39466 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 123 / Monday, June 26, 2000 / Notices

and Construction. The regulations

implementing Executive Order 12372

regarding intergovernmental consultation on

Federal programs and activities apply to this

program)

William A. Sussmann,

Division Administrator, FHWA, Baton Rouge,

Louisiana.

[FR Doc. 00–16006 Filed 6–23–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

Environmental Impact Statement on

the Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit

Project in Metropolitan Washington,

DC

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration,

DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit

Administration (FTA), the Virginia

Department of Rail and Public

Transportation (DRPT), and the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit

Authority (WMATA) intend to prepare

an Environmental Impact Statement

(EIS) in accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969

(NEPA), as amended, on the proposed

Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project in

Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, Virginia,

which are within the metropolitan area

of Washington, D.C. The lead agencies

will also seek the cooperation of the

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),

the Virginia Department of

Transportation (VDOT), and the

Metropolitan Washington Airports

Authority (MWAA) in conducting this

review.

The EIS will address the need to

improve transit access and mobility in

response to projected growth, traffic

congestion, and land-use plans for the

Dulles Corridor, including Tysons

Corner. The EIS will develop

alternatives for the project which will

(1) be feasible, cost-effective, and

beneficial transportation improvements

that enhance connections to the existing

transit systems, to Washington Dulles

International Airport, and to land

developments throughout the Dulles

Corridor; (2) increase transit bus and

Metrorail ridership; and (3) enhance the

region’s economic vitality and quality of

life. The EIS will evaluate a No-Build

Alternative, a Transportation Systems

Management (TSM) Alternative, several

Build Alternatives, and any additional

alternatives generated by the scoping

process. The TSM Alternative will

assess low cost, operationally oriented

improvements to meet the

transportation needs in the Dulles

Corridor and will be equivalent to

enhanced local and express bus service

in the two counties. The Build

Alternatives will consider Bus Rapid

Transit (BRT), Metrorail rapid transit,

and combinations of these transit

modes. The type, design, location, and

need of ancillary facilities, such as

parking facilities, bus maintenance

depots, and rail yards, will also be

considered for the Build Alternatives.

Scoping will be accomplished through

meetings and correspondence with

interested persons, organizations, the

general public, Federal, State, regional,

and local agencies.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Written

comments on the scope of alternatives

and impacts to be considered should be

sent to Mr. Leonard Alfredson, Project

Manager, Office of Extensions,

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit

Authority, 1550 Wilson Boulevard,

Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22209, by

Thursday, August 10, 2000.

Scoping Meetings: Public scoping

meetings for the Dulles Corridor Rapid

Transit Project will be held on:

Tuesday, July 25, 2000

7 p.m. to 10 p.m., George C. Marshall

High School, 7731 Leesburg Pike, Falls

Church, Virginia 22043.

Wednesday, July 26, 2000

7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Langston Hughes

Middle School, 11401 Ridge Heights

Road, Reston, Virginia 20191.

Thursday, July 27, 2000

7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Ashburn

Elementary School, 44062 Fincastle

Drive, Ashburn, Virginia 20147.

The locations of the scoping meetings

are accessible to persons with

disabilities. Any individual with a

disability who requires special

assistance, such as a sign language

interpreter, to participate in the scoping

meetings, should contact Mr. Leonard

Alfredson at the address below or call

the project INFO line at 888–566–7245

(TTD: 202–638–3780) by Monday, July

17, 2000, in order for WMATA to make

necessary arrangements.

Scoping material will be available at

the meetings and may also be obtained

in advance of the meetings by

contacting Mr. Alfredson at the address

below or by calling the project INFO

line above. Oral and written comments

may be given at the scoping meetings;

a video team will record all comments.

If you wish to be placed on the mailing

list to receive further information as the

project develops, contact Mr. Leonard

Alfredson at the address below, call the

project INFO line at 888–566–7245, or

send an e-mail (including your name

and address) to dullescorridor@aol.com.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the

project scope should be sent to Mr.

