Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 186 / Tuesday, September 27, 2005 / Notices 56523 

be presented to the committee at any 

time by providing 25 copies to the 

person listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section or by 

providing copies at the meeting. Copies 

of the document to be presented to 

ARAC for decision by the FAA may be 

made available by contacting the person 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section. 

If you need assistance or require a 

reasonable accommodation for the 

meeting or meeting documents, please 

contact the person listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

Sign and oral interpretation, as well as 

a listening device, can be made 

available if requested 10 calendar days 

before the meeting. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 

20, 2005. 

Anthony F. Fazio, 

Director, Office of Rulemaking. 

[FR Doc. 05–19207 Filed 9–26–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

Federal Transit Administration 

Environmental Impact Statement; 

Portland, OR and Vancouver/Clark 

County, WA 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT) and Federal 

Transit Administration (FTA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Highway 

Administration and Federal Transit 

Administration are issuing this notice to 

advise the public that an Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared 

for proposed highway and transit 

improvements in the Interstate 5 

Columbia River Crossing (CRC) corridor 

between the Portland, Oregon and 

Vancouver/Clark County, Washington 

area. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steve Saxton, Area Engineer, Federal 

Highway Administration, Washington 

Division at 360–753–9411, Jeff Graham, 

Operations Engineer, Federal Highway 

Administration, Oregon Division at 

503–587–4727 and from Linda Gehrke, 

Deputy Regional Administrator, Federal 

Transit Administration, at 206–220–

4463. 

Public information contact: Amy 

Echols, CRC Communications Manager, 

Washington State Department of 

Transportation (WSDOT) at 360–737–

2726 or 

echolsa@columbiarivercrossing.org. 

Agency Coordination contact: Heather 

Gundersen, CRC Environmental 

Manager, Oregon Department of 

Transportation (ODOT), at 360–737–

2726 or 

gundersenh@columbiarivercrossing.org. 

Additional information on the 

Columbia River Crossing Project can 

also be found on the project Web site at 

http://www..columbiarivercrossing.org. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Action Background 

The FHWA and FTA, as Federal colead agencies, the Washington State 

Department of Transportation (WSDOT), 

Oregon Department of Transportation 

(ODOT), Southwest Washington 

Regional Transportation Council (RTC), 

Metropolitan Service District (Metro), 

Clark County Public Transportation 

Benefit Area Authority (C–TRAN), and 

Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation 

District of Oregon (TriMet), will prepare 

an environmental impact statement 

(EIS) on proposed highway and transit 

improvements in the I–5 Columbia 

River Crossing corridor between the 

Portland, Oregon and Vancouver/Clark 

County, Washington area. The Columbia 

River Crossing study area generally 

encompasses the I–5 corridor from the 

I–5/I–405 interchange in Portland, 

Oregon in the south to the I–5/I–205 

merge in Clark County, Washington in 

the north. 

The existing I–5 crossing of the 

Columbia River is two side-by-side 

bridges, built in 1917 and 1958. In 1982 

another river crossing—the Interstate 

205 Glenn Jackson Bridge—opened 

approximately six miles to the east. 

Together, the two crossings connect the 

greater Portland-Vancouver region, 

carrying over 260,000 trips across the 

Columbia River daily. Growth in the 

region’s population and border-toborder commerce is straining the 

capacity of the two crossings. This has 

resulted in trip diversion, unmet travel 

demand and hours of daily congestion 

that stalls commuters and delay freight, 

adversely affecting interstate traffic and 

commerce. 

In 1998, the Washington State 

Department of Transportation (WSDOT) 

and Oregon Department of 

Transportation (ODOT) formed a bi-state 

partnership to study transportation and 

potential solutions in the I–5 Columbia 

River Crossing corridor. ODOT and 

WSDOT engaged local jurisdictions and 

agencies, businesses, neighborhoods, 

and interest groups in Washington and 

Oregon to plan and implement 

improvements along the I–5 corridor 

between the Portland metropolitan area 

and Vancouver in southern Clark 

County, Washington. Two studies 

resulted from this initial work: the 

Portland/Vancouver I–5 Trade Corridor 

Freight Feasibility and Needs 

Assessment Study Final Report, 

completed in 2000, and the Portland/ 

Vancouver I–5 Transportation and 

Trade Partnership Final Strategic Plan, 

completed in 2002. This bi-state work 

included a variety of recommendations 

for corridor-wide improvements, traffic 

management and improvements in the 

I–5 Bridge Influence Area (BIA)—an 

approximately 5-mile section of the I–5 

corridor extending from the SR 500 

interchange north of the river to 

Columbia Boulevard south of the river. 

