for review at Metro's 
offices; an electronic copy of the complete environmental document will 
be available on the Project Web site.
    Other: Metro and TriMet may seek funding for the proposed Project 
under FTA's Capital Investment Grant Program, 49 U.S.C. 5309, and would 
therefore be subject to New Starts regulations (49 CFR part 611). The 
New Starts regulations also require the submission of certain project-
justification information to support a request to initiate preliminary 
engineering. This information is normally developed in conjunction with 
the NEPA process. The EIS will include pertinent New Starts evaluation 
criteria.

    Dated: August 25, 2016.
Kenneth A. Feldman,
 Deputy Regional Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, Region 
10, Seattle, WA.
[FR Doc. 2016-21160 Filed 9-1-16; 8:45 am]
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