Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a Proposed Highway Project, Bronx County, NY
| Published date | 12 July 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 36591 |
| Record Number | 2021-14549 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Federal Highway Administration,Transportation Department |
36591
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 130 / Monday, July 12, 2021 / Notices
1
In Montana Rail Link, Inc., & Wisconsin Central
Ltd., Joint Petition for Rulemaking with Respect to
49 CFR part 1201, 8 I.C.C.2d 625 (1992), the Board’s
predecessor, the Interstate Commerce Commission,
raised the revenue classification level for Class I
railroads from $50 million (1978 dollars) to $250
million (1991 dollars), effective for the reporting
year beginning January 1, 1992. The Class II
threshold was also raised from $10 million (1978
dollars) to $20 million (1991 dollars). On April 5,
2021, the Board issued a Final Rule in Montana Rail
Link, Inc.—Petition for Rulemaking—Classification
of Carriers, Docket No. EP 763, in which the
revenue classification level for Class I railroads was
raised from $250 million (1991 dollars) to $900
million (2019 dollars) effective for the reporting
year beginning January 1, 2020. The Class II
threshold was converted and rounded from $20
million (1991 dollars) to $40.4 million (2019
dollars).
2
The 2019 values reflect those in Indexing the
Annual Operating Revenues of Railroads, EP 748
(STB served June 10, 2020). The 2020 values are
based on the new thresholds established in Docket
No. EP 763 and the deflator factor is referenced to
the new base year of 2019. As the Railroad Freight
Price Index remained the same from 2019 to 2020,
the annual deflator factor for 2020 is 1.0000.
to adjust their gross annual operating
revenues for classification purposes.
This indexing methodology ensures that
railroads are classified based on real
business expansion and not on the
effects of inflation. Classification is
important because it determines the
extent to which individual railroads
must comply with the Board’s reporting
requirements.
The Board’s annual deflator factor is
based on the annual average Railroad
Freight Price Index developed by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and is used to
deflate revenues for comparison with
established revenue thresholds.
R
AILROAD
R
EVENUE
T
HRESHOLDS
1
Year Factor Class I Class II
2016 ............................................................................................................................................. 0.5585 447,621,226 35,809,698
2017 ............................................................................................................................................. 0.5390 463,860,933 37,108,875
2018 ............................................................................................................................................. 0.5103 489,935,956 39,194,876
2019 ............................................................................................................................................. 0.4952 504,803,294 40,384,263
2020
2
........................................................................................................................................... 1.0000 900,000,000 40,400,000
DATES
: The deflator factor is applicable
January 1, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Pedro Ramirez at (202) 245–0333.
Assistance for the hearing impaired is
available through the Federal Relay
Service at (800) 877–8339.
Board decisions and notices are
available at www.stb.gov.
Decided: July 6, 2021.
By the Board, William Brennan, Ph.D.,
Chief Economist & Director, Office of
Economics.
Eden Besera,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2021–14680 Filed 7–9–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
[Docket No. FHWA–2021–0006]
Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement for a
Proposed Highway Project, Bronx
County, NY
AGENCY
: Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA), U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION
: Notice of intent to prepare an
environmental impact statement.
SUMMARY
: FHWA is issuing this Notice
of Intent (NOI) to solicit comments and
advise the public, agencies, and
stakeholders that an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared
for the proposed replacement or
rehabilitation of the Shore Road Bridge
over the Hutchinson River in Bronx
County, New York (the Project). This
NOI contains a summary of the
information required in the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ)
regulations. This NOI should be
reviewed together with the NOI Report,
which contains important details about
the proposed project and supplements
the information in this NOI. Persons and
agencies who may be interested in or
affected by the proposed project are
encouraged to comment on the
information in this NOI and the NOI
Report.
DATES
: Comments on the NOI or the NOI
Report are to be received by FHWA at
the address below by August 11, 2021.
ADDRESSES
: This NOI and the NOI
Report are also available in the docket
referenced above at http://
www.regulations.gov. and on the project
website located at https://shoreroad
bridgebx.com/. The NOI Report will be
mailed upon request.
To submit comments on the NOI or
the NOI Report, please submit them by
only one of the following means to
ensure you do not duplicate your
submissions:
•Mail: Federal Highway
Administration, New York Division,
Attention: Shore Road Bridge Project
(PIN X773.63), Leo W. O’Brien Federal
Building, 11A Clinton Avenue, Suite
719, Albany, New York 12207.
•Mail: New York City Department of
Transportation, Division of Bridges,
Shore Road Bridge Project Team,
Attention: Joannene Kidder, 55 Water
Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10041.
