[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 130 (Thursday, July 8, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39326-39329]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-16599]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Implementation of
Rail Passenger Service on the Cotton Belt Corridor
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), as the Federal lead
agency, and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) intend to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to study the implementation of
rail passenger service on the 26-mile long Cotton Belt Corridor from
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFWIA) in Tarrant County,
Texas, through a large portion of northwest Dallas County, to the
existing DART Red Line Light Rail Transit (LRT) corridor in the Cities
of Plano and Richardson in Collin County, Texas. The primary purpose of
the Cotton Belt Corridor Regional Rail Project is to provide passenger
rail connections that will improve mobility, accessibility and system
linkages to major employment, population and activity centers. The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), having jurisdiction over
airports, is being requested to be a cooperating agency in this study.
The purpose of this Notice is to alert interested parties regarding the
plan to prepare the EIS, to provide information on the nature of the
proposed transit project, to invite participation in the EIS process,
including comments on the scope of the EIS proposed in this notice, and
to announce that public scoping meetings will be conducted.
DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of the EIS,
including the preliminary statement of purpose and need, the
alternatives to be considered, the impacts to be evaluated, and the
methodologies to be used in the evaluations should be sent to DART by
August 30, 2010. See ADDRESSES below for the address to which written
public comments may be sent. Scoping Meetings: The public scoping
meeting will be held on
Thursday, July 29, 2010, at 6:30 p.m. at the Addison
Conference Center, 15650 Addison Road, Addison, TX.
Please notify the DART Community Affairs representative at (214)
749-2590 at least one week in advance of the meeting date if language
translation or hearing-impaired signing is needed. The
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building used for the scoping meeting is accessible to persons with
disabilities.
Scoping materials describing the project purpose and need and the
alternatives proposed for analysis will be available at the meetings
and on the DART Web site at http://www.dart.org/cottonbelt.
An interagency scoping meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 28,
2010 at 10 a.m. at DART Headquarters, in the Board Room, located at
1401 Pacific Avenue in Dallas, TX. Representatives of Native American
tribal governments and of all Federal, State, regional and local
agencies that may have an interest in any aspect of the project will be
invited to be participating or cooperating agencies, as appropriate.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the project scope should be sent to John
Hoppie, Project Manager, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, P.O. Box 660163,
Dallas, TX 75266-7213. Telephone: (214) 749-2525, Fax: (214) 749-3844,
or via e-mail: [email protected]. Comments may also be offered at the
public scoping meetings identified under DATES above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Lynn Hayes, Community Planner,
Federal Transit Administration, Region 6, 819 Taylor Street, Room 8A36,
Fort Worth, Texas 76102, Telephone: (817) 978-0550; Fax (817) 978-0575,
or e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Scoping and Background
FTA and DART invite all interested individuals, organizations,
public agencies, and Native American Tribes to comment on the scope of
the EIS, specifically on the proposed project's purpose and need, the
alternatives to be evaluated that may address the purpose and need, the
impacts of the alternatives considered, and the evaluation methods to
be used. Comments should address (1) feasible alternatives that may
better achieve the project's need and purpose with fewer adverse
impacts, and (2) any significant environmental impacts relating to the
alternatives. To ensure that these issues are identified, the scoping
meetings will begin with a formal presentation followed by the
opportunity for the public to comment on the scope of the EIS. Oral and
written comments may be given at the scoping meetings; a court reporter
will record all comments. Written comments may be submitted at the
meeting or may be mailed to the project manager at the address in
ADDRESSES above. Following the scoping process, public outreach
activities will continue throughout the duration of the work on the EIS
as described in FTA Procedures below.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ``scoping'' (Title 40 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1501.7) has specific and fairly
limited objectives, one of which is to identify the significant issues
associated with alternatives that will be examined in detail in the
document, while simultaneously limiting consideration and development
of issues that are not truly significant. It is in the NEPA scoping
process that potentially significant environmental impacts--those that
give rise to the need to prepare an environmental impact statement--
should be identified; impacts that are deemed not to be significant
need not be developed extensively in the context of the impact
statement, thereby keeping the statement focused on impacts of
consequence consistent with the ultimate objectives of the NEPA
implementing regulations--``to make the environmental impact statement
process more useful to decision makers and the public; and to reduce
paperwork and the accumulation of extraneous background data, in order
to emphasize the need to focus on real environmental issues and
alternatives * * * [by requiring] impact statements to be concise,
clear, and to the point, and supported by evidence that agencies have
made the necessary environmental analyses.'' Executive Order 11991, of
May 24, 1977. Transit projects may also generate environmental
benefits; these should be highlighted as well--the impact statement
process should draw attention to positive impacts, not just negative
impacts.
