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Environmental Impact Statement on a Light Rail Transit Extension From Sierra Madre Villa Station in Pasadena to Montclair in Metropolitan Los Angeles, CA

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

 [Federal Register: July 9, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 131)]
[Notices]
[Page 41039-41040]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09jy03-157]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration

Environmental Impact Statement on a Light Rail Transit Extension
From Sierra Madre Villa Station in Pasadena to Montclair in
Metropolitan Los Angeles, CA

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) and the Los Angeles
to Pasadena Metro Blue Line Construction Authority (referred to
hereafter as the Gold Line Construction Authority) intend to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for transit improvements between
Pasadena and Montclair in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties in
California. The EIS will be prepared as a joint EIS and Environmental
Impact Report (EIR) to satisfy the requirements of both NEPA and the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
    The purpose of this notice is to notify interested individuals,
organizations, and business entities, affected Native American Tribes,
and Federal, State, and local governmental agencies of the intent to
prepare an EIS/EIR and to invite participation in the study. At
present, four alternatives are proposed for evaluation in the EIS/EIR.
These alternatives were developed during a Planning Alternatives
Analysis undertaken by the Gold Line Construction Authority and the San
Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG) in 2001-2002. In
addition, reasonable alternatives identified through the scoping
process will be evaluated in the EIS/EIR.
    Scoping will be accomplished through correspondence and discussions
with interested persons, organizations, and Federal, State, and local
agencies, and through public and agency meetings. FTA intends to invite
the SGVCOG, the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG), the Los
Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), and the
Federal Railroad Administration to be cooperating agencies in preparing
the NEPA documents.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Written comments on the scope of the EIS/EIR,
including the alternatives and impacts to be considered, must be
received no later that August 1, 2003. Written comments should be sent
to the Gold Line Construction Authority at the address given below in
ADDRESSES.
    Scoping Meeting Dates: Four public open-house scoping meetings will
be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on July 15, 16, 17, and 21, 2003 at
locations given below in ADDRESSES. An interagency scoping meeting will
also be held on July 22, 2003, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Gold Line
Construction Authority offices, 625 Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 200, South
Pasadena, CA 91030

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Susan Hodor, Gold Line
Construction Authority, 625 Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 200, South
Pasadena, California 91030; phone: (626) 403-5500; fax: (626) 799-8599.
Information on the project may be obtained from the Gold Line
Construction Authority by faxing a request to Susan Hodor at (626) 799-
8599 or by e-mail at shodor@metrogoldline.org or by visiting the
project Web site at http://www.metrogoldline.org. Exit Disclaimer
    The public open-house scoping meetings will be held at the
following four locations. Identical information about the proposed
project will be provided at each of the meetings and interested parties
may participate at any of the meetings. There will be no formal
presentation at the open-house scooping meetings; members of the public
are invited to attend at any time between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on these
dates:

July 15, 2003: City Hall, City of San Dimas, 245 E. Bonita Ave., San
Dimas, CA 91773.
July 16, 2003: City Hall, City of Claremont, 207 Harvard Ave.,
Claremont, CA 91711.
July 17, 2003: Public Library--Community Room, City of South Pasadena,
1115 El Centro Street, South Pasadena, CA 91030.
July 21, 2003: City Hall, City of Arcadia, 240 W. Huntington Drive,
Arcadia, CA 91007.

    All meeting locations are accessible to people with disabilities.
Any individual with a disability who requires special assistance, such
as a sign language interpreter or a translator, should contact Susan
Hodor at (626) 403-5500 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting so
that arrangements can be made.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ervin Poka, Team Leader, or Mr.
Ray Tellis, Program Specialist, FTA/FHWA Metropolitan Office, 888 S.
Figueroa St. (Suite 1850), Los Angeles, California 90017; phone: (213)
202-3950; fax: (213) 202-3961.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Description of Study Area and Scope

    The purpose of the proposed action is to improve east-west mobility
across the 24-mile long corridor in the San Gabriel Valley, to relieve
congestion on existing transportation facilities, to increase
connections to work and educational destinations within the San Gabriel
Valley and the Los Angeles region, to support economic revitalization
in each city along the corridor, and to contribute to the preservation
and enhancement of the natural environment. The corridor includes the
cities: Pasadena, Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, Azusa,
Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont, and Montclair; and
the counties: Los Angeles and San Bernardino.

