Port of Long Beach (POLB or Port) Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility Project; Combined Final Environmental Impact Statement/Record of Decision and Final Section 4(f) Evaluation Notice of Availability, 47496-47497 [2022-16585]

Agencies

• Maritime Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47496-47497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16585]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket Number MARAD-2019-0109]


Port of Long Beach (POLB or Port) Pier B On-Dock Rail Support 
Facility Project; Combined Final Environmental Impact Statement/Record 
of Decision and Final Section 4(f) Evaluation Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Maritime 
Administration (MARAD) announces the availability of the Combined Final 
Environmental Impact Statement/Record of Decision and Final Section 
4(f) Evaluation, (FEIS/ROD) for the Port of Long Beach (POLB or Port) 
Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility Project (Project) to support an 
application to DOT for Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing 
(RRIF) and potentially other federal funding programs. MARAD has issued 
a single document that consists of a FEIS/ROD. Therefore, the 30-day 
wait/review period under NEPA does not apply to this action.

ADDRESSES: The FEIS/ROD, supporting information, and comments are 
available for viewing and download at https://www.regulations.gov under 
docket number MARAD-2019-0109.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan Finio, Office of Environmental 
Compliance, at telephone number: 202-503-6643 or by email at 
[email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the 
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during business hours. The 
FIRS is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to leave 
a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a 
reply during normal business hours. Additionally, if you go to the 
online docket and sign up for email alerts, you will be notified if 
other Project documents are posted.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Project is designed to address current 
traffic and cargo distribution bottlenecks into, out of, and within the 
POLB. The Project also includes consideration for: anticipated future 
demand for cargo movement via on-dock rail; maximization of on-dock 
intermodal operations to reach the long-term goal of 30 to 35 percent 
of cargo containers to be handled by on-dock rail; provision of a 
facility that can accept and handle longer container trains; and 
provision of a rail yard that is cost effective and fiscally prudent. 
The Port is applying to the RRIF Program, and potentially other federal 
funding programs, to support the Project.

Summary of the Project

    The City of Long Beach (COLB), acting by and through its Board of 
Harbor Commissioners (BHC), is proposing to construct the 12th Street 
Alternative in the POLB. The purposes of the proposed reconfiguration 
and expansion Project are to: (a) provide a sufficient facility to 
accommodate the expected demand of cargo to be moved via on-dock rail 
into the foreseeable future; (b) maximize on-dock intermodal operations 
to reach the long-term goal of 30 to 35 percent of cargo containers to 
be handled by on-dock rail (c) provide a facility that can accept and 
handle longer container trains; and (d) provide a rail yard that is 
cost effective and fiscally prudent.
    The proposed Project would be constructed in three phases over an 
estimated seven years and has an estimated opening year of 2025. 
Components of the proposed Project would include:
     Adding 31 yard tracks and five arrival/departure tracks, 
thereby expanding the yard from an existing 12 tracks (2 main line 
tracks, 10-yard tracks, and no arrival/departure tracks) to a total of 
48 tracks (2 main tracks, 41 yard tracks, and five arrival/departure 
tracks);
     Providing for up to 10,000-foot long receiving/departure 
tracks;
     Widening the existing rail bridge over Dominguez Channel 
to accommodate one additional track; and
     Constructing an area for locomotive refueling within the 
yard.
    Realignments and closures of some roadways would be required. Pier 
B Street would be realigned to the south, its geometrics would be 
improved, and two lanes of traffic in each direction would be provided.
     The realignment of Pier B Street would require the 
reconstruction of two intersections, at Anaheim Way and Edison Avenue.
     The existing at-grade 9th Street railroad grade crossing 
would be closed, and the Shoemaker ramps removed.
     Pico Avenue would be realigned to the west beginning at 
the I-710 ramps south to approximately Pier D Street, allowing space 
for four additional tracks between Pico Avenue and the I-710 freeway.
     Areas needed for new rail tracks would require the closure 
of portions of

[[Page 47497]]

9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th streets and Edison, Jackson, Santa Fe, Canal, 
Caspian, Harbor, and Fashion avenues between Anaheim Street and Pier B 
Street, in the City of Long Beach.
     Portions of Farragut, Foote, Cushing, Macdonough, and 
Schley avenues would be closed in the vicinity of existing railroad 
right-of-way (ROW) in the City of Long Beach.
    The proposed Project would be located in two POLB Planning 
Districts (the Northeast Harbor and North Harbor); the site also 
includes the Wilmington-Harbor City Community Plan Area of the City of 
Los Angeles. The Project site is generally situated between Dominguez 
Channel to the west, Interstate 710 (I-710) to the east, Ocean 
Boulevard to the south, and Anaheim Street to the north. The proposed 
Project area includes rail tracks that extend west beyond the Terminal 
Island Freeway (State Route 103) to just west of Dominguez Channel, 
where they connect with the Alameda Corridor, and also south as far as 
Ocean Boulevard. In addition to privately owned property, a variety of 
public agencies own property within the Project site and in its 
vicinity, including the POLB, COLB, City of Los Angeles, Port of Los 
Angeles, Union Pacific, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads; 
Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority; Los Angeles County Flood 
Control District; and Southern California Edison.

(Authority: 49 CFR 1.93)

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-16585 Filed 8-2-22; 8:45 am]
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