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Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping for Air Traffic Procedural Changes Associated With the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 [Federal Register: January 22, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 14)]
[Notices]
[Page 6748-6749]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22ja01-236]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and
Conduct Scoping for Air Traffic Procedural Changes Associated With the
New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement
and conduct scoping meetings.

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[[Page 6749]]

SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Eastern Region, is
issuing this notice to advise the public, pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, (NEPA) 42 U.S.C.
4332(2)(C) that the FAA intends to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for the proposed New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia
Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project. This Notice of Intent is
published as required by the President's Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) Regulations implementing the provisions of NEPA, 40 CFR
parts 1500-1508. The EIS will assess the potential environmental
impacts resulting from proposed modifications to air traffic routings
in the metropolitan New York and Philadelphia areas. Airports in this
are include Newark International Airport, John F. Kennedy International
Airport, La Guardia Airport, and the Philadelphia International
Airport, as well as several regional (commuter) and general aviation
use airports. The redesign project will examine the airspace
surrounding area airports up to and including the high altitude enroute
structure. The study area includes the State of New Jersey, and parts
of New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware. All reasonable
alternatives will be considered including a no-charge alternative/
option. In order to ensure that all significant issues pertaining to
the proposed action are identified, public participation, through
public scoping meetings, will be held.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Moira Keane, Environmental
Specialist, Federal Aviation Administration, Eastern Region Air Traffic
Division, Airspace Branch, AEA-522.1, 1 Aviation Plaza, Jamaica, New
York 11434-4809 (718) 553-4530.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia
Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project encompasses a large geographic
area, including the State of New Jersey, and parts of New York,
Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The airports in the study area
are: Newark International Airport, John F. Kennedy International
Airport, La Guardia Airport and Philadelphia International Airport as
well as several regional (commuter) and general aviation use airports.
    In response to the enormous flow of air traffic in the study area,
the FAA is examining alternative ways to modify air traffic routes and
procedures to reduce delays and pilot/controller workloads, while
enhancing safety. The airspace redesign team is using sophisticated
modeling tools to develop viable air traffic control (ATC) alternatives
to current operations. The FAA will examine methods that will take
advantage of new and emerging ATC technologies, improved performance
characteristics of modern aircraft, as well as improvements in
navigation capabilities. The proposed project may include, but will not
necessarily be limited to the following alternatives: modification of
existing procedures; identification of new conceptual alternative(s),
and examination of an ocean routing alternative. The project is not
associated with any airport development projects nor construction of
any physical facilities.
    As part of the airspace redesign effort, a FAA environmental team
will provide detailed analyses that will be used to evaluate the
potential environmental impacts in the study area. During scoping , and
upon publication of a draft EIS and a final EIS, the FAA will be
contacting and coordinating with federal, state, and local agencies, as
well as the public, to obtain comments and suggestions regarding the
EIS for the proposed project. The EIS will assess impacts and
reasonable alternatives, including the ``no change'' alternative,
pursuant to NEPA, FAA Order 1050.1D, Policies and Procedures for
Considering Environmental Impacts, DOT Order 5610.1C, Procedures for
Considering Environmental Impacts, and the President's Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations implementing the provisions of
NEPA, 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508.
    Public Scoping Process: The FAA will utilize the scoping process as
outlined in the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations and
guidelines to facilitate public involvement early in the redesign
process. Concerned individuals and agencies will be invited to express
their views either in writing, by letter or by providing oral comments
at a scoping meeting. The purposes of the scoping process and scoping
meetings are: (1) To provide a description of the proposed action, (2)
to provide an early and open process to determine the scope of issues
to be addressed and to identify potentially significant issues or
impacts related to the proposed action that should be analyzed in the
EIS, (3) to identify other coordination and any permit requirements
associated with the proposed action and (4) to identify and eliminate
from detailed study those issues that are not significant or those that
have been adequately addressed during a prior environmental review
process.
    The FAA will schedule a series of public scoping meetings. Each
meeting will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at specific sites located
throughout the study area. Each of the meetings will begin with an
overview of the project (7 p.m.-7:30 p.m.) and will be followed by an
informal open house period (7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.). The open house
portion of each public scoping meeting will include redesign displays
and graphics and will provide an opportunity for one-on-one interaction
between the representatives of the FAA and the general public.
Following the open house part of the meeting, a Question and Answer
session will be provided (8:30 p.m.-9 p.m.). Comments will be received
via court reporter or written comment forms throughout the duration of
the meeting.
    In accordance with NEPA coordination requirements, the FAA will
schedule three meetings that will be dedicated primarily to federal,
state and local agency staff. These meetings will be scheduled from 1
to 3 p.m. at the Manhattan, NY, Philadelphia, PA and Trenton, NJ
meeting locations. Although these meetings will be held primarily for
the benefit of federal, state, and local agency staff, they will also
be open to the public. The scoping period begins with this
announcement. To ensure that all issues are identified, the FAA is
requesting comments and suggestions on the project scope from all
interested federal, state, and local agencies and other interested
parties. In furtherance of this effort, the FAA has established an
Internet Website that can be accessed at: http://www.faa.gov/region/
aea/atsoeaaa/framedoc.htm. Additional information about the New York/
New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project,
including the scoping meeting schedule and meeting locations can be
found at this Internet site. Additionally, the FAA will be maintaining
the following toll free number for general information: 1-866-EISLine
(1-866-347-5463).
    The FAA will accept written scoping comments through June 29, 2001.
Such comments should be directed to the following address: New York/New
Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Airspace Redesign Project, c/o Mr.
Mike Merrill, PRC Inc., 12005 Sunrise Valley Dr., Reston, VA 20191-
3423. EMAIL: merrill_michael@prc.com.

    Issued in Jamaica, New York on January 5, 2001.
F.D. Hatfield,
Manager, Air Traffic Division.
[FR Doc. 01-1859 Filed 1-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M

 
 

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