Federal Transit Administration September 27, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit) issue this early scoping notice to advise other agencies and the public that they intend to explore alternatives for improving transit service between Northgate in Seattle and Lynnwood, in King and Snohomish counties, Washington. The early scoping is being conducted within the context of the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations for complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and is part of a planning Alternatives Analysis (AA) required by Title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) 5309 to analyze the potential for a fixed guideway alternative to be implemented as an FTA-assisted major capital transit investment. The AA process results in the selection or confirmation of a locally preferred alternative which is the proposed action. The early scoping notice is intended to invite public comments on the scope of the AA study, including the transportation problems to be addressed, a range of alternatives, the transportation and community impacts and benefits to be considered, the capital and operating costs, the financial plans and other factors that the public and agencies believe should be considered in analyzing alternatives. If preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) is warranted following completion of the planning AA, a notice of intent to prepare an EIS will be published. This early scoping process is intended to support the future NEPA scoping process. Public meetings and the range of alternatives currently identified to address the project's purpose are described below.