Leonard Alfredson, Project Manager,

Office of Extensions, Washington

Metropolitan Area Transit Authority,

1550 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 300,

Arlington, VA 22209. Scoping meetings

will be held at the locations identified

above in the DATES section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Douglas Kerr, P.E., Washington Metro

Area Coordinator, Federal Transit

Administration, 202–366–1641.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

The FTA, DRPT, and WMATA invite

all interested individuals and

organizations, and federal, state,

regional, and local agencies to provide

comments on the scope of the project.

During the scoping process, comments

should focus on identifying specific

social, economic, or environmental

issues to be evaluated and on suggesting

alternatives, which may be less costly or

have less environmental impacts, while

achieving similar transportation

objectives. Comments should focus on

the issues and alternatives for analysis

and not on a preference for a particular

alternative. Scoping material will be

available at the meetings or in advance

of the meetings by contacting Mr.

Leonard Alfredson at WMATA or by

calling the project INFO line, as

indicated above.

The Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit

Project will be closely coordinated with

the following major regional studies and

projects:

• Capital Beltway Corridor Rail

Feasibility Study, a study by DRPT on

the feasibility of constructing commuter

rail from the existing mass transit rail

facilities at Springfield to the mass

transit rail facilities at or near Tysons

Corner and Vienna. The study will

examine the continuation of rail from

Tysons Corner to a connection with rail

in Maryland.

• Capital Beltway NEPA Study, an

analysis by the Virginia Department of

Transportation (VDOT) of beltway

capacity and access improvements.

• Dulles International Airport Master

Plan and landside improvements, a

program of projects by the Metropolitan

Washington Airports Authority.

• I–66 EIS and Location Study, a step

in developing and implementing

highway and transit improvements in

the I–66 corridor between U.S. Route 15

in Prince William County and I–495 in

Fairfax County.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 123 / Monday, June 26, 2000 / Notices 39467

Following the public scoping process,

public outreach activities will include

meetings with communities and

organizations; public meetings on

alternatives; public hearing(s) on the

Draft EIS; distribution of project fact

sheets and newsletters; and use of other

outreach methods.

II. Description of Study Area and

Transportation Needs

The study area of the proposed Dulles

Corridor Rapid Transit Project is

centered on the alignment of the Dulles

Airport Access Road and the Dulles Toll

Road within Fairfax County, and the

Dulles Greenway—the private extension

of the Toll Road—in Loudoun County.

The length of the Corridor is more than

24 miles, extending from the Metrorail

Orange Line, at a point between the

West Falls Church Station and East Falls

Church in Fairfax County, through the

Washington Dulles International Airport

and onto Route 772 in Loudoun County.

The study area encompasses Tysons

Corner, through which alignment

alternatives traverse. The study area also

includes the vicinity of stations and

ancillary facilities such as parking, bus

maintenance depot, and rail yard. This

study area is generalized and considered

flexible, subject both to the outcome of

the scoping process and the locations of

the alternatives studied in detail.

The Metropolitan Washington

Council of Governments expects the

population and employment in the

Dulles Corridor over the next twenty

years to increase more rapidly than the

metropolitan regional averages. The

increases in households and jobs in the

Corridor are significantly large in both

relative and absolute numbers. MWAA

projects that the Washington Dulles

International Airport will also have

significant increases in air travel

patronage, air cargo operations, and

employees; therefore, ground-side

access volumes at the Airport will be

growing substantially. The projected

consequence of this rapid growth in

travel is markedly higher traffic volumes

on highways and streets throughout the

region and in the Dulles Corridor.

Traffic congestion on the Toll Road will

increase in both severity and duration as

the peak period ‘‘spreads’’ to encompass

earlier and later hours. VDOT projects

travel on parallel arterials to increase

proportionately as increasing congestion

on the Toll Road will cause a higher

fraction of travel in the Corridor to use

alternative routes.

