[Federal Register: July 6, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 128)]
[Notices]
[Page 39004-39007]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06jy05-155]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Environmental Impact Statement for the East Contra Costa BART
Extension, California
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of
Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS).
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the San Francisco
Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) intend to prepare a joint
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for
proposed transit service to eastern Contra Costa County. The project
would extend service from the existing BART terminus station at
Pittsburg/BayPoint, through the communities of Pittsburg, Antioch,
Brentwood, and Oakley, to a new terminus in Byron. The corridor
generally follows State Route 4 through the eastern part of the county.
As an extension of BART service into Eastern Contra Costa County, the
project, commonly referred to as ``eBART,'' is intended to improve
travel in the increasingly congested State Route 4 corridor by
providing direct coordinated connections to the BART system. An earlier
planning and feasibility study completed in 2002 evaluated a wide range
of alternatives and recommended an innovative transit service concept,
which employs light-weight, self-propelled rail cars known as Diesel
Multiple Units (DMUs) on right-of-way to be acquired from the Union
Pacific Railroad. Service with DMUs is intended to provide a seamless
connection to the existing BART service but at a much lower cost.
[[Page 39005]]
The EIS/EIR will evaluate the DMU alternative (the Proposed Action)
and will also evaluate a no build alternative, a bus rapid transit
alternative, and a conventional BART extension to Hillcrest Avenue in
Antioch. Other alternatives may also surface during the scoping
process. Based on the presentation of the Proposed Action, project
alternatives, and breadth of the environmental analysis described
below, please let us know of your views regarding the scope and content
of the EIS/EIR. Your suggestions can be communicated at the scoping
meeting or via email or letter to the contact person identified below.
DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments regarding the scope of
alternatives and impacts to be considered should be sent to BART by
August 20, 2005. Scoping Meeting: A public scoping meeting is scheduled
for Antioch, July 19, 2005 at 7 p.m. at the Dallas Ranch Middle School,
and a second public scoping meeting is scheduled for Brentwood, July
20, 2005 at 7 p.m. at the Brentwood Council Chamber. See ADDRESSES
below.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on project scope should be sent to Ms.
Ellen Smith, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, 300
Lakeside Drive, 16th floor, Oakland, CA 94612. An information packet
describing the purpose of the project, the proposed alternatives, the
impact areas to be evaluated, the citizen involvement program, and the
preliminary project schedule will be made available at the scoping
meeting. Others may request the scoping materials or to be placed on
the mailing list to receive further information as the project
continues by contacting Ms. Ellen Smith at BART at (510) 287-4758 and
at the above address.
The scoping meetings will be held at: Dallas Ranch Middle School,
1401 Mt. Hamilton Drive, Antioch, CA 94531, Transit access is via Tri
Delta Route 380.
Brentwood Council Chamber, 734 3rd Street, Brentwood, California
94513, Transit access is via Tri Delta Routes 300 and 391.
The buildings for the scoping meetings are accessible to persons
with disabilities. People with special needs should call Ellen Smith at
least 72 hours prior to the scoping meeting at the number listed in
ADDRESSES.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lorraine Lerman, Community
Planner, FTA Region IX, 201 Mission Street, Suite 2210, San Francisco,
CA 94105. Phone: (415) 744-3115. Fax: (415) 744-2726. Information about
the project can also be obtained from the project Web site, http://www.ebartproject.org
.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FTA and BART invite interested individuals,
organizations, and federal, state, and local agencies to participate in
defining the alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS/EIR and
identifying any significant environmental issues related to the
alternatives. The meeting is also being advertised in the San Francisco
Chronicle, Contra Costa Times, Concord Transcript, Southeast Antioch
News, Ledger Dispatch, Brentwood News, and Oakley News. During scoping,
comments should focus on identifying specific environmental impacts to
be evaluated and suggesting alternatives that have fewer environmental
impacts while achieving the objectives noted below under Purpose and
Need. Comments should focus on the issues and alternatives for
analysis, and not on a preference for a particular alternative.
Individual preference for a particular alternative should be
communicated during the comment period for the Draft EIS/EIR.
I. Description of Study Area, Project Background and Scope
The planning and development of transportation improvements within
the State Route 4 East Corridor has been ongoing since the late 1980s.
These efforts have led to the widening of State Route 4 from Willow
Pass Road in Concord to Railroad Avenue in Pittsburg. Plans and studies
to continue the highway widening through the Loveridge Road interchange
are underway under the direction of the Contra Costa Transportation
Authority (CCTA). In addition, the BART extension to Pittsburg/Bay
Point opened in 1996. The station serves over 10,000 persons entering
and exiting the BART system each weekday.
In 2001, BART and CCTA commenced the State Route 4 East Corridor
Transit Study to explore a series of alternative transit improvements.