Once the scope of the environmental study, including significant
environmental issues to be addressed, is settled, an annotated outline
of the document will be prepared and shared with interested agencies
and the public. The outline serves at least three worthy purposes,
including (1) documenting the results of the scoping process; (2)
contributing to the transparency of the process; and (3) providing a
clear roadmap for concise development of the environmental document.
Since 1983, the Cotton Belt Corridor has been included in several
transportation service plans and the North Central Texas Council of
Governments (NCTCOG) Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP). In 1999
and 2000 DART identified the North Crosstown Corridor which included
the Cotton Belt Corridor as a key transportation corridor. In 2006,
DART conducted a higher level of alternatives analysis and completed an
existing conditions report of the North Crosstown Corridor, as part of
its 2030 Transit System Plan. The Cotton Belt Corridor was identified
as the preferred alignment for transit service between DFWIA and the
DART Red Line. NCTCOG also included the Cotton Belt Corridor in the
region's long range transportation plan, Mobility 2030: The
Metropolitan Transportation Plan for the Dallas-Fort Worth Area--2009
Amendment. In April 2010, the NCTCOG completed a Conceptual Engineering
and Funding Study. This study provided background information on the
existing environment, and compared various combinations of interlining,
Red Line termini, minor alignment deviations, and station locations on
the Cotton Belt Corridor. The feasibility study will be used to inform
and guide the scoping process and EIS development for the proposed
project.
II. Preliminary Statement of Purpose and Need for the Project
The Cotton Belt Regional Rail Corridor's primary purpose is to
provide passenger rail connections that will improve mobility,
accessibility and system linkages to major employment, population and
activity centers in the northern part of the DART Service Area. The
implementation of passenger rail within the Cotton Belt Corridor would
also provide an alternative to traffic congestion within the planning
area. The connection of three LRT lines and two planned regional rail
lines (Denton County Transportation Authority [DCTA] A-Train and Fort
Worth Transportation Authority's [The T's] Southwest-to-Northeast
[SW2NE] Project) makes regional connectivity a key component of the
Cotton Belt Corridor. The Cotton Belt Corridor also offers
opportunities to connect with the proposed BNSF regional rail corridor
between Frisco and Irving, with a connection in downtown Carrollton.
Regional demand for travel in the planning area is projected to
increase along with congestion. Implementation would improve transit
performance in the planning area by offering a new, more reliable
service. By providing a new transportation option, peak period
congestion would be reduced, providing improvements to regional air
quality.
III. Project Location and Environmental Setting
The proposed project would occur in the State of Texas, in portions
of Tarrant, Dallas and Collin Counties, within the Cotton Belt
Corridor. The project proposes a new regional rail line to provide
express rail passenger service between DFWIA, through the cities of
Grapevine, Coppell, Carrollton,
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Addison, and Dallas to the existing DART Red Line LRT corridor in the
cities of Plano and Richardson, Texas. Land use varies along the
corridor and includes residential, commercial, government/
institutional, transportation, and industrial, as well as
underdeveloped areas.
The proposed project would lie within right-of-way purchased by
DART in 1990 and designated as a preserved corridor for future
passenger rail service. The corridor has been included in various DART
and NCTCOG planning documents since 1983 as an alignment alternative
for passenger rail. The right-of-way width varies throughout the
corridor, but is generally 100 feet.
Three freight companies operate within the corridor through
agreements on tracks owned by DART: The Fort Worth and Western Railroad
(FWWR), the Kansas City Southern (KCS) Railroad, and the Dallas Garland
Northeastern (DGNO) short-line freight rail service. The Union Pacific
(UP) Railroad has overhead rights but does not currently operate within
the corridor. On January 22, 2010, the Surface Transportation Board
(STB) approved freight abandonment in the north Dallas area from Knoll
Trail in Dallas, Texas to Renner Junction in Richardson, Texas.
