Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 215 / Tuesday, November 7, 2006 / Notices 65169 

In the fall of 2005, a preliminary Draft 

Environment Impact Statement (DEIS) 

was completed and circulated to the 

Federal cooperating agencies for review 

and comment. As a result of this 

coordination effort, the CBP requested 

that another alternative be considered 

for evaluation and inclusion in the 

DEIS. 

In an effort to continue to move 

independent and critical road and 

bridge portions of the project forward, 

MDOT and FHWA have separated the 

Blue Water Bridge Plaza Study into two 

projects: (a) An EIS for the Blue Water 

Bridge Plaza that will focus specifically 

on plaza expansion and improvements, 

and (b) An Environmental Assessment 

that will address transportation 

improvements along I–69/I–94 and the 

creation of a new off-site welcome 

center. The improvements covered in 

the EA are independent of any of the 

alternatives under consideration for the 

plaza improvements. The FHWA has 

reviewed and concluded that the 

improvements that will be studied in 

the EA have independent utility and 

logical termini 

The purposes of the I–69/I–94 EA 

Corridor improvements are: 

• Accommodate projected 2030 traffic 

growth, 

• Improve the safety on the Black 

River Bridge and reduce weaving 

movements at the Water Street 

Interchange, 

• Replace the aging Black River 

Bridge spans, 

• Improve vehicle access to the Port 

Huron Area, and 

• Create a more visible and accessible 

Welcome Center. 

The need for improvements to the I–

69/I–94 Corridor is supported by several 

key issues: 

• Traffic growth, 

• Traffic backups, 

• Traffic conflicts and crash history, 

• The current condition of existing 

roadways in the corridor, and 

• The current condition of the Black 

River Bridge. 

The study boundaries for the I–69/I–

94 Environmental Assessment are 

located along I–69/I–94 and the M–25 

connector. The northern terminus for 

the EA is the M–25 connector 

intersection with Hancock Street and 

the southern terminus is the I–69/I–94 

bridge over Lapeer Road. The EA study 

area includes the I–69/I–94 ramps to 

and from the existing plaza, the Black 

River Bridge, the Water Street 

interchange and the Lapeer connector 

interchange. 

The purpose and need and study 

boundaries for the plaza Environmental 

Impact Statement remain the same as 

described earlier. The study area 

includes a potential location for a 

relocated plaza in Port Huron 

Township. 

A range of plaza and transportation 

improvement alternatives for the plaza 

EIS, will be analyzed. Reasonable 

alternatives under consideration 

include: taking no action, expanding the 

existing plaza location in the City of 

Port Huron (two alternatives), and 

relocating the major plaza functions to 

an off-site plaza location in Port Huron 

Township. The EIS study area for the 

off-site plaza, along with subsequent 

improvements to I–94/I–69 and the EA 

improvements to I–94/I–69, overlap for 

this alternative, but only for this 

alternative. 

Agencies and citizen involvement 

will continue to be solicited throughout 

this process. A public meeting and a 

public hearing will be held on the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). 

Public notice will be given of the time 

and place of the hearing. The DEIS will 

be available for public and agency 

review and comment prior to the public 

hearing. 

To ensure that the full range of issues 

related to this proposed action are 

addressed and all significant issues 

identified, comments and suggestions 

are invited from all interested parties. 

Comments or questions concerning this 

proposed action and the EIS should be 

directed to the FHWA at the address 

provided above. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning 

and Construction. The regulations 

implementing Executive Order 12372 

regarding intergovernmental consultation of 

Federal programs and activities apply to this 

program.) 

Issued on: October 31, 2006. 

James A. Kirschensteiner, 

Assistant Division Administrator, Lansing, 

Michigan. 

[FR Doc. 06–9099 Filed 11–6–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

Sunshine Act Meetings; Unified Carrier 

Registration Plan Board of Directors 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration, DOT. 

TIME AND DATE: November 7, 2006, 1 

p.m. to 5 p.m. and November 8, 2006 8 

a.m. to 12 p.m. 

PLACE: Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport, 

O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, 

IL 60666. 

STATUS: Open to the public. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: An 

overview of the Unified Carrier 

Registration Plan and Agreement 

requirements set forth under section 

4305 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 

Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A 

Legacy for Users, and the administrative 

functioning of the Board. In addition, 

the Board will continue its work in 

developing the Unified Carrier 

Registration Agreement procedures and 

toward recommending UCRA fees to the 

Secretary. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

William Quade, (202)366–2172, 

Director, Office of Safety Programs, 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration, or Mr. Bryan Price, 

(412) 395–4816, FMCSA Pennsylvania 

Division Office. 

Dated: November 2, 2006. 

Rose A. McMurray, 

Associate Administrator, Policy and Program 

Development. 

[FR Doc. 06–9124 Filed 11–3–06; 2:23 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Creation of an Electronic Docket for a 

Pending Environmental Impact Review 

on the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern 

Railroad’s Powder River Basin 

Expansion Project Railroad 

Rehabilitation and Improvement 

Financing Program Loan Application 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of the Creation of an 

Electronic Docket for the Comments 

Received on the FRA’s Adoption of the 

Environmental Impact Statements 

Issued by the Surface Transportation 

Board and FRA’s Draft Section 4(f)/303 

Statement and Participation as a 

Concurring Party to a Section 106 

Programmatic Agreement. 

SUMMARY: FRA is announcing the 

creation of an electronic docket 

containing comments submitted to the 

agency in connection with the agency’s 

environmental and historic preservation 

review of the Dakota, Minnesota and 

Eastern Railroad’s application for loan 

to carry out its Powder River Basin 

Expansion Project. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Valenstein, Environmental 

Program Manager, 1120 Vermont 

Avenue, NW., Mail Stop 20, 

Washington, DC 20590; Phone (202) 

493–6368. 


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