In response to the above

transportation conditions, DRPT

conducted a Major Investment Study

(MIS), with a supplement, for the Dulles

Corridor. The results of the 1997 MIS

study and its 1999 supplement resulted

in a four-phase implementation program

of express bus service in two phases,

then Bus Rapid Transit as an interim

transit service to rail, and then

Metrorail. These documents are

available for inspection by contacting

Mr. Alfredson as described in the DATES

section above or by visiting the DRPT

web site, http://www.drpt.state.va.us/

library.htm.

III. Alternatives

The alternatives proposed for

evaluation include: (1) The No-Build

Alternative, which involves the current

infrastructure of highways and bus

service, in addition to all ongoing and

upcoming roadway and transit projects

outlined in the regional Transportation

Improvement Program (TIP); (2) the

Transportation Systems Management

(TSM) Alternative, which includes all

elements of the No-Build alternative in

addition to enhanced express bus

service in the two counties. The TSM

Alternative is a low cost alternative that

uses existing facilities to the greatest

extent possible to meet the identified

transportation needs in the study area.

The TSM Alternative also provides the

baseline against which the costeffectiveness of capital investments in

other alternatives can be evaluated; and

(3) the Build Alternatives of Bus Rapid

Transit and Metrorail. There are three

Build Alternatives:

(a) Bus Rapid Transit for the full

length of the Dulles Corridor, between

the West Falls Church Station of the

Orange Line and Route 772. This

alternative will be developed to permit

the phased conversion of Bus Rapid

Transit to Metrorail, as proposed in the

1999 Supplement to the MIS.

(b) Metrorail between the Orange Line

and Tysons Corner, plus Bus Rapid

Transit for the remainder of the

Corridor, between Tysons Corner and

Route 772. This alternative will also be

developed to permit the phased

conversion of Bus Rapid Transit to

Metrorail, as proposed in the 1999

Supplement to the MIS.

(c) Metrorail for the full length of the

Dulles Corridor, between the Orange

Line and Route 772.

The Build Alternatives include

alignments in the medians of the Dulles

Airport Access Road and Dulles

Greenway toll road, and through Tysons

Corner and Washington Dulles

International Airport; new stations

along the alignments; and ancillary

facilities of parking, bus maintenance

depot, rail yard, traction power

substations, and tiebreaker stations.

Additional reasonable Build

Alternatives suggested during the

scoping process, including those

involving other modes, may be

considered.

IV. Potential Impacts for Analysis

The FTA, DRPT, and WMATA will

evaluate all environmental, social, and

economic impacts of the alternatives

analyzed in the EIS. Impacts include

land use, zoning, and economic

development; secondary development;

cumulative impacts; land acquisition,

displacements, and relocation of

existing uses; historic, archaeological,

and cultural resources; parklands and

recreation areas; visual and aesthetic

qualities; neighborhoods and

communities; environmental justice; air

quality; noise and vibration; hazardous

materials; ecosystems; water resources;

energy; construction impacts; safety and

security; utilities; and transportation

impacts. The impacts will be evaluated

both for the construction period and for

the long-term period of operation of

each alternative. Measures to mitigate

adverse impacts will be identified.

V. FTA Procedures

A Draft EIS will be prepared to

document the evaluation of the

environmental, social, and economic

impacts of the alternatives. Upon

completion, the Draft EIS will be

available for public and agency review

and comment. Public hearing(s) on the

Draft EIS will be held within the study

area. On the basis of the Draft EIS and

the public and agency comments

received, a locally preferred alternative

will be selected and described in full

detail in the Final EIS.

Dated: June 20, 2000.

Hiram J. Walker,

Associate Administrator for Program

Management.

[FR Doc. 00–16036 Filed 6–23–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–62–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket Number: MARAD–2000–7550]

Requested Administrative Waiver of

the Coastwise Trade Laws

AGENCY: Maritime Administration,

Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Invitation for public comments

on a requested administrative waiver of

the Coastwise Trade Laws for the vessel

REEF DIVER.

SUMMARY: As authorized by Public Law

105–383, the Secretary of

Transportation, as represented by the

Maritime Administration (MARAD), is