•Email: ShoreRoadBridgeBX@
dot.nyc.gov.
The comments received during this
30-day comment period will be
published in the Draft EIS without
change, including any personal
information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Richard J. Marquis, Division
Administrator, Federal Highway
Administration, New York Division, Leo
W. O’Brien Federal Building, 11A
Clinton Avenue, Suite 719, Albany,
New York 12207, Telephone: (518) 431–
4127, Email: Rick.Marquis@dot.gov or
Naim Rasheed, Assistant Commissioner,
New York City Department of
Transportation, Traffic Engineering &
Planning, 55 Water Street, 6th floor,
New York, NY 10004, Telephone: (212)
839–7710, Email: ShoreRoadBridgeBX@
dot.nyc.gov.
Interested persons can also use the
Shore Road Bridge email address
referenced above to request to be added
to the project mailing list to receive
notices of future project information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: FHWA, as
Federal lead agency, the New York State
Department of Transportation
(NYSDOT), as joint lead agency, and the
New York City Department of
Transportation (NYCDOT), as project
sponsor and joint lead agency, are
preparing an EIS for the Shore Road
Bridge over Hutchinson River Project
located in the Bronx, New York, in
accordance with the requirements of the
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36592
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 130 / Monday, July 12, 2021 / Notices
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C.
4321, et seq.), 23 U.S.C. 139, CEQ
regulations implementing NEPA (40
CFR 1500–1508), FHWA regulations
implementing NEPA (23 CFR 771.101–
771.139) and applicable Federal, State,
and local governmental laws and
regulations. The Project is classified as
a NEPA Class I action under 23 CFR part
771 and a City Environmental Quality
Review (CEQR) Type 1 action under 6
NYCRR 617 and 43 RCNY § 6. To ensure
that a full range of issues are addressed
in the EIS and potential issues are
identified, comments and suggestions
are invited from all interested parties.
FHWA requests comments and
suggestions on potential project
alternatives and impacts, and the
identification of any relevant
information, studies, or analyses of any
kind concerning impacts affecting the
quality of the human environment. The
purpose of this request is to bring
relevant comments, information, and
analyses to FHWA’s attention, as early
in the process as possible, to enable the
agency to make maximum use of this
information in decision making.
An NOI was previously published in
the Federal Register in 1999 to advise
the public that an EIS would be
prepared for rehabilitation,
reconstruction, or replacement of the
Shore Road Bridge over the Hutchinson
River in Bronx County, New York.
FHWA rescinded the 1999 NOI by a
Notice published in the Federal
Register on May 6, 2021, because a
substantial amount of time had passed
since the original NOI was published.
The Shore Road Bridge, also known as
the Pelham Bridge, is an 865-foot-long
bridge with seven spans. The main span
over the navigation channel is a double-
leaf movable bascule span, which is
flanked by three concrete arch spans on
either side. The bridge and its
associated roadway provide access to
major interchanges with the Hutchinson
River Parkway and Bruckner
Expressway west of the bridge and City
Island Road east of the bridge.
1. Purpose and Need for the Proposed
Action
The purpose of the Project is to
address the structural deficiencies,
geometric deficiencies, and operational
reliability for multi-modal users,
including marine vessels, of the Shore
Road Bridge over the Hutchinson River.
The objectives of the Project are to
address the identified structural,
geometric and operational deficiencies
of the crossing, address operational
constraints associated with the passage
of marine vessels under the bridge, and
improve bicycle/pedestrian facilities on
the Shore Road Bridge. The Project is
needed to address structural
deficiencies; improve vehicular and
marine traffic operations and the
operational reliability of the bridge;
address geometric deficiencies; and
improve pedestrian and bicycle
accommodations. The complete current
draft project purpose and need
statement may be reviewed in the NOI
Report available in the docket
established for this project and on the
project website as noted in the
ADDRESSES
section. Comments on the
Purpose and Need for the Proposed
Action are welcomed during the NOI
comment period.
2. Preliminary Description of the
Proposed Action and Alternatives
A reasonable range of alternatives for
detailed study in the EIS is currently
being considered and will be refined in
consideration of agency and public
comments received during the NOI
comment period. In addition to the No
Action Alternative, potential project
alternatives include bridge replacement
and bridge rehabilitation. A preliminary
description of these potential
alternatives is provided below.
Additional information on the proposed
alternatives is included in the NOI
Report available for review in the docket
established for this project and on the
project website as noted in the
ADDRESSES
section. Comments on the
proposed alternatives to be included in
the draft EIS are welcomed during the
NOI comment period.
The No Action Alternative assumes
no improvements other than those
planned by others or implemented as
part of routine maintenance. The Bridge
Rehabilitation Alternative would
require major work to extend the useful
life of the existing Shore Road Bridge.
The operability of the bridge would
need to be maintained while addressing
structural deficiencies, geometric
deficiencies, and operational reliability
of the bridge.
The Bridge Replacement Alternative
would replace the existing Shore Road
Bridge with a new bridge. Various
bridge replacement concepts will be
considered during the scoping process,
including both on-line and off-line
horizontal alignments and several
different vertical profile/clearances
(heights) over the navigation channel in
the closed or fixed positions.
Additional information on the
potential alternatives, as well as maps
and figures illustrating the project
location, are provided in the NOI Report
available for review in the docket
established for this project and on the
project website as noted in the
ADDRESSES
section.
3. Summary of Expected Impacts
The EIS will include an evaluation of
the potential social, economic, and
environmental effects resulting from the
implementation of the Project. Based on
preliminary review of existing
conditions within and in proximity to
the Project location, the implementation
of the Project could result in effects to
cultural and historic resources; social
conditions; parks and recreational areas;
threatened and endangered species;
tidal wetlands; coastal resources;
navigable waters; hazardous waste and
contaminated materials; floodplains;
traffic noise; air quality; local and
regional economies; and visual
resources. The analyses and evaluations
conducted for the EIS will identify the
potential for effects; whether the
anticipated effects would be adverse;
and mitigation measures for adverse
effects. Evaluations under Section 4(f) of
the USDOT Act of 1966, 23 CFR part
774, and Section 6(f) of the Land and
Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965,
54 U.S.C. 200302, will be prepared, and
consultation under Section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act of
1966, 54 U.S.C. 300101–307108, will be
undertaken concurrently with the
NEPA/CEQR environmental review
processes. Additional information on
the expected impacts is provided in the
NOI Report available for review in the
docket established for this project and
on the project website as noted in the
ADDRESSES
section. Comments on the
expected impacts to be analyzed in the
draft EIS are welcomed during the NOI
comment period.
4. Anticipated Permits and Other
Authorizations
Potential permits and approvals for
the Project include: U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE) permits under
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, 33
U.S.C. 1344, and Section 10 of the
Rivers and Harbors Act, 33 U.S.C. 403,
for construction in the Hutchinson River
and potential tidal wetland impacts;
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Bridge Permit,
which establishes allowable clearances
for bridges over navigable waterways
such as the Hutchinson River; National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
Section 7 Endangered Species Act, 16
U.S.C. 1536, consultation for potential
impacts on threatened and/or
endangered species in the Hutchinson
River; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) Section 7 Endangered Species
Act, 16 U.S.C. 1536, consultation for
potential impacts to federally-listed
threatened species; NMFS Essential Fish
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 130 / Monday, July 12, 2021 / Notices
Habitat Consultation for potential
impacts to species due to construction
in the Hutchinson River; as well as any
other relevant New York State and City
permits. Field verification meetings
with USACE for the wetlands
delineation were held on June 12, 2018
and September 10, 2019. USACE issued
a jurisdictional determination (JD) on
June 15, 2020.
The first Cooperating Agency meeting
for the Project was held on March 3,
2021. Cooperating Agencies include
USACE, NMFS, United States
Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA), Federal Transit
Administration (FTA), New York State
Department of Environmental
Conservation (NYSDEC), and New York
State Historic Preservation Office
(SHPO) at New York State Office of
Parks, Recreation, and Historic
Preservation (NYSOPRHP).
The first Participating Agency
meeting for the Project was held on
March 5, 2021. Participating Agencies
include USCG, United States
Department of Interior (USDOI)/
National Park Service (NPS), USFWS,
Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation (ACHP), Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA),
Village of Pelham Manor, New York
City Department of Parks and Recreation
(NYCDPR), New York City Department
of City Planning (NYCDCP), New York
City Landmarks Preservation
Commission (LPC), New York City
Department of Environmental Protection
(NYCDEP), New York City Mayor’s
Office of Resiliency (NYCMOR), New
York City Office of Emergency
Management (NYCEM), New York City
Mayor’s Office of Environmental
Coordination, New York City Mayor’s
Office of Sustainability (NYCMOS),
New York City Department of Sanitation
(DSNY), Fire Department of the City of
New York (FDNY), City of New York
Police Department (NYPD), New York
City Public Design Commission, New
York Office of General Services (OGS),
Delaware Tribe, Shinnecock Indian
Nation Tribal Office, and Stockbridge-
Munsee Community.
