Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 31 / Thursday, February 14, 2008 / Notices 8737 

1 14 CFR part 93, subpart K. 

please contact John V. Wells, Chief 

Economist, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, (202) 366–9224, 

jack.wells@dot.gov. 

John V. Wells, 

Chief Economist, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Designated Federal Official. 

[FR Doc. E8–2678 Filed 2–13–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

[Docket No. FAA–2007–29320] 

Operating Limitations at John F. 

Kennedy International Airport; Notice 

of Order 

AGENCY: Department of Transportation, 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

ACTION: Notice of Order. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) is amending the 

Order Limiting Scheduled Operations at 

John F. Kennedy International Airport 

that published in the Federal Register 

on January 18, 2008. This amendment 

corrects technical errors in the Order. 

Specifically, this amendment clarifies 

that the use-or-lose provisions of the 

Order will mirror the IATA Worldwide 

Scheduling Guidelines; changes the 

office within the FAA responsible for 

handling appeals from the Air Traffic 

Organization to the Office of the Chief 

Counsel; and provides for a five-day 

notification period in the event a carrier 

transfers an operation within a 

marketing code for irregular operations. 

This document also clarifies several 

aspects of the Order without 

substantively changing the applicable 

requirements. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rebecca MacPherson, Assistant Chief 

Counsel for Regulations, Office of the 

Chief Counsel, AGC–200, Federal 

Aviation Administration, 800 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 

267–3073. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 18, 2008 the FAA published the 

Order Limiting Scheduled Operations at 

John F. Kennedy International Airport 

(JFK) (Order) in the Federal Register (73 

FR 3510). The Order establishes a 

temporary limitation on the number of 

scheduled operations at JFK. The Acting 

Administrator of the FAA issued the 

order as a result of a persistent number 

of flights above capacity at JFK during 

the peak operating hours. The FAA 

intends the Order, as amended today, to 

relieve the substantial inconvenience to 

the traveling public caused by excessive 

congestion-related flight delays at the 

airport, which magnify as they spread 

through the National Airspace System. 

Among other things, the order will 

reduce the average length of delays and 

provide for a more efficient use of the 

nation’s airspace. The order takes effect 

at 6 a.m., Eastern Time, on March 30, 

2008, and will expire at 11:59 p.m., 

Eastern Time, on October 24, 2009. The 

limits apply to all air carrier and foreign 

air carrier scheduled operations, 

excluding helicopters, from 6 a.m., 

Eastern Time, through 10:59 p.m., 

Eastern Time. 

This amendment corrects technical 

errors in the Order. Specifically, this 

amendment clarifies that the use-or-lose 

provisions of the Order will mirror the 

IATA Worldwide Scheduling 

Guidelines (WSG); changes the office 

within the FAA responsible for 

handling appeals from the Air Traffic 

Organization to the Office of the Chief 

Counsel; and provides for a five-day 

notification period in the event a carrier 

transfers an operation within a 

marketing code for irregular operations. 

This document also clarifies several 

aspects of the Order without 

substantively changing the applicable 

requirements. 

Changes to the Order 

Use-or-Lose Provisions 

As noted in the preamble to the Order 

published in January 2008, the FAA will 

calculate use-or-lose based on the WSG. 

The use-or-lose provision articulated in 

the Order largely mirrored the approach 

we have historically taken under the 

High Density Rule (HDR) 1 and the 

orders limiting operations at Chicago 

O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and 

LaGuardia Airport (LGA). The 

requirement articulated in the Order 

was in error, and the language in 

paragraph nine of the Order has been 

amended to reflect the agency’s intent. 

Under a strict seasonal use-or-lose 

provision, an operation that did not 

commence until June, or ended in 

September, would be returned to the 

slot coordinator for reallocation for the 

following summer season because the 

slot would not be used at least 80% of 

the time. The WSG protects seasonal or 

newly initiated service by