IV. Possible Alternatives
Alternatives to be reviewed in the EIS include a No-Build
Alternative and the Build Alternative, which may include design options
and various station locations.
The No Build Alternative assumes a 2030 condition of land use and
demographics. It includes transit capital and service improvements that
are programmed to be implemented by DART and other transit providers in
the study area, as well as all other planned, programmed, and funded
transportation projects for the planning year 2030.
The Build Alternative would consist of ``express'' rail passenger
service within the Cotton Belt Corridor using a passenger rail vehicle
that complies with the requirements of the Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA) safety standards (FRA-compliant vehicle). Express
service is defined as a 20-minute peak and 60-minute off peak headway.
A base alignment and station locations will be examined along with
various options for the eastern terminus, stations, passing siding/
double-track locations, and possible horizontal and vertical alignment
deviations at strategic locations.
The base project would extend eastward from DFWIA within existing
railroad right-of-way approximately 26 miles to DART's Red Line LRT
corridor in the cities of Plano and Richardson. At its western
terminus, the project would interface with DART's future Orange Line
LRT service, which extends from DFWIA through Irving to downtown
Dallas, and to the planned Fort Worth Transportation Authority's (The
T's) SW2NE Regional Rail Corridor service from downtown Fort Worth to
DFWIA. The T completed a Draft EIS (DEIS) for the SW2NE project and the
Final EIS is expected to be complete in 2010. The SW2NE project is
anticipated to receive environmental clearance for the section of the
Cotton Belt from north of DFWIA to Fort Worth, and for a new rail
corridor extending from the Cotton Belt south into DFWIA Terminal B.
At the eastern terminus, the base corridor would interface with the
Red Line where a new LRT station would be located at the intersection
of the two corridors. Options for the Cotton Belt corridor eastern
terminus include: Turning south to connect to the existing DART Red
Line Bush Turnpike Station, Turning north to connect to the existing
Red Line Downtown Plano Station (which would allow an option for
service to continue further north into Plano or McKinney), or extending
further east on the Cotton Belt to terminate near Shiloh Road in Plano.
Additional deviations from the base alignment elsewhere along the
corridor may also be considered.
The base corridor includes a total of 54 roadway crossings (44 at-
grade; 10 grade-separated) including major roadway facilities such as
State Highway (SH) 121, Interstate Highway (IH) 635, the President
George Bush Turnpike, IH 35E, the Dallas North Tollway (DNT) and US 75
(North Central Expressway). It is anticipated the Cotton Belt would
interface with six other major passenger rail lines, including DART's
Orange, Green and Red LRT lines, a proposed BNSF Corridor service that
would interface with the Cotton Belt in downtown Carrollton, a proposed
extension of the DCTA A-Train service to downtown Carrollton, and the
planned SW2NE rail corridor connection at DFWIA.
Several new rail stations would be provided, depending upon the
build alternative selected. Station platforms would be approximately
300 to 500 feet in length. Potential station locations include: DFWIA,
North Lake, Downtown Carrollton (Green Line interface), Addison
(existing Transit Center), Knoll Trail, Preston Road (State Highway
289), Renner Village, UTD--Synergy Park, the Red Line Interface, and
Shiloh Road.
Additional alternatives that emerge during scoping that reasonably
address the project's purpose and need and that have not been
previously evaluated will be considered.
V. Possible Effects
The purpose of this EIS process is to study, in a public setting,
the potentially significant effects of the proposed project and its
alternatives on the quality of the human environment. Areas of
investigation for transit projects generally include, but are not
limited to: Land use, development potential, land acquisition and
displacements, environmental justice, historic resources, visual and
aesthetic qualities, air quality, noise and vibration, energy use,
safety and security, and ecosystems, including threatened and
endangered species; investigation may reveal that the proposed project
will not affect or affect substantially many of those areas. Measures
to avoid, minimize, or mitigate any significant adverse impacts will be
identified.
