[Federal Register: April 18, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 75)]
[Notices]
[Page 19207-19208]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18ap03-48]
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ENVIORNMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[ER-FRL-6639-5]
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Comprehensive Port Improvement Plan Within the Port of New York
(NY) and New Jersey (NJ)
AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE), and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) acting as
Federal co-lead agencies.
ACTION: Federal co-lead agencies submit this Notice of Intent to
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Comprehensive Port
Improvement Plan (CPIP-EIS) that may be adopted as state or local
equivalent documents. The CPIP-EIS will be prepared concurrently with a
CPIP Plan (CPIP-Plan) for the Port of NY and NJ (Port); the CPIP-Plan
will be prepared by a Consortium, consisting of the Port Authority of
NY and NJ, the OMR/NJDOT, NYESDC, and NY City Economic Development
Corporation (NYCEDC). The CPIP-Plan and CPIP-EIS will: seek to define
economically viable and environmentally sound Port facility and
associated transportation network improvement initiatives to the year
2060; consider separate, ongoing, and planned environmental
enhancements to natural resources of the Port and associated
transportation network; incorporate Green Port principles to the
maximum extent practicable; evaluate, avoid, minimize, and mitigate
adverse environmental effects.
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Schedule: Scoping will begin in April 2003 with interviews and
public announcements to encourage a large turnout for subsequent
meetings which will follow in June 2003.
Six scoping meetings for the CPIP EIS are planned to solicit
comments, to determine the scope of issues, and to identify significant
issues related to the proposed action. Formal comments may be given at
the scoping meetings and a court reporter will be available to record
comments. Scoping will conclude 30 days after the final scoping meeting
(about late September 2003).
Services: Meeting locations will be accessible to people with
disabilities. People with special disability related needs should
contact the NEPA Coordinator for the CPIP at the address or phone
number below. Reading materials will be available at meetings and may
be obtained in advance by contacting the NEPA Coordinator for the CPIP,
or visiting www.cpiponline.org.
For further information about Scoping, or the CPIP-EIS process,
please contact the NEPA Coordinator for the CPIP at: Lorne LaMonica,
NEPA Coordinator for the CPIP, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Environmental Review Section, 25th Fl., 290 Broadway NY, NY 10007.
Phone: 1-866-877-CPIP (2747); E-mail: lamonica@cpipeis.com. For your information, the Federal Co-Lead agency contacts are
listed below:
Dave Carlson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental
Review Section, 25th Fl., 290 Broadway, NY, NY 10007.
Nancy J. Brighton, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District,
26 Federal Plaza, Room 2146, NY, NY 10278-0090.
Richard E. Backlund, Federal Highway Administration, U.S.
Department of Transportation, One Bowling Green, Room 428, NY, NY
10004-1415.
Summary Information
Authority--Authority for completion of the CPIP-EIS for each agency
can be found at: EPA--Title 40 CFR part 6, FR: October 29, 1998, Number
209; USACE--33 U.S.C. 403, 33 U.S.C. 1344, and 33 U.S.C. 1413; FHWA--
Title 23 CFR part 771; OMR/NJDOT--Executive Order (EO) No. 215 of 1989,
23 CFR Part 771.109, NJ CZM Rules, N.J.A.C. 7:7E; NYESDC--6 NYCRR PART
617 SEQR, ECL Sections 3-0301(1)(b), 3-0301(2)(m) and 8-0113.
Estimated Date of Draft EIS Release--Summer of 2004.
[[Page 19208]]
Purpose and Need for Action--The NY and NJ Harbor Navigation Study
(HNS), prepared by the USACE in 1999, projected a substantial increase
in the amount of containerized cargo destined for the Port over the
period to 2060. The ability of existing Port facilities to handle
future cargo volumes as forecast in the HNS indicates that the Port
facilities and associated transportation network may need to make
future additional improvements, beyond those currently planned, to
efficiently manage projected cargo over that period. Other studies
concerning the Port, prepared by various federal, state and local
stakeholders, have identified plans to increase Port capacity and have
highlighted a number of environmental issues of concern to the Port and
regional area. The CPIP-Plan will consider the Port region as a
complete system, and will seek to develop a port-wide plan that is
economically efficient and environmentally sustainable, and considers
environmental restoration efforts in the region; the CPIP-EIS will
evaluate potential impacts of various Federal, state, and local port
and transportation improvement strategies to achieve this.
Study Area--Study areas for the analysis of impacts of port and
transportation improvement alternatives at existing, and potentially
new, port facilities will encompass the port sites' premises and
vicinities, and, at a minimum, the Port District.
Alternatives--The CPIP-EIS will evaluate a variety of alternatives,
including, but not limited to: the no-action alternative; facility
productivity and efficiency enhancements and improvements; facility
expansion; new terminal facilities sited either in uplands or through
placement of fill in waters and wetlands; and combinations of these
alternatives. Consideration of alternatives will include identification
and evaluation of improvements to the transportation infrastructure
serving the Port. The CPIP-EIS will analyze direct, indirect and
cumulative impacts of each alternative.
Scoping--Comments should focus on social, economic, or
environmental issues to be evaluated; and on identifying the
alternatives that may achieve both economic and environmental goals.
Public Involvement--Activities may include stakeholder and
community meetings, open houses with technical staff, workgroups/
workshops, a web site, and project fact sheets and newsletters.
Issues for Analysis--The CPIP-EIS will evaluate potential changes
to the social, economic, and physical environment that would result
with the defined project alternatives, including: land use and zoning;
socioeconomics; parklands; historic and archeological resources;
aesthetics; traffic and transportation; air quality; noise; navigation;
floodplains and hydrology; topography, geology, and soils; wetlands and
special aquatic sites; wildlife and waterfowl refuges; water quality;
groundwater and sole source aquifers; aquatic and terrestrial ecology;
endangered and threatened species; resource contamination and hazardous
waste sites; and environmental justice. Impacts will be evaluated both
for the construction period and for the long-term operation period of
each alternative. Measures to mitigate any significant adverse impacts
will be identified.
Responsible Official--
Dated: March 11, 2003.
Anne Norton Miller,
Director, OFA.
[FR Doc. 03-9625 Filed 4-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P