Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 168 / Tuesday, September 1, 2009 / Notices 45271 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 25, 

2009. 

Jo Strang, 

Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety/ 

Chief Safety Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–20966 Filed 8–31–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

Intent to Prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement for Proposed Transit 

Improvements to the Orange Line, 

Cook County, IL 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), Department of Transportation. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The FTA, as the Federal lead 

agency, and the Chicago Transit 

Authority (CTA) intend to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for the Orange Line Extension Project in 

Cook County, Illinois. CTA operates the 

rapid transit system in Chicago, Cook 

County, Illinois. The proposed project, 

described more completely within, 

would extend the Orange Line, a heavy 

rail transit line, to connect Midway 

Station at the Midway International 

Airport to the Ford City shopping 

center. The purpose of this Notice of 

Intent is to alert interested parties 

regarding the intent to prepare the EIS 

and to provide information on the 

nature of the proposed project and 

possible alternatives to invite public 

participation in the EIS process. 

DATES: Written comments on the scope 

of the EIS, including the project’s 

purpose and need, the alternatives to be 

considered, the impacts to be evaluated, 

and the methodologies to be used in the 

evaluations should be sent to CTA on or 

before October 27, 2009. See ADDRESSES

below for the address to which written 

public comments may be sent. A public 

scoping meeting to accept comments on 

the scope of the EIS will be held on the 

following date: 

• Monday, September 21, 2009; 6 

p.m. to 8 p.m.; at the Hancock College 

Preparatory High School, 4034 W. 56th 

St., Chicago, IL 60629. 

The buildings used for the scoping 

meetings are accessible to persons with 

disabilities. Any individual who 

requires special assistance, such as a 

sign language interpreter, to participate 

in the scoping meeting should contact 

Mr. Darud Akbar, Government and 

Community Relations Officer, at 312– 

681–2708 or 

dakbar@transitchicago.com, five days 

prior to the meeting. 

Scoping materials describing the 

project purpose and need and the 

alternatives proposed for analysis will 

be available at the meetings and on the 

CTA Web site http:// 

www.transitchicago.com/OrangeEIS. 

Paper copies of the scoping materials 

may also be obtained from Mr. Darud 

Akbar, Government and Community 

Relations Officer, at 312–681–2708 or 

dakbar@transitchicago.com. An 

interagency scoping meeting will be 

held on Thursday, September 24 at 1:30 

p.m. at CTA Headquarters, in 

Conference Room 2C, 567 W. Lake 

Street, Chicago, IL 60661. 

Representatives of Native American 

tribal governments and of all Federal, 

State, regional and local agencies that 

may have an interest in any aspect of 

the project will be invited to be 

participating or cooperating agencies, as 

appropriate. 

ADDRESSES: Comments will be accepted 

at the public scoping meetings or they 

may be sent to Mr. Jeffrey Busby, 

General Manager, Strategic Planning, 

Chicago Transit Authority, P.O. Box 

7602, Chicago, IL 60680–7602, or via 

e-mail at OrangeExtension@transit

chicago.com. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

David Werner, Community Planner, 

Federal Transit Administration, Region 

V, 200 West Adams Street, Suite 320, 

Chicago, IL 60606, phone 312–353– 

3879, e-mail David.Werner@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Scoping 

The FTA and CTA invite all 

interested individuals and 

organizations, public agencies, and 

Native American Tribes to comment on 

the scope of the EIS, including the 

project’s purpose and need, the 

alternatives to be studied, the impacts to 

be evaluated, and the evaluation 

methods to be used. Comments should 

address (1) alternatives that may better 

achieve the project’s need and purposes 

at less cost or with fewer adverse 

impacts, and (2) any significant 

environmental impacts relating to the 

alternatives. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) ‘‘scoping’’ (40 CFR 1501.7) has 

specific and fairly limited objectives, 

one of which is to identify the 

significant issues associated with 

alternatives that will be examined in 

detail in the document, while 

simultaneously limiting consideration 

and development of issues that are not 

truly significant. It is in the NEPA 

scoping process that potentially 

significant environmental impacts— 

those that give rise to the need to 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement—should be identified; 

impacts that are deemed not to be 

significant need not be developed 

extensively in the context of the impact 

statement, thereby keeping the 

statement focused on impacts of 

consequence. Transit projects may also 

generate environmental benefits; these 

should be highlighted as well—the 

impact statement process should draw 

attention to positive impacts, not just 

negative impacts. 

Once the scope of the environmental 

study, including significant 

environmental issues to be addressed, is 

settled, an annotated outline of the 

document will be prepared and shared 

with interested agencies and the public. 

The outline serves at least three worthy 

purposes, including (1) documenting 

the results of the scoping process; (2) 

contributing to the transparency of the 

process; and (3) providing a clear 

roadmap for concise development of the 

environmental document. 