VI. FTA Procedures
The regulations implementing NEPA, as well as provisions of
SAFETEA-LU, call for public involvement in the NEPA process. Section
6002 of SAFETEA-LU provides the following guidance: (1) Extend an
invitation to other Federal and non-Federal agencies and Native
American tribes that may have an interest in becoming a participating
agency for the proposed project; (2) Provide an opportunity for
involvement by participating agencies and the public to help define the
purpose and need for a proposed project, as well as the range of
alternatives for consideration in the environmental documentation; and
(3) Establish a plan for coordinating public and agency participation
in, and comment on, the environmental review process. An invitation to
become a participating or cooperating agency, with scoping materials
appended, will be extended to other Federal and non-Federal agencies
and Native American tribes that may have an interest in the proposed
project. Any Federal or non-Federal agency or Native American tribe
interested in the proposed project that does not receive an invitation
to become a participating agency should notify the project manager, as
identified in the ADDRESSES section above.
A comprehensive public and agency involvement program (PAIP) has
been developed and will be implemented as part of the DEIS. The PAIP
will include: Agency and public scoping meetings; community-wide public
information meetings; public hearings; informational briefings to
stakeholder groups, elected
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officials, and other local and regional officials; and information
dissemination via a project Web site and newsletters. The PAIP will
also involve advisory committees and other stakeholder groups to obtain
input on issues, concerns, and advise on neighborhood and transit
oriented development issues.
The EIS will be prepared in accordance with NEPA and its
implementing regulations issued by the Council on Environmental Quality
(40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and with the FTA/Federal Highway
Administration regulations ``Environmental Impact and Related
Procedures'' (23 CFR Part 771).
After its approval, the DEIS will be available for public and
agency review and comment. A public hearing will be held on the DEIS.
The Final EIS (FEIS) will consider comments received during the DEIS
public review and will identify the preferred alternative. Opportunity
for additional public comment will be provided throughout all phases of
project development.
VII. Paperwork Reduction
The Paperwork Reduction Act seeks, in part, to minimize the cost to
the taxpayer of the creation, collection, maintenance, use,
dissemination, and disposition of information. Consistent with this
goal and with principles of economy and efficiency in government, it is
FTA policy to limit insofar as possible distribution of complete
printed sets of environmental documents. Accordingly, unless a specific
request for a complete printed set of environmental documents is
received (preferably in advance of printing), FTA and its grantees will
distribute only the executive summary of the environmental document
together with a Compact Disc of the complete environmental document. A
complete printed set of the environmental document will be available
for review at DART's offices and elsewhere; an electronic copy of the
complete environmental document will also be available on DART's Web
page.
VIII. Other
DART and the NCTCOG, which is the metropolitan planning
organization for the Dallas-Fort Worth region, have entered into a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning the identification of
potential funding sources to implement passenger rail service on the
Cotton Belt Corridor. The purpose of the MOU is to outline the roles
and responsibilities of each party. DART would be responsible for the
preliminary engineering, environmental review process, planning, design
and implementation activities. NCTCOG would be responsible for
identification of funding sources and for developing a financial plan
sufficient to design, build and implement passenger rail service on the
Cotton Belt Corridor.
Various funding alternatives are under consideration. The proposed
project may be funded through a combination of local funds and funds
apportioned to the NCTCOG from the FTA Urbanized Area Formula Program
(UAFP) funding under 49 U.S.C 5307 (Section 15). This program (49
U.S.C. 5307) makes Federal resources available to urbanized areas and
to Governors for transit capital and operating assistance in urbanized
areas and for transportation related planning. NCTCOG may consider
requesting additional funding to help construct the project through
various state and Federal programs. NCTCOG is also seeking innovative
financing alternatives that may include private sector partners.
The EIS will be prepared in accordance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.) of 1969 and the regulations implementing NEPA set forth in 40 CFR
Parts 1500-1508 and 23 CFR Part 771, as well as provisions of the
enacted Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity
Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
Issued on: June 29, 2010.
Robert C. Patrick,
Federal Transit Administration, Region VI, Ft. Worth, TX.
[FR Doc. 2010-16599 Filed 7-7-10; 8:45 am]
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