(The study is available at the project Web site: http://www.ebartproject.org
in the Library section under ``2002 Feasibility
Study.'') This feasibility study, steered by a Policy Advisory
Committee of elected and appointed local officials and a BART Board
representative, started with a long list of nearly 20 potential types
of transit and transportation improvements. Among these alternatives
were continuation of existing BART service in the median of State Route
4 to Hillcrest Avenue; continuation of existing BART service in the
median of State Route 4 to Loveridge Road and then to Hillcrest Avenue
using the Union Pacific line; extension of transit services using Bus
Rapid Transit technology; extension of transit services using commuter
rail; and expansion of express bus service by Tri Delta Transit
District, the local transit operator. Through an iterative process of
screening and refinement, involving public discussions, engineering and
cost evaluations, and ridership estimates, the long list of
alternatives was winnowed down to eight viable alternatives referred to
as Packages A through H. The Packages can be found on the project Web
site in the State Route 4 East Corridor Transit Study.
The study culminated in 2002 with a unanimous recommendation by the
Policy Advisory Committee, and direction from both the BART and CCTA
Boards, to proceed to environmental analyses and preliminary
engineering. The highest rated transit alternative was DMU service in
an alignment in the State Route 4 median between the Pittsburg/BayPoint
BART Station and Loveridge Road, and then to Byron via the Union
Pacific Mococo Line, with single track service between the Hillcrest
and Byron stations. This alternative was Package C-1 in the feasibility
study, and is now the Proposed Action. This 23-mile corridor was
proposed to include five transit stations. The recommended rail
technology involves trains using light-weight, self-propelled rail cars
known as Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs). Passengers on the DMUs would
transfer to the existing BART line, ideally with a short walk across or
along the BART platform. A train storage yard and maintenance facility
was proposed east of Hillcrest Avenue. As proposed, the eBART project
would include new grade separations in Antioch at Somersville Road, A
Street, and Hillcrest Avenue. Also, local bus service offered by Tri
Delta Transit District would be modified to eliminate routes that
duplicate eBART service, synchronize headways with eBART schedules, and
redefine routes to feed eBART stations.
In 2004, local voters passed Regional Measure 2 and Measure J in
Contra Costa County, supporting a local sales tax increase for
transportation improvements. In addition, on March 23, 2005, the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission approved the use of funds from
Regional Measure 2 for additional study of transit service improvements
in the East Contra Costa Corridor. In response to these developments,
FTA and BART are now embarking on an EIS/EIR for the eBART project.
[[Page 39006]]
II. Purpose and Need
The East Contra Costa County study area is the fastest growing
portion of the San Francisco Bay Region. Between the years 2000 and
2025, an additional 40,000 households and 63,000 jobs are expected to
be added in the East County. This growth in population and jobs portend
a dramatic increase in traffic delay and congestion on State Route 4,
the primary access route to this part of the Bay Area, with associated
impacts on environmental resources including air quality and energy.
Given the foreseeable growth in the eastern portion of the County,
highway improvements alone cannot keep pace with the travel demand or
address environmental impacts associated with motor vehicle travel.
The purpose of the Proposed Action, is to improve travel along the
State Route 4 East corridor with direct, coordinated connections to the
existing BART system. In light of the regional and local need for an
improved transit connection, the Proposed Action objectives are the
same as those identified in the 2002 East County corridor study:
Improve transportation service;
Maximize access to transit system;
Maximize connectivity and seamlessness of transit system,
both from home to transit and from one form of transit to another;
Promote transit-oriented land use initiatives and
policies;
Maximize economic benefits and financial feasibility;
Balance short, medium, and long-term strategies to provide
continual improvements in transit services; and
Protect or enhance the environment.
In particular, as the first new extension proposed since BART
adopted its System Expansion Policy in 1999, the eBART project purpose
incorporates BART's goal of enhancing ridership by coordinating transit
projects with local land use planning. Jurisdictions within the eBART
corridor will commit to a process intended to attain a corridor-wide
ridership target. The target is to be achieved by adopting transit
supportive land uses and making access improvements at transit
stations. Ridership Development Plans incorporating land use changes
and access improvements are to be completed and adopted by the cities
and the County. BART, the cities, and the County will enter into a
Memorandum of Understanding describing BART's intent to move forward
with the environmental review process and the corridor communities'
intent to engage in the planning and implementation programs to achieve
BART's ridership goals.