Other significant transportation 

studies in the corridor include the 

South/North Major Investment Study 

(MIS) Final Report (1995) and the 

South/North Corridor Project Draft EIS 

(1998). These studies investigated a 

variety of high capacity transit corridors 

and modes between the Portland, 

Oregon area and Vancouver/Clark 

County, Washington. 

Building on the previous studies, the 

I–5 Transportation and Trade 

Partnership Strategic Plan (2002), called 

for adding capacity over the Columbia 

River with a replacement bridge or by 

supplementing existing I–5 bridges to 

ease impacts of bottlenecks on local 

travel and interstate commerce. Another 

recommendation called for considering 

high-capacity transit improvements in 

the area of the I–5 Interstate Bridge over 

the Columbia River. The studies also 

stressed looking at a range of financing 

options, increasing general purpose lane 

capacity to three lanes where there are 

currently two at Delta Park and ensuring 

that low-income and minority 

populations within the corridor are 

involved in planning. ODOT is 

undertaking an Environmental 

Assessment at Delta Park. The Columbia 

River Crossing Project will study thse 

recommendations as well as others 

associated with the Bridge Influence 

Area. 

Alternatives 

A reasonable range of alternatives, 

including those identified in the 

Portland/Vancouver I–5 Transportation 

and Trade Partnership Final Strategic 

Plan and the South/North Corridor 

Project Draft EIS, will be considered. 

The EIS will include a range of highway 

and transit build alternatives, as well as 

a No-Build Alternative. 

Probable Effects 

FHWA, FTA, WSDOT, ODOT, RTC, 

Metro, C–TRAN, and TriMet will 

56524 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 186 / Tuesday, September 27, 2005 / Notices 

evaluate significant transportation, 

environmental, social, and economic 

impacts of the alternatives. Potential 

areas of impact include: support of state, 

regional, and local land use and 

transportation plans and policies, 

neighborhoods, land use and 

economics, cultural resources, 

environmental justice, and natural 

resources. All impacts will be evaluated 

for both the construction period and the 

long-term period of operation. Measures 

to avoid, minimize and mitigate any 

significant impacts will be developed. 

Scoping Process 

Agency Coordination: The project 

sponsors are working with the local, 

state and federal resource agencies to 

implement regular opportunities for 

coordination during the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

process. This process will comply with 

SAFETEA–LU Section 6002. 

Tribal Coordination: The formal 

Tribal government consultation will 

occur through government-togovernment collaboration. 

Public Meetings: Three public 

information meetings will be held in 

October 2005, including: 

• Saturday, October 22, 2005, 11 

a.m.–2 p.m., at the Jantzen Beach Super 

Center (central mall area), 1405 Jantzen 

Beach Center, Portland, Oregon; 

• Tuesday, October 25, 2005, 4 p.m.–

8 p.m., at Clark College, Gaiser Hall, 

1800 E. McLoughlin Blvd., Vancover, 

Washington 98663; and 

• Thursday, October 27, 2005, 4 

p.m.–8 p.m., at OAME (Oregon 

Association of Minority Enterpreneurs) 

Main Conference Room, 4134 N. 

Vancouver St. (at N. Skidmore St.), 

Portland, OR 97211. 

All public information meeting 

locations are accessible to persons with 

disabilities. Any individual who 

requires special assistance, such as a 

sign language interpreter, should 

contact Amy Echols, CRC 

Communications Manager at 360–737–

2726 or 

echolsa@columbiarivercrossing.org at 

least 48-hours in advance of the meeting 

in order for WSDOT or ODOT to make 

necessary arrangement. 

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 interested parties. 

