Federal Transit Administration October 31, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On September 28, 2007, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published notices seeking comment on four program guidance circularsthe Metropolitan Planning Program and State Planning and Research Program Grants; the Capital Investment Program; the Grant Management Requirements; and Third Party Contracting. This document extends the comment periods of each of these notices. The reasons for extending the comment period are three-fold. First, the FTA wants to stagger the comment period so the public has more time to provide meaningful comments, which in turn will result in better guidance for our customers. Second, FTA currently has a major rulemaking out for comment, which may create hardship on those wishing to comment on circulars as well as the rulemaking. Finally, DOT had some difficulty migrating from the USDOT docket system to the Federal Government's new E-rulemaking portal, which has caused some confusion among commenters.

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 Eastside Extension Phase II Transit Corridor of Los Angeles, California. The early scoping process is part of a planning Alternatives Analysis (AA) required by Title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) Sec. 5309, that will lead to the selection of the proposed action and alternatives that will be subject to the appropriate environmental process. Early scoping meetings have been planned and are announced below. The Eastside Extensive Phase II Transit Corridor is east-west oriented and includes all or portions of the cities of Montebello, Pico Rivera, Monterey Park, Industry, Downey, Whittier, Commerce, Rosemead, South El Monte, South San Gabriel, Sante Fe Springs, Bell as well as unincorporated portions of the County of Los Angeles. The study area generally extends from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, north to the Interstate 10 freeway, east to approximately three miles east of the State Route 605, and south to Interstate 5 freeway. The Alternatives Analysis will study the extension of high capacity transit service from the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension to approximately 3 miles east of the State Route 605. The conclusion of the planning Alternatives Analysis is expected to be the selection of a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) by the LACMTA and the Southern California Association of Governments, which is the official metropolitan planning organization for Los Angeles. The LPA will then be the ``proposed action'' that is subject to an 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 distribution of a Notice of Preparation (NOP) required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Public and agency scoping of the EIS/EIR would be conducted at that time. 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 and CEQA.