III. Alternatives
As noted above, the Proposed Action is the provision of DMU service
in an alignment in the State Route 4 median between the Pittsburg/
BayPoint BART Station and Loveridge Road, and then to Byron via the
Union Pacific Mococo Line, with single track service between the
Hillcrest and Byron stations. Specific alternatives to the Proposed
Action are expected to evolve during the environmental review process
and in response to the public scoping process. While a number of
alternatives were discussed and evaluated as part of the earlier
planning/feasibility study, project alternatives expected to be
evaluated in the EIS/EIR include:
A No Build, or No Project, Alternative that considers the
consequences of not extending rail transit services beyond the
Pittsburg/BayPoint BART Station. This alternative would involve
continuation of the existing Tri Delta Transit District and
implementation of additional express bus service from East County
communities to BART;
A Bus Rapid Transit Alternative that considers technical
and operational transit improvements using buses in the same alignment
as the DMU project (freeway median and railroad right of way). The
system seeks to emulate the service levels provided by a fixed guideway
rail system. Amenities would be provided at stations, and portions of
the route could be constructed with exclusive transit lanes or other
transit preferential treatments in order to bypass areas of localized
traffic congestion; and
A conventional BART Alternative that using BART vehicles
and systems in the same alignment as the DMU project (freeway median
and railroad right of way). This alternative would consist of an
extension of the electrically-powered, exclusive-use right of way BART
system with one station at Hillcrest Avenue and a yard facility.
IV. Probable Effects
The purpose of the EIS/EIR is to fully disclose the social,
economic, and environmental consequences of building and operating
eBART in advance of any decisions to make substantial financial or
other commitments to its implementation. The EIS/EIR will explore the
extent to which the project alternatives result in potentially
significant social, economic, and environmental effects and identify
appropriate actions to reduce or eliminate these impacts. Issues that
will be investigated in the EIS/EIR include transportation, traffic,
and circulation effects; land use compatibility and consistency with
locally adopted plans including the Regional Transportation Plan, the
Transportation Improvement Plan and the State Implementation Plan;
potential effects on local businesses and employment; disturbance to
sensitive visual and cultural resources; effects of noise and
vibration; geologic and hydrology effects; potential disturbance to
sensitive wildlife and vegetation species and habitats; air and noise
emissions from project-related construction and operation; public
health and safety concerns related to exposure to hazardous materials;
community service and utility demand; direct or indirect effects to
public parklands, significant historic resources, or wildlife refuges;
and environmental justice concerns from any disproportionate impacts of
the project alternatives on low-income or ethnic minority
neighborhoods.
Among the list of potential issues identified above, several will
definitely warrant detailed investigation based on an environmental
reconnaissance performed by BART as part of the previous planning/
feasibility study completed in 2002:
Consistency with local general plans for potential land
use conflicts;
Potential disturbance to surface waters, since the
corridor traverses the Contra Costa Canal, Kirker Creek, Los Medanos
Waterway, Markley Creek, the Mokelumne Aqueduct, Marsh Creek, Main
Canal, Kellogg Creek, the Byron-Bethany Irrigation Canal, and unnamed
drainages;
Potential flood hazards related to overflowing of Kirker
Creek, Marsh Creek, Kellogg Creek, and an unnamed drainage north of
Lone Tree Way;
Potential disturbance to seasonal wetlands and freshwater
marsh areas, including several seasonal wetlands east of the existing
BART station and south of State Route 4, a large wetland complex
approximately 1 mile further east along State Route 4, several creeks
and drainages between Loveridge Road and Hillcrest Avenue, a large
wetland complex at the bend of Highway 160, and numerous drainages and
irrigation ditches south of Oakley;
Potential disturbance to federally and state listed
threatened and endangered species and their habitats;
Potential public health hazards from exposure to soil and/
or groundwater contamination associated with highway and railroad
operations, as well as agricultural activities;
[[Page 39007]]
Given the extensive industrial and commercial development
in the corridor, historic resources evaluation and a high potential to
encounter historic archaeological resources; and
Potential impacts to nearby sensitive receptors to air and
noise emissions.
V. FTA Procedures
A Draft EIS/EIR for eBART will be prepared following FTA policy and
all federal laws, regulations, and executive orders affecting project
development, including but not limited to the regulations of the
Council on Environmental Quality and FTA implementing guidance
implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508, and 23 CFR part 771), the
Clean Air Act, section 404 of the Clean Water Act, Executive Order
12898 regarding environmental justice, the National Historic
Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and section 4(f) of the
Department of Transportation Act to the maximum extent practicable
during the NEPA process.
After its publication, the Draft EIS/EIR will be available for
review and comment by interested public members and local, state, and
federal agencies, and public hearings will be held on the Draft EIS/
EIR. The Final EIS/EIR will consider the comments received during the
Draft EIS/EIR public review and will identify the preferred
alternative. Additional opportunities for public involvement have been
and will continue to be provided throughout all phases of project
development. FTA and BART must approve the Final EIS/EIR prior to
making any decisions regarding the project.
Issued on: June 29, 2005.
Leslie T. Rogers,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 05-13268 Filed 7-5-05; 8:45 am]
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