Comments or questions concerning this 

proposal will be accepted at the public 

meetings or can be sent to the Columbia 

River Crossing project office at 700 

Washington Street, Suite 222, 

Vancouver, WA 98660 or to Heather 

Gundersen at 

gundersenh@columbiarivercrossing.org 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning 

and Construction. The regulations 

implementing Executive Order 12372 

regarding intergovernmental consultation on 

Federal programs and activities apply to this 

program.) 

Issued on: September 20, 2005. 

Steve Saxton, 

Area Engineer, Washington Division, Federal 

Highway Administration. 

Linda M. Gehre, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 10, 

Federal Transit Administration. 

[FR Doc. 05–19230 Filed 9–26–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration 

[Docket No. PHMSA–05–21747; Notice 2] 

Pipeline Safety: Grant of Waiver; 

Southern LNG 

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA); U.S. Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Grant of Waiver; Southern LNG. 

SUMMARY: Southern LNG (SLNG) 

requested a waiver of compliance from 

the regulatory requirements at 49 CFR 

193.2301, which requires each liquefied 

natural gas (LNG) facility constructed 

after March 31, 2000, to comply with 49 

CFR part 193 and the National Fire 

Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 

NFPA 59A ‘‘Standard for Production, 

Storage, and Handling of Liquefied 

Natural Gas.’’

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

SLNG, an El Paso Company, requested 

a waiver from § 193.2301. This 

regulation requires each LNG facility 

constructed after March 31, 2000, to 

comply with 49 CFR part 193 and 

Standard NFPA 59A. 

Standard NFPA 59A requires that 

welded containers designed for not 

more than 15 pounds per square inch 

gauge comply with the Eighth Edition, 

1990, of American Petroleum Institute 

(API) Standard API 620, ‘‘Design and 

Construction of Large, Welded, LowPressure Storage Tanks (Appendix Q).’’

The Eighth Edition of API 620 requires 

inspection according to Appendix Q 

which calls for a full radiographic 

examination of all vertical and 

horizontal butt welds associated with 

the container. 

SLNG is proposing to use the current 

Tenth Edition, Addendum 1, of API 620. 

The Tenth Edition, Addendum 1, of API 

620, allows ultrasonic examination—in 

lieu of radiography—as an acceptable 

alternative non-destructive testing 

method. SLNG proposes to use 

ultrasonic examination on its project, 

which consists of full semi-automated 

and manual ultrasonic examination 

using shear wave probes. SLNG also 

proposes to use a volumetric ultrasonic 

examination which combines creep 

wave probes and focused angled 

longitudinal waive probes. 

Findings 

PHMSA considered SLNG’s waiver 

request and published a notice inviting 

interested persons to comment on 

whether a waiver should be granted (70 

FR 40781; July 14, 2005). There were 

two comments from the public in 

response to the notice; both were in 

support of the waiver. 

One commenter, a member of the API 

Committee on Refinery Equipment, 

Subcommittee on Pressure Vessels and 

Tanks, said that the use of ultrasonic 

examination in lieu of radiographic 

examination for large LNG tanks 

improves jobsite safety because it 

eliminates the hazards of radiation 

exposure. This commenter also said that 

ultrasonic examination is more capable 

than radiographic examination for 

detecting crack-like weld defects. 

The other commenter provided a copy 

of NFPA 59A Report on Comments, 

dated May 2005 and stated that the 

NFPA 59A Committee approved the 

latest edition of API 620. 

The 2006 edition of NFPA 59A was 

approved as an American National 

Standard on August 18, 2005. 

Grant of Waiver 

In its Report on Comments, dated May 

2005, the NFPA 59A Committee 

accepted in principle the latest edition 

of API 620, Tenth Edition, Addendum 1. 

The Tenth Edition, Addendum 1, of API 

620 adds ultrasonic examination as an 

acceptable method of examination. The 

Tenth Edition, Addendum 1, of API 620 

indicates that both radiographic and 

ultrasonic examination are acceptable 

means of testing. 

For the reasons explained above and 

in the Notice dated July 14, 2005, 

PHMSA finds that the requested waiver 

is consistent with pipeline safety and 

that an equivalent level of safety can be 

achieved. Therefore, SLNG’s request for 

waiver of compliance with § 193.2301 is 

granted.