Purpose and Need for the Project 

The purpose of the Orange Line 

Extension project is to improve access to 

the existing Orange Line for southwest 

side and southwest suburban residents 

and businesses, support the area’s 

ongoing economic development efforts, 

and strengthen the competiveness of 

transit in the reverse commute market. 

The need for the project is based on 

the following considerations: access to 

the Orange Line is currently constrained 

by limited parking availability; access to 

the Orange Line by bus or auto is 

unreliable due to congestion 

approaching the existing terminal 

station; and few uncongested roadways 

are available to access the current 

Orange Line terminal because of wider 

than usual arterial street spacing, which 

limits mobility for residents and 

businesses. 

Project Location and Environmental 

Setting 

The proposed heavy rail transit (HRT) 

project area lies about 10 miles 

southwest of the Chicago Central Area 

(commonly referred to as the ‘‘Loop’’). 

The limits of the project area are 59th 

Street on the north and 79th Street on 

the south. Midway International Airport 

is located in the northwestern portion of 

the project area. 

The project area includes parts of the 

community areas of Ashburn, Clearing, 

and West Lawn within the City of 

Chicago, and is adjacent to the Village 

of Bedford Park and the City of Burbank. 

The project area is highly developed, 

with significant residential (primarily 

single family), industrial, transportation 

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45272 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 168 / Tuesday, September 1, 2009 / Notices 

and commercial (retail and office) 

developments. 

The locally preferred alternative 

(LPA) for the proposed Orange Line 

Extension project was approved by the 

Chicago Transit Board for further study 

in the EIS on August 12, 2009. The 

proposed Orange Line Extension would 

extend the heavy rail transit line from 

Midway Station at the Midway 

International Airport south along the 

Belt Railway Company (BRC) right-ofway from 59th Street to Marquette Road, 

cross the BRC Clearing Yard and 

terminate on Cicero Avenue. The 

extension would include 2.3 new route 

miles of rapid transit to the existing 

Orange Line and one additional station 

at approximately 7600 S. Cicero 

Avenue, with new bus terminal and 

parking facilities. 

Alternatives 

The Orange Line Extension Final 

Alternatives Analysis Report (2009) 

prepared by CTA identified three 

alternatives for further consideration in 

the EIS. The three alternatives include: 

a No Build Alternative, Transportation 

System Management (TSM) Alternative, 

and the Fixed Guideway Alternative. 

No-Build Alternative: The No Build 

Alternative is defined as the existing 

transportation system, plus any 

committed transportation 

improvements. Committed 

transportation improvements include 

projects that are already in the Chicago 

Metropolitan Agency for Planning 

(CMAP) financially constrained 

Transportation Improvement Program 

(TIP). The Orange Line project area has 

one road improvement project included 

in the FY 2007–2012 TIP; the Cicero 

Avenue Smart Corridor Project from 

37th Street to 63rd Street scheduled for 

completion in 2009. 

Bus transit service under the No Build 

Alternative would be focused on the 

preservation of existing services and 

projects. The transit network within the 

project area is projected to be 

substantially the same as it is now. All 

elements of the No Build Alternative are 

included in each of the other 

alternatives. 

Transportation System Management 

(TSM) Alternative: A TSM Alternative is 

proposed because it is required as part 

of the New Starts evaluative process; in 

this case, it does not meet the purposes 

of and need for the proposed project. 

The TSM Alternative is Bus Rapid 

Transit (BRT) that would operate west 

on 59th Street from the 59th Street 

Midway Station bus terminal to Cicero 

Avenue, and then south on Cicero 

Avenue from 59th Street to 

approximately 76th Street. Proposed 

BRT service would operate in mixed 

traffic with traffic signal priority on the 

Cicero Avenue segment. 

The TSM Alternative is 2.3 miles long 

and would not include any intermediate 

stops. There would be no exclusive 

lanes along the Cicero Avenue portion 

of the route. A new park and ride 

facility would be constructed at the 

proposed terminal stop at 

approximately 7600 S. Cicero. Bus route 

67 67th/69th/71st would be re-routed to 

terminate at the new Ford City Station. 

Fixed Guideway Alternative/Locally 

Preferred Alternative (LPA): The 

proposed LPA would operate partly in 

a trench and partly at-grade along the 

BRC right-of-way between the existing 

Midway station and approximately 6400 

south, where it would transition to an 

elevated structure above Marquette 

Road. The proposed route would travel 

under 59th Street and 63rd Street 

allowing those cross streets to remain 

open to traffic. It then would veer to the 

southwest over the BRC Clearing Yard 

and then continue south on an elevated 

structure in the median of Cicero 

Avenue to a new Ford City terminal 

station located on Cicero Avenue at 

approximately 76th Street. 

