[Federal Register: May 20, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 98)]
[Notices]
[Page 29161-29162]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20my04-82]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement: High Speed Rail
Corridor Las Vegas, NV to Anaheim, CA
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that FRA
will prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for
the California-Nevada Interstate Maglev Project in cooperation with the
Nevada Department of Transportation. FRA is also issuing this notice to
solicit public and agency input into the development of the scope of
the PEIS and to advise the public that outreach activities conducted by
the program participants will be considered in the preparation of the
PEIS.
The FRA will establish the purpose and need, examine the regional
implications, present site-specific aspects of the project that can
proceed to construction, and determine the feasible study areas to be
carried forward for second tier assessments of site-specific
environmental impacts.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information regarding the
programmatic environmental review, please contact:
Mr. Christopher Bonanti, Environmental Program Manager, Office of
Railroad Development, Federal Railroad Administration, 1120 Vermont
Avenue (Mail Stop 20), Washington, DC 20590; Telephone (202) 493-6383;
e-mail: christopher.bonanti@fra.dot.gov.
Mr. Jeffrey Fontaine, P.E., Director, Telephone (775) 888-7440, e-
mail: jfontaine@dot.state.nv.us; or Mr. James Mallery, Planning
Manager, Telephone (775) 888-7464, e-mail: jmallery@dot.state.nv.us;
Nevada Department of Transportation, 1263 South Stewart Street, Carson
City, NV 89712.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
For over twenty years, the California Nevada Super Speed Train
Commission (CNSSTC), a public agency chartered within the State of
Nevada, has sponsored studies to examine the feasibility and the
environmental impacts of linking the Las Vegas area with various points
in the Los Angeles region using a high-speed ground transportation
system. Most of these studies have focused on the use of magnetic
levitation technology. More recently, the CNSSTC sponsored the first
leg of such a project, linking a point on the outskirts of Las Vegas
with the city of Primm, on the California-Nevada border, as one of the
entries competing in the FRA's Maglev Deployment Program authorized in
Section 1218 (23 U.S.C. 322) of the Transportation Equity Act for the
21st Century (TEA21).
The FRA prepared a programmatic EIS (PEIS) to address the potential
for significant environmental impact from the Maglev Deployment Program
that included the Las Vegas-Primm project as one of seven projects
analyzed in the PEIS. The notice of availability of the final PEIS was
published in the Federal Register on May 4, 2001. CNSSTC had prepared
an environmental assessment for the Las Vegas-Primm project in February
2000, which was used by the FRA to assist the agency in preparing the
PEIS. The PEIS for the Maglev Deployment Program is available on the
FRA Web site at: http://www.dot.fra.gov/s/env/maglev/MagPEIS.htm and
the environmental assessment is available from Mr. Bruce Aguilera,
Chairman, California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, 400 Las Vegas
Blvd. South, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101, Telephone (702) 229-4949.
Other recent documents related to the Las Vegas-Anaheim project
include the preparation by the CNSSTC of Project Descriptions
describing the 169-mile Las Vegas-Barstow component as a stand-alone
project, which were submitted to the FRA in June 2002; and the Ontario-
Anaheim segment, which was submitted to the FRA in June 2003.
The Department of Transportation and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 2003 (Pub. L. 108-7), which provides appropriations
for the FRA and other agencies, included funds specifically to conduct
additional design, engineering and environmental studies concerning the
California-Nevada Interstate Maglev Project under the FRA's Next
Generation High Speed Rail Technology Demonstration Program. Some of
these funds will be used to conduct the system-wide Programmatic EIS.
The FRA has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the
CNSSTC, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and the
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) governing the
conduct of this Programmatic EIS. FRA is serving as the lead federal
agency, NDOT is the lead state agency, and the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) and CNSSTC are cooperating agencies. Through
this PEIS, the FRA, NDOT and the cooperating agencies will examine
alternative routes, viable transportation alternatives, and system-wide
environmental issues, and identify site-specific problem areas
deserving of more detailed analysis. In particular, in light of
environmental assessment work previously completed and the likely
construction sequencing should a decision be made to proceed with the
project following completion of the programmatic environmental review,
the PEIS will address the Las Vegas to Primm segment in greater detail
that might allow this particular segment to proceed into final design
and construction once the PEIS is complete.
[[Page 29162]]
Environmental Issues
Possible environmental impacts include displacement of commercial
and residential properties, disproportionate impacts to minority and
low-income populations, community and neighborhood disruption,
increased noise and electromagnetic interference along rail corridors
including startle effects on highway vehicles, traffic impacts
associated with stations, effects to historic properties or
archaeological sites, impacts to parks and recreational resources,
visual quality effects, impacts to water resources, wetlands, and
sensitive biological species and habitat, land use compatibility
impacts, energy use, and impacts to agricultural lands.
Alternatives
The PEIS will consider alternatives including: (1) Taking no
action, (2) various alignment options and station locations for the
entire length of the project and (3) other viable transportation
alternatives. The degree of detail in the analysis may vary at
different locations. In particular, at the Nevada end, it may be
sufficiently detailed to support a site-specific EIS, while in the much
longer California segment, it may be of a broader programmatic scale,
sufficient to support a decision to go ahead with the entire project,
but requiring further analysis to resolve specific detailed routing and
design issues.
Scoping and Comment
FRA encourages broad participation in the PEIS process and review
of the resulting environmental documents. Comments and suggestions
related to the project and potential environmental concerns are invited
from all interested agencies and the public at large to ensure that the
full range of issues related to the proposed action and all reasonable
alternatives are addressed and all significant issues are identified.
The public is invited to participate in the scoping process, to review
the Draft PEIS when published, and to provide input at public meetings.
Letters describing the proposed scope of the PEIS and soliciting
comments will be sent to appropriate Federal, State and local agencies,
elected officials, community organizations, and to private
organizations and citizens who have previously expressed interest in
this proposal. Several public meetings to be advertised in the local
media will be held in the project area regarding this proposal. Release
of the Draft PEIS for public comment and public meetings and hearings
related to that document will be announced as those dates are
established.
Persons interested in providing comments on the scope of the
programmatic EIS should do so within thirty days of the publication of
this Notice of Intent. Comments can be sent in writing to FRA or NDOT
representatives at the addresses listed above.
Public Scoping Meetings will be held at the following respective
locations and dates:
Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: June 21, 2004.
Time: 4 p.m.-9 p.m.
Location: City of Las Vegas, City Council Chambers, 400 Stewart
Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89101.
Ontario, California
Date: June 22, 2004.
Time: 4 p.m.-9 p.m.
Location: Ontario Convention Center, 2000 Convention Center Way,
Ontario, CA 91764.
Victorville, California
Date: June 23, 2004.
Time: 4 p.m.-9 p.m.
Location: Victorville Activity Center, 15075 Hesperia Rd.,
Victorville, CA 92392.
Barstow, California
Date: June 24, 2004.
Time: 4 p.m.-9 p.m.
Location: Barstow College, Norman Smith Center, 2700 Barstow Rd.,
Barstow, CA 92311.
Anaheim, California
Date: June 28, 2004.
Time: 4 p.m.-9 p.m.
Location: City Hall West, 2nd Floor, Gordon Hoyt Conference Room,
201 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, CA 92805.
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 14, 2004.
Jo Strang,
Deputy Associate Administrator of Railroad Development.
[FR Doc. 04-11397 Filed 5-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P