Meetings with Cooperating and
Participating Agencies will continue to
be held throughout the environmental
review process. In addition, a meeting
with USCG was held on April 21, 2021.
5. Schedule for the Decision-Making
Process
The Project schedule will be
established as part of the requirements
of the environmental review process
under 23 U.S.C. 139 and will comply
with 40 CFR 1501.10(b)(2), which
requires that environmental reviews and
authorization decisions for major
infrastructure projects occur within two
years (from the date of publication of
the NOI to the date of issuance of the
Record of Decision [ROD]), and all
necessary authorizations be issued
efficiently and in a timely manner, in
cooperation with the FHWA. A current
draft of the coordination plan, public
involvement plan, and project schedule
are included in the NOI Report, which
is available for review in the docket
established for this project and on the
project website as noted in the
ADDRESSES
section.
The anticipated project schedule is
outlined below:
•Public Scoping Meetings (August
2021)
•Scoping Report Publication
(November 2021)
•Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS
(DEIS) (October 2022)
•Public Hearing (October 2022)
•End of DEIS Comment Period
(November 2022)
•Publish Single Final EIS (FEIS)/ROD
(April 2023)
•Issue all Project Permits and
Authorization Decisions (July 2023)
6. A Description of the Public Scoping
Process
Public and agency outreach will
include a formal Public Scoping
Meeting scheduled on August 3, 2021.
A Public Hearing on the DEIS will also
be scheduled. The first Cooperating
Agency meeting for the Project was held
on March 3, 2021 and the first
Participating Agency meeting for the
Project was held on March 5, 2021.
During these meetings, the agencies
were presented with a general overview
of the Project, including the project
needs, purpose, and objectives and
project schedule, a discussion of the
anticipated roles and responsibilities of
the agencies, a summary of key
environmental topics, and planned
public outreach activities. Monthly
meetings with Cooperating Agencies
and periodic meetings with
Participating Agencies will continue to
be held throughout the environmental
review process. Concurrence Point #1,
the adoption of the Project Purpose,
Objectives, and Need, was distributed to
the Cooperating Agencies on March 8,
2021. Attachment A to the Agency
Coordination Plan is the Permitting
Timetable and it was distributed to the
Cooperating Agencies on March 16,
2021 and April 9, 2021. The Permitting
Timetable will be posted by FHWA to
the Federal Permitting Dashboard
within 30 days of the publication of this
Notice of Intent. The Agency
Coordination Plan and Public
Involvement Plan were distributed to
the Cooperating Agencies on April 7,
2021 and will be posted on the project
website.
As described in the
ADDRESSES
section, an NOI Report is located in the
docket established for this project and
on the project website. The NOI Report
includes the Draft Statement of Purpose,
Needs and Objectives; Agency
Coordination Plan; Public Involvement
Plan; Schedule/NEPA Process/Project
Timeline; and Project Maps/Figures.
Public notice will be given of the date,
time, and location of the Public Scoping
Meeting consistent with the Public
Involvement Plan. To assist in
determining the scope of issues to be
addressed and identifying the potential
for significant issues related to the
proposed action, the public will have
the opportunity to submit written
comments at the Public Scoping
Meeting and during the 30-day scoping
comment period beginning on the date
of this NOI publication. A DEIS will be
available for public and agency review
and comment prior to the DEIS Public
Hearing.
7. Request for Identification of Potential
Alternatives, Information, and
Analyses Relevant to the Proposed
Action
With this Notice, FHWA, NYSDOT,
and NYCDOT request and encourage
State, Tribal, and local government
agencies, and the public, to review the
NOI and NOI Report, and submit
comments on any aspect of the Project.
Specifically, agencies and the public are
asked to identify and submit potential
alternatives for consideration and
information such as anticipated
significant issues or environmental
impacts and analyses relevant to the
proposed action for consideration by the
Lead and Cooperating Agencies in
developing the DEIS. Comments must
be received by August 11, 2021.
Comments or questions concerning this
proposed action, including comments
relative to potential alternatives,
information and analyses, should be
directed to the FHWA and NYCDOT at
the addresses provided in the
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section of
this notice.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; 23 U.S.C.
139; 23 CFR part 771.
Issued on: June 30, 2021.
Richard J. Marquis,
Division Administrator, Albany, NY.
[FR Doc. 2021–14549 Filed 7–9–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–22–P
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