II. Alternatives

    The alternatives proposed for evaluation in the EIS/EIR were
developed during a Planning Alternatives Analysis that began in
September 2001 and continued through June 2002. The Planning
Alternatives Analysis can be reviewed on the project Web site: 
http://www.metrogoldline.org. Exit Disclaimer The Planning Alternatives Analysis 
looked at transportation conditions and possible solutions for improving 
mobility across the 24-mile long corridor from Pasadena to Claremont. 
Seven alternatives were examined in this study and screened down to a 
Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) selected by the Gold Line Construction
Authority and the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG).
The LPA is a continuation of the light rail transit (LRT) technology
from the existing Sierra Madre Villa LRT station in Pasadena to the
Claremont Transit Center. The Sierra Madre Villa LRT

[[Page 41040]]

station is the eastern terminus of the ``Phase I area'', in which LRT
service was implemented from Los Angeles, through South Pasadena, to
Pasadena. A further extension to the City of Montclair was subsequently
added to the scope of the EIS/EIR.
    The EIS/EIR will evaluate a No-Action alternative, a Transportation
System Management/Transportation Demand Management (TSM/TDM)
alternative, the LRT LPA to Montclair, and a shorter LRT alternative
from the existing Sierra Madre Villa station to the City of Irwindale.
Alternative locations for a LRT maintenance and storage facility will
also be evaluated. The LRT alternatives would use the former BNSF
railroad right-of-way now owned by the Gold Line Construction Authority
and the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG). There are still
a few freight movements that occur on the railroad line. The EIS/EIR
will examine operating scenarios to determine whether time-separated
joint-use can occur or whether freight operations must be supplanted.
The No-Action Alternative is the continuation of existing bus service
policies in the study area. Under the No-Action Alternative, increases
in service would track with increases in demand due to population or
employment growth in the area, in accordance with current transit
service policies. The TSM/TDM Alternative consists of low-cost mobility
improvements that attempt to serve the project purpose and need without
building a transit guideway. The TSM/TDM alternative will be developed
by the Gold Line Construction Authority in consultation with FTA to
serve as the New Starts baseline for comparing the LPA to other
projects nationwide competing for New Starts funding. Any additional
alternatives that emerge during the scoping of the EIS/EIR, especially
alternatives that reduce costs or impacts while providing comparable
transportation benefit, will also be considered.

III. Probable Effects

    The Planning Alternatives Analysis included a screening process to
identify potential environmental impacts. This screening indicated the
areas of probable effects of the project would be air quality, cultural
resources, land use, noise and vibration, and traffic. Most impacts
appear likely to occur in the vicinity of proposed stations and at the
maintenance yard sites. Noise impacts, however, are possible along the
entire corridor because of numerous at-grade crossings that would
require the sounding of warning horns and the actuation of grade-
crossing warning devices as LRT vehicles move through the intersection.
The full range of environmental topics will be evaluated in the EIS/
EIR. The EIS/EIR will also evaluate whether the proposed LRT extension
would generate environmental impacts in the Phase I area (Los Angeles,
South Pasadena, and Pasadena).

IV. FTA Procedures

    In accordance with FTA policy, 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 NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and 23 CFR part 771), the
conformity requirements of the Clean Air Act, section 404 of the Clean
Water Act, Executive Orders 11988, 11990 and 12898 regarding
floodplains, wetlands, and environmental justice, respectively, the
National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and
section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act, will be addressed
to the maximum extent practicable during the NEPA process.
    The Draft EIS/EIR for the Gold Line Light Rail Extension from the
Sierra Madre Villa Station in Pasadena to Montclair will be based on
conceptual engineering of the alternatives, including stations,
maintenance and storage facilities, and alignment options. Station
designs, maintenance and storage facility layouts, and alignment
options as well as operational elements, will be refined to minimize
and mitigate any adverse impacts.
    After its publication, the Draft EIS/EIR will be available for
public review and comment, and one or more public hearings will be
held. The actions taken in response to the comments on the Draft EIS/
EIR will be presented in the Final EIS/EIR, which will be based on
preliminary engineering of the LPA and other surviving alternatives.

    Issued on: July 2, 2003.
Leslie T. Rogers,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 03-17366 Filed 7-8-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P

 
 

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