Federal Transit Administration August 3, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) provides interested parties with the opportunity to comment on proposed changes to the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA's) New Starts program and a new proposed Small Starts program category. The new Small Starts program category is a discretionary grant program category for public transportation capital projects that run along a dedicated corridor or a fixed guideway, have a total project cost of less than $250 million, and are seeking less than $75 million in Small Starts program funding. This NPRM addresses comments on the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on Small Starts issued on January 30, 2006 and the draft Guidance on New Starts Policy and Procedures issued on January 19, 2006, and makes proposals for the New Starts and Small Starts programs which take into account these comments. FTA is concurrently issuing policy guidance for comment that describes the factors and measures used in its evaluation process, which are not described in the NPRM.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Valley Metro Rail, Inc. (METRO) intend to prepare an Alternatives Analysis (AA) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on proposed high capacity transit improvements, including a potential light rail transit (LRT) and/or bus rapid transit (BRT) in the Central Mesa Corridor between the LRT Starter Line eastern terminus and Power Road (a distance of approximately 13 miles) in the City of Mesa in Maricopa County, Arizona. The proposed study area is bounded on the west by the LRT Starter Line eastern terminus at Main Street/Sycamore; University Boulevard to the north; Power Road to the east; and the Superstition Freeway (US 60) on the south. The AA/EIS will be prepared in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its implementing regulations. The AA/EIS process will be initiated with a scoping process that provides opportunities for the public to comment on the scope of the project and proposed alternatives to be considered in the AA and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). This input will be used to assist decisionmakers in determining a locally preferred alternative (LPA) for the Central Mesa Corridor. Upon selection of an LPA, METRO will request permission from FTA to enter into preliminary engineering per requirements of New Starts regulations 49 CFR part 611. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) will be issued after FTA approves entrance into preliminary engineering. The purpose of this notice is to alert interested parties regarding the intent to prepare the AA/EIS, to provide information on the nature of the proposed project and possible alternatives, to invite public participation in the AA/EIS process, including comments on the scope of the alternatives proposed in this notice, to announce that public scoping meetings will be conducted, and to identify participating agency contacts.