Federal Transit Administration October 1, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) issue this early scoping notice to advise other agencies and the public that they intend to explore, in the context of the Council on Environmental Quality's early scoping process, alternative means of improving transit capacity and service in the Westside Extension Transit Corridor of Los Angeles, California. The early scoping process is part of a planning Alternatives Analysis (AA) required by 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) 5309, that will lead to the selection of a Locally Preferred Alternative by the LACMTA Board and Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). Early scoping meetings have been planned and are announced below. The Westside Extension Transit Corridor is east-west oriented and includes portions of five jurisdictions: the cities of Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, as well as portions of unincorporated County of Los Angeles. The study area generally extends north to the base of the Santa Monica Mountains along Hollywood, Sunset and San Vicente Boulevards, east to the Metro Rail stations at Hollywood/Highland and Wilshire/Western, south to Pico Boulevard, and west to the Pacific Ocean. The Alternatives Analysis will study transit extensions from the terminus of the Metro Rail Purple Line at the Wilshire/Western station or the Metro Rail Red Line at the Hollywood/ Highland station to downtown Santa Monica. After planning the Alternatives Analysis and selection of a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA), the LPA will then be the subject of the appropriate environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). If the selected LPA would have significant impacts, an environmental impact statement (EIS), combined with a California environmental impact report (EIR) would be initiated with a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register and final public scoping of the EIS/EIR. In particular, the purpose and need for the project, the range of alternatives to be considered in the EIS/EIR, the environmental and community impacts to be evaluated, and the methodologies to be used, would be subject to public and interagency review and comment, in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 139.