The LPA is 2.3 miles long and would 

not include any intermediate stops. The 

conceptual alignment design for the 

elevated structure at Marquette Road 

would allow for a future station in that 

vicinity. The Ford City terminal station 

would include a park-and-ride facility 

and an improved bus terminal. The 

alternative assumes that Pace buses 

from the south would continue to 

directly serve Midway Station. Route 67 

67th/69th/71st would be re-routed to 

terminate at the new proposed Ford City 

terminal station. 

Two alignment options along Cicero 

Avenue to 76th Street will be evaluated; 

an alignment above the median of 

Cicero Avenue and an alignment located 

directly east of the Cicero Avenue rightof-way. The alignment over the median 

of Cicero Avenue would have fewer 

property acquisition costs and impacts 

to existing businesses; however, both 

alignment options will be studied 

further in the EIS. 

Possible Effects 

The purpose of this EIS process is to 

study, in a public setting, the effects of 

the proposed project and its alternatives 

on the quality of the human 

environment. Areas of investigation for 

transit projects generally include, but 

are not limited to: land use, 

development potential, land acquisition 

and displacements, historic resources, 

visual and aesthetic qualities, air 

quality, noise and vibration, energy use, 

safety and security, and ecosystems, 

including threatened and endangered 

species; investigation may reveal that 

the proposed project will not affect or 

affect substantially many of those areas. 

Measures to avoid, minimize, or 

mitigate any significant adverse impacts 

will be identified. 

FTA Procedures 

The regulations implementing NEPA, 

as well as provisions of the Safe, 

Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 

Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for 

Users (SAFETEA–LU), call for public 

involvement in the EIS process. Section 

6002 of SAFETEA–LU requires that FTA 

and CTA do the following: (1) Extend an 

invitation to other Federal and nonFederal agencies and Native American 

tribes that may have an interest in the 

proposed project to become 

‘‘participating agencies;’’ (2) provide an 

opportunity for involvement by 

participating agencies and the public to 

help define the purpose and need for a 

proposed project, as well as the range of 

alternatives for consideration in the EIS; 

and (3) establish a plan for coordinating 

public and agency participation in, and 

comment on, the environmental review 

process. An invitation to become a 

participating or cooperating agency, 

with scoping materials appended, will 

be extended to other Federal and nonFederal agencies and Native American 

tribes that may have an interest in the 

proposed project. It is possible that FTA 

and CTA will not be able to identify all 

Federal and non-Federal agencies and 

Native American tribes that may have 

such an interest. Any Federal or nonFederal agency or Native American tribe 

interested in the proposed project that 

does not receive an invitation to become 

a participating agency should notify at 

the earliest opportunity the Project 

Manager identified above under 

ADDRESSES. 

A comprehensive public involvement 

program and a Coordination Plan for 

public and interagency involvement 

will be developed for the project and 

posted on CTA’s Web site http:// 

www.transitchicago.com/OrangeEIS. 

The public involvement program 

includes a full range of activities 

including maintaining the project Web 

page on the CTA Web site and outreach 

to local officials, community and civic 

groups, and the public. Specific 

activities or events for involvement will 

be detailed in the project’s public 

participation plan. 

The Paperwork Reduction Act seeks, 

in part, to minimize the cost to the 

taxpayer of the creation, collection, 

maintenance, use, dissemination, and 

disposition of information. Consistent 

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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 168 / Tuesday, September 1, 2009 / Notices 45273 

with this goal and with principles of 

economy and efficiency in government, 

it is FTA policy to limit insofar as 

possible distribution of complete 

printed sets of environmental 

documents. Accordingly, unless a 

specific request for a complete printed 

set of environmental documents is 

received (preferably in advance of 

printing), FTA and its grantees will 

distribute only the executive summary 

of the environmental document together 

with a Compact Disc of the complete 

environmental document. A complete 

printed set of the environmental 

document is available for review at the 

grantee’s offices and elsewhere; an 

electronic copy of the complete 

environmental document is also 

available on the grantee’s Web page. 

CTA may seek New Starts funding for 

the proposed project under 49 United 

States Code 5309 and will, therefore, be 

subject to New Starts regulations (49 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 

611). The New Starts regulations also 

require the submission of certain 

project-justification information to 

support a request to initiate preliminary 

engineering. This information is 

normally developed in conjunction with 

the NEPA process. Pertinent New Starts 

evaluation criteria will be included in 

the EIS. 

The EIS will be prepared in 

accordance with NEPA and its 

implementing regulations issued by the 

Council on Environmental Quality (40 

CFR parts 1500–1508) and with the 

FTA/Federal Highway Administration 

regulations ‘‘Environmental Impact and 

Related Procedures’’ (23 CFR part 771). 

