[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 87 (Monday, May 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26380-26381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10685]
[[Page 26380]]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2013-0286]
Proposal To Replace the Existing Movable I-5 Bridge Across the
Columbia River With a Fixed Multi-use Bridge Which Will Accommodate
Vehicular, Light Rail, Pedestrian and Bicycle Traffic and Will Be
Called the Columbia River Crossing; Application Availability
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments; notice of
public meetings.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard, under its General Bridge Act of 1946 permit
authority, announces the availability of a bridge permit application
submitted by Columbia River Crossing (CRC). CRC's proposed project
includes a new fixed bridge that will cross the Columbia River adjacent
to the existing Interstate 5 bridge connecting Portland, Oregon and
Vancouver, Washington. This new fixed bridge will provide 116 feet of
vertical clearance above Columbia River Datum to accommodate waterway
users. In addition to vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic, the
proposed bridge will carry a light rail line that will extend
Portland's light rail service into Vancouver, Washington.
Through this notice, the Coast Guard is soliciting your input on
the potential impacts to navigation as a result of the proposed project
in order to determine whether the proposal meets the reasonable needs
of navigation.
DATES: Comments and related material must either be submitted to our
online docket via http://www.regulations.gov on or before June 20, 2013
or reach the Docket Management Facility by that date.
Public meetings on the proposed CRC bridge will be held on Tuesday,
June 4, 2013, and Wednesday, June 5, 2013. If you wish to request an
oral or sign language interpreter, we must receive your request for one
on or before May 26, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2013-0286 using any one of the following methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
(2) Fax: 202-493-2251.
(3) Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(4) Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is 202-366-9826.
To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods.
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for instructions on
submitting comments.
The public meetings will be held on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, from 5
p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel on the River, 909 N Hayden Island
Drive, Portland, Oregon and on Wednesday, June 5, 2013, from 5 p.m. to
8 p.m. at the Hilton Vancouver, 301 West 6th St, Vancouver, Washington.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice
or the public meetings, call or email Mr. Gary Greene, CRC Project
Officer, Thirteenth Coast Guard District, U.S. Coast Guard; telephone
206-220-7079, [email protected]. If you have questions on viewing
or submitting material to the docket, call Barbara Hairston, Program
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation and Request for Comments
We encourage you to submit comments and related material on the
proposed CRC Bridge. All comments received, including comments received
at the public meetings, will be posted, without change, to http://www.regulations.gov and will include any personal information you have
provided.
Submitting comments: If you submit a comment, please include the
docket number for this notice (USCG-2013-0286) and provide a reason for
each suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and
material online, or by fax, mail or hand delivery, but please use only
one of these means. We recommend that you include your name and a
mailing address, an email address, or a telephone number in the body of
your document so that we can contact you if we have questions regarding
your submission.
To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov,
insert (USCG-2013-0286) in the Search box, look for this notice in the
docket and click the Comment button next to it. If you submit your
comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no
larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic
filing. If you submit them by mail and would like to know that they
reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard
or envelope. We will consider all comments and material received during
the comment period.
Viewing the comments: To view the comments go to http://www.regulations.gov, insert (USCG-2013-0286) in the Search box, then
click on the ``Open Docket Folder'' option. If you do not have access
to the internet, you may view the docket by visiting the Docket
Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the
Department of Transportation West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. We have an agreement with the Department of
Transportation to use the Docket Management Facility.
Copies of all written communications from the public meetings will
be available for review by interested persons after the meeting on the
online docket, USCG-2013-0286 via http://www.regulations.gov.
Transcripts of the meetings will be available for public review
approximately 30 days after the meetings. All comments will be made
part of the public docket.
Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review a
Privacy Act, system of records notice regarding our public dockets in
the January 17, 2008, issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).
Background and Purpose
CRC is an entity formed by the Oregon Department of Transportation
and the Washington Department of Transportation, for the purpose of
improving the Interstate 5 (I-5) corridor between Portland, Oregon and
Vancouver, Washington. CRC has proposed to replace the I-5 Bridge
across navigable waters of the United States by replacing the existing
lift bridge with a fixed bridge providing a vertical clearance of 116
feet above Columbia River Datum. A description of the project
(including related bridge permit application documents) and how it
would be completed can be found at the project's Web site: http://www.columbiarivercrossing.org/.
[[Page 26381]]
The proposed bridge project has been identified as a nationally or
regionally significant project under Executive Order 13604, which
requires agencies to coordinate and expedite the permitting and
environmental review process for specific projects. The existing bridge
is a lift bridge, which provides a vertical navigational clearance of
178 feet above the Columbia River Datum. The applicant, CRC, proposes
to decrease the vertical navigational clearance to 116 feet above the
Columbia River Datum by building a fixed bridge.
As a structure over navigable waters of the United States, the
proposed bridge requires a Coast Guard Bridge Permit pursuant to the
General Bridge Act of 1946 (33 U.S.C. 525-533). As such, we are
requesting your comments on potential impacts to navigation related to
the project. A Navigation Impact Report (NIR) was submitted by CRC to
the Coast Guard as part of the bridge application. The NIR concluded
that a number of waterway users will be impacted by the proposed
project. As mitigation negotiations between the impacted users and CRC
remain ongoing, the Coast Guard must consider them burdened users in
its determination of the reasonable needs of navigation. In addition to
the reduced vertical clearance proposed by CRC, the upper turning
basin, located immediately downstream of the existing bridge, will be
permanently reduced approximately eighteen percent due to the location
of the proposed structures.
During construction, CRC proposes to temporarily reduce the
vertical and horizontal clearances by varying amounts for approximately
five years. Specifically, for 21 months, both barge channels will be
completely blocked, requiring a bridge lift for any vertical clearance
greater than 39 feet above Columbia River Datum. Following that time
period, for an additional 27 months, the vertical clearance will be
restricted to approximately 100 feet above Columbia River Datum. The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is reviewing a proposal by CRC to
realign the federal channel to accommodate the proposed project. A ship
simulation will be conducted by the USACE in early fall 2013 to
determine the impact on the navigation channel during and after
construction of the proposed project.
Our publication of this notice begins a 45-day comment period and
provides information on how to participate in the process. The process
includes an opportunity to submit comment via the docket as outlined
below, or through oral comments at two public meetings. The Bridge
Permit Application, Navigation Impact Report, and other materials
referenced here, as well as additional documents available to assist
the public during this comment period, are available on the Columbia
River Crossing Web site at http://www.columbiarivercrossing.org/Library/Type.aspx?CategoryID=13.
The Coast Guard will hold two public meetings on the CRC
application (one in Portland, Oregon and one in Vancouver, Washington)
to provide an opportunity for oral comments. The specific times and
locations are as follows:
(1) The first public meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 4, 2013,
from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel on the River, 909 N Hayden
Island Drive, Portland, Oregon
(2) The second public meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 5,
2013, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Hilton Vancouver, 301 West 6th St,
Vancouver, Washington.
The purpose of these meetings is to consider an application
submitted by CRC for Coast Guard approval of the proposed bridge across
the Columbia River, mile 106.5, between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver,
Washington. All interested parties may present data, views and
comments, orally or in writing, concerning the impact of the proposed
bridge project on navigation.
The public meetings will be informal. A representative of the Coast
Guard will preside, make a brief opening statement and announce the
procedure to be followed at the meetings. Attendees who request an
opportunity to present oral comments at a public meeting must sign up
to speak at the meeting site at the designated time of the meeting.
Speakers will be called in the order of receipt of the request.
Attendees at the meetings who wish to present oral comment, and have
not previously made a request to do so, will follow those having
submitted a request, as time permits. All oral presentations will be
limited to three minutes. The public meetings may end early if all
present wishing to speak have done so. Any oral comments provided at
the meetings will be transcribed and placed into the docket by the
Coast Guard. Written comments and related material may also be
submitted to Coast Guard personnel specified at that meeting for
placement into the docket by the Coast Guard.
Information on Services for Individuals With Disabilities
For information on facilities or services for individuals with
disabilities or to request special assistance at the public meeting,
contact Mr. Gary Greene, CRC Project Officer, U.S. Coast Guard, at the
telephone number or email address indicated under the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice. Any requests for an oral or
sign language interpreter must be received on or before May 26, 2013.
Authority
This notice is issued under authority of 33 U.S.C. 525 and 401(1),
33 CFR 115.60, and DHS Delegation 0170.1(67).
Dated: May 1, 2013.
Brian L. Dunn,
Administrator, Office of Bridge Programs, U.S. Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. 2013-10685 Filed 5-1-13; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 9110-04-P