[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9309-9311]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03324]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Tier 2 Environmental Impact Statement for the High-Speed Rail
Project From Granite City, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this Notice of Intent (Notice) to advise the
public that FRA and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)
will jointly prepare a Tier 2 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for
the Granite City to St. Louis High-Speed Rail (HSR) Project (Project).
The EIS will evaluate environmental and related impacts of upgrading
rail system and infrastructure between Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR)
Milepost (MP) 273 near Granite City, IL and the St. Louis Gateway
Station in St. Louis, MO to implement high-speed passenger rail
service, increase rail capacity, and improve reliability for identified
incremental service additions.
FRA is issuing this Notice to solicit public and agency input into
the development of the scope of the EIS and to advise the public that
outreach activities conducted by FRA and IDOT will be considered in
preparation of the EIS. To ensure all significant issues are identified
and considered, the public, governmental agencies, and all other
interested parties are invited to comment on the scope of the EIS,
including the purpose and need, alternatives to be considered, impacts
to be evaluated, and methodologies to be used in the evaluation.
DATES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS should be provided to
IDOT within thirty (30) days of the publication of this notice, at the
address listed below. The public scoping meeting is scheduled on
February 25, 2014, as noted below. Scoping meeting date, time and
location, in addition to Project information can be found online on the
FRA Web site at www.fra.dot.gov and on the Project Web site at http://www.idothsr.org.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS may be mailed or
emailed within thirty (30) days of the publication of this Notice to
Mr. John Oimoen, Deputy Director of Railroads, Division of Public and
Intermodal Transportation, Illinois Department of Transportation, 100
West Randolph Street, Suite 6-600, Chicago, Illinois 60601,
[email protected]. Comments may also be provided orally or in
writing at the scoping meeting scheduled as follows:
The public scoping meeting will be advertised locally and
is scheduled on February 25, 2014: Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center, 101
Jackie Joyner-Kersee Circle, East St Louis, IL 62204, from 5:00 p.m.-
7:30 p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Andr[eacute]a E. Martin,
Environmental Protection Specialist, Office of Railroad Policy and
Development, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE., (Mail Stop 20), Washington, DC 20590, [email protected], or
Mr. John Oimoen at the above address. Information and documents
regarding the EIS process will also be made available through the FRA
Web site at www.fra.dot.gov and on the Project Web site at http://www.idothsr.org.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FRA is preparing an EIS for the Project
proposed by IDOT that will provide high-speed rail service between
Granite City, IL and St. Louis, MO. The proposed Project would increase
rail capacity associated with the Mississippi River crossings to
accommodate increased rail traffic and improve reliability for
identified incremental service additions anticipated with the proposed
high-speed rail service of the Chicago to St. Louis HSR Corridor
Program.
For the purposes of the Tier 2 EIS, a study area has been
established that includes existing rail corridors. These corridors
cover approximately five square miles between MP 273, near Granite
City, IL and the St. Louis Gateway Station in St. Louis, MO, and
include two 1,000-foot rail corridors (MacArthur Bridge and Merchants
Bridge crossings) and two 500-foot intersecting roadway corridors
(Niedringhaus and Bissell Avenues).
The Project is needed to accommodate the projected high-speed
passenger rail traffic between MP 273, near Granite City, IL and the
St. Louis Gateway Station in St. Louis, MO. Improved travel time,
service reliability, and safety are necessary to attract travelers to
high-speed passenger rail from automobile and air travel.
The Tier 2 EIS will analyze alternatives that meet the Project's
purpose and need while maximizing community benefits and minimizing
impacts to community, cultural, and natural resources. Anticipated
improvements would require acquisition of new rights-of-way and
permanent/temporary easements; however, the exact limits of the land
acquisitions are not known at this time. Right-of-way impacts
associated with proposed routes will be identified and made available
for comment in the Draft EIS.
The inception of high-speed passenger rail service between Chicago
and St. Louis, combined with increased freight traffic, would likely
require the following:
Evaluation of efficient and reliable routes across Mississippi
River (new and existing)
Upgrading and expansion of existing mainline tracks
Operational improvements to interlockings within the St. Louis
Terminal
Evaluation of potential grade separations and other crossing
safety measures
Improvements to existing bridges and other infrastructure
Evaluation of the feasibility of a new station between
Granite City and St. Louis
The EIS will evaluate the potential environmental and related
impacts of constructing and operating the Project within the corridors
located within Madison and St. Clair Counties, IL and St. Louis, MO.
[[Page 9310]]
Environmental Review Process
The EIS will be developed in accordance with the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR 1500 et seq.)
implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and FRA's Procedures for Considering
Environmental Impacts (64 FR 28545; May 26, 1999). In addition to NEPA,
the EIS will address other applicable statutes, regulations and
executive orders, including the 1980 Clean Air Act Amendments, Section
404 of the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act,
Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act, the Endangered
Species Act, and Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice. FRA
and IDOT are using a tiered process, as provided for in 40 CFR 1508.28
and in accordance with FRA guidance, in the completion of the
environmental review of the Project. ``Tiering'' is a staged
environmental review process applied to environmental reviews for
complex projects. The Tier 1 EIS addressed broad corridor-level issues
and alternatives. The Tier 2 EIS will analyze, at a greater level of
detail, narrower site-specific proposals based on decisions made in
Tier 1.
The purpose of the Tier 2 EIS will be to provide the FRA, reviewing
and cooperating agencies, and the public with information to assess
alternatives that will meet the Project's purpose and need; to evaluate
the potential environmental impacts of each alternative; and to
identify potential measures necessary to mitigate or avoid
environmental impacts associated with the proposed Project
alternatives.
Project Background
FRA initiated the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR)
Program in June 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA). On January 28, 2010, Illinois was selected for a $1.2
billion federal award to bring high-speed passenger rail service to
Illinois between Dwight and the East St. Louis area. In addition, the
Illinois Capital Bill appropriated $400 million for high-speed rail. In
December 2010, an additional $42.3 million was received for
construction upgrades. The City of Alton and Madison County also
received a $13.9 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic
Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant for a transportation center in
late 2011. And, in January 2012, $186.3 million was received for
corridor improvements between Joliet and Dwight, IL. IDOT, local
municipalities, and the UPRR have provided matching funds to this
overall funding package.
In 2012, FRA completed a Final Program EIS for the Chicago to St.
Louis High-Speed Rail Corridor Program as the first phase of a tiered
environmental review process, and issued a Record of Decision on the
Final Program EIS on December 18, 2012. The Chicago to St. Louis HSR
Corridor Program encompasses a corridor that is approximately 284 miles
long with trains operating primarily on UPRR track with service
provided by Amtrak. The improvements to the route will allow future
passenger rail service from Chicago to St. Louis to operate at speeds
up to 110 miles per hour (mph). The Tier 1 EIS established the purpose
and need for the Chicago to St. Louis HSR Corridor Program, analyzed
the Chicago to St. Louis HSR Corridor Program, and considered and
evaluated alternatives including a no action alternative and multiple
alternative alignments along existing rail corridors between Chicago
and St. Louis. The Tier 1 EIS considered increasing the frequency of
high-speed passenger rail service, as well as increasing the currently
planned maximum speed of such service up to 110 miles per hour (mph),
in the Corridor.
As part of the Tier 1 evaluation, FRA selected the Rock Island
Corridor as the Preferred Alternative between Joliet and Chicago; the
existing Amtrak route as the Preferred Alternative between Joliet and
St. Louis; and a consolidated route along 10th Street through
Springfield as the Preferred Alternative for the Springfield Rail
Improvements Project. These proposed improvements were considered in
addition to those improvements from Dwight to St. Louis associated with
FRA's 2004 Record of Decision for the Chicago to St. Louis HSR Project
and the 2011 Environmental Assessment (EA)/Finding of No Significant
Impact (FONSI) for the UPRR's Track Improvement Project from Joliet to
Dwight, IL.
As previously mentioned, FRA and IDOT will be responsible for
implementing the Project and will jointly prepare a Tier 2 EIS. This
Tier 2 EIS represents the next stage in the tiered environmental review
process associated with the Chicago to St. Louis HSR Corridor Program.
The Tier 2 EIS for the Granite City to St. Louis HSR Project is part of
the Chicago to St. Louis HSR Corridor Program and is being conducted to
address and evaluate, in more detail, this component of the Selected
Alternative carried forward from the Tier 1 study.
Tier 2 analyses are being conducted between Joliet and Chicago; for
the Springfield flyover, and Granite City to St. Louis segments. The
Tier 2 evaluation for the Springfield Rail Improvements Project was
conducted concurrently to the Tier 1 study. More information regarding
the development, evaluation, and selection of alignments during the
Tier 1 EIS process, the Chicago to St. Louis HSR Tier 1 Draft EIS,
Final EIS, and ROD can be viewed at the following Web site:
www.idothsr.org/tier_1.
In addition to the remaining components of the Chicago to St. Louis
HSR Corridor Program selected in the overall project's Tier 1 ROD,
there are ongoing rail improvement programs that relate to the Project
studied in this EIS, including the Chicago Region Environmental and
Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE), the Chicago to St. Louis
220 mph High-Speed Rail Express and the Midwest Regional Rail
Initiative (MWRRI). Although related, the successful implementation of
this Project is not dependent and will not restrict considerations of
alternatives or the completion of the following regional rail
improvement programs described below.
The Chicago to St. Louis 220 mph High-Speed Rail Express is a
project concept being pursued by IDOT. This service, at speeds up to
220 mph, may utilize existing rail corridors, a new corridor, or a
combination of both, and could serve different travel markets. The 220
mph concept is intended as a complementary service to the Chicago to
St. Louis high-speed rail service that is being evaluated in this EIS.
In 2009, the Midwest High-Speed Rail Association prepared a feasibility
study that indicated that a completely grade separated route could be
established by modifying existing rail corridors to connect Chicago,
Champaign, Decatur and Springfield, IL with St. Louis, MO, with a one-
way terminal-to-terminal trip time of approximately two hours,
utilizing a maximum speed of 220 mph. The French National Railways
(SNCF) prepared an Expression of Interest in 2009 in response to FRA's
Request for Expression of Interest dated December 11, 2008. The SNCF
proposed a high-speed rail route to be located adjacent to existing
rail corridors and sharing existing rail corridors in urban approaches
at lower speeds. IDOT intends to further study the 220 mph project
concept, including development of an investment-grade business plan
[[Page 9311]]
and the preparation of a separate Tier 1 EIS.
MWRRI is an effort led by the Wisconsin Department of
Transportation and supported by eight other midwestern states to
upgrade Amtrak service in those states, with maximum speeds of 79 to
110 mph depending on the level of improvements made. A Chicago-St.
Louis corridor is included in MWRRI's September 2004 Executive Report
and November 2006 Benefit Cost and Economic Analysis. Additional
corridors proposed by MWRRI include: Chicago-Green Bay, Wisconsin;
Chicago-Minneapolis, Minnesota; St. Louis-Kansas City, Missouri;
Chicago-Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago-Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago-Detroit,
Michigan; Chicago-Port Huron, Michigan; Chicago-Carbondale, Illinois;
Chicago-Quincy, Illinois; and Chicago-Omaha, Nebraska. Several other
feeder corridors connecting smaller municipalities to the primary
corridors are also included. More information is available at http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/rail.htm.
Scoping and Public Involvement
FRA encourages broad participation in the Tier 2 EIS process during
scoping and review of the resulting environmental documents. Comments
are invited from the public, governmental agencies, and all other
interested parties to ensure the full range of issues related to the
Project are addressed, reasonable alternatives are considered, and
significant issues are identified. In particular, FRA is interested in
identifying areas of environmental concern where there might be a
potential for significant impacts. Public agencies with jurisdiction
are requested to advise FRA and IDOT of the applicable permit and
environmental review requirements of each agency, and the scope and
content of the environmental information that is germane to the
agency's statutory responsibilities in connection with the proposed
Project. Public agencies are requested to advise FRA if they anticipate
taking a major action in connection with the proposed Project and if
they wish to cooperate in the preparation of the EIS.
Public scoping opportunities and meetings will be scheduled as
described above and are an important component of the scoping process
for federal environmental review. FRA is seeking participation and
input of all interested federal, state, and local agencies, Native
American groups, and other concerned private organizations and
individuals on the scope of the EIS. The proposed Project is a federal
undertaking with the potential to affect historic properties. As such,
it is subject to the requirements of Section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) (16 U.S.C. 470(f)). In
accordance with regulations issued by the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation (36 CFR 800), FRA intends to coordinate compliance with
Section 106 of the NHPA with the preparation of the EIS, beginning with
the identification of consulting parties through the scoping process,
in a manner consistent with the standards set out in 36 CFR 800.8.
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2014.
Corey W. Hill,
Director, Office of Passenger and Freight Programs.
[FR Doc. 2014-03324 Filed 2-14-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P