Issued on: August 24, 2009. 

Marisol R. Simon, 

Regional Administrator, Federal Transit 

Administration, Region V. 

[FR Doc. E9–20965 Filed 8–31–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

Intent To Prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement for Proposed Transit 

Improvements to the Yellow Line, Cook 

County, IL 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), Department of Transportation. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The FTA, as the Federal lead 

agency, and the Chicago Transit 

Authority (CTA) intend to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

for the Yellow Line Extension Project in 

Cook County, Illinois. CTA operates the 

rapid transit system in Chicago, Cook 

County, Illinois. The proposed project, 

described more completely within, 

would extend the Yellow Line, a heavy 

rail transit line, to connect the Dempster 

Street Station to Old Orchard Road. The 

purpose of this Notice of Intent is to 

alert interested parties regarding the 

intent to prepare the EIS, to provide 

information on the nature of the 

proposed project and possible 

alternatives and to invite public 

participation in the EIS process. 

DATES: Written comments on the scope 

of the EIS, including the project’s 

purpose and need, the alternatives to be 

considered, the impacts to be evaluated, 

and the methodologies to be used in the 

evaluations should be sent to CTA on or 

before October 27, 2009. See ADDRESSES

below for the address to which written 

public comments may be sent. A public 

scoping meeting to accept comments on 

the scope of the EIS will be held on the 

following date: 

• Wednesday, September 23, 2009; 

6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; at the Oakton 

Community Center, 4701 Oakton Street, 

Skokie, IL 60076. 

The buildings used for the scoping 

meetings are accessible to persons with 

disabilities. Any individual who 

requires special assistance, such as a 

sign language interpreter, to participate 

in the scoping meeting should contact 

Mr. Darud Akbar, Government and 

Community Relations Officer, at 312– 

681–2708 or 

dakbar@transitchicago.com, five days 

prior to the meeting. 

Scoping materials describing the 

project purpose and need and the 

alternatives proposed for analysis will 

be available at the meetings and on the 

CTA Web site http:// 

www.transitchicago.com/YellowEIS. 

Paper copies of the scoping materials 

may also be obtained from Mr. Darud 

Akbar, Government and Community 

Relations Officer, at 312–681–2708 or 

dakbar@transitchicago.com. An 

interagency scoping meeting will be 

held on Thursday, September 24 at 

8 a.m. at CTA Headquarters, in 

Conference Room 2C, 567 W. Lake 

Street, Chicago, IL 60661. 

Representatives of Native American 

tribal governments and of all Federal, 

State, regional and local agencies that 

may have an interest in any aspect of 

the project will be invited to be 

participating or cooperating agencies, as 

appropriate. 

ADDRESSES: Comments will be accepted 

at the public scoping meetings or they 

may be sent to Mr. Jeffrey Busby, 

General Manager, Strategic Planning, 

Chicago Transit Authority, P.O. Box 

7602, Chicago, IL 60680–7602, or via 

e-mail at YellowExtension@transit

chicago.com. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

David Werner, Community Planner, 

Federal Transit Administration, Region 

V, 200 West Adams Street, Suite 320, 

Chicago, IL 60606, phone 312–353– 

3879, e-mail david.werner@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Scoping 

The FTA and CTA invite all 

interested individuals and 

organizations, public agencies, and 

Native American Tribes to comment on 

the scope of the EIS, including the 

project’s purpose and need, the 

alternatives to be studied, the impacts to 

be evaluated, and the evaluation 

methods to be used. Comments should 

address (1) Alternatives that may better 

achieve the project’s need and purposes 

at less cost or with fewer adverse 

impacts, and (2) any significant 

environmental impacts relating to the 

alternatives. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) ‘‘scoping’’ (40 CFR 1501.7) has 

specific and fairly limited objectives, 

one of which is to identify the 

significant issues associated with 

alternatives that will be examined in 

detail in the document, while 

simultaneously limiting consideration 

and development of issues that are not 

truly significant. It is in the NEPA 

scoping process that potentially 

significant environmental impacts— 

those that give rise to the need to 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement—should be identified; 

impacts that are deemed not to be 

significant need not be developed 

extensively in the context of the impact 

statement, thereby keeping the 

statement focused on impacts of 

consequence. Transit projects may also 

generate environmental benefits; these 

should be highlighted as well—the 

impact statement process should draw 

attention to positive impacts, not just 

negative impacts. 

Once the scope of the environmental 

study, including significant 

environmental issues to be addressed, is 

settled, an annotated outline of the 

document will be prepared and shared 

with interested agencies and the public. 

The outline serves at least three worthy 

purposes, including (1) Documenting 

the results of the scoping process; (2) 

contributing to the transparency of the 

process; and (3) providing a clear 

roadmap for concise development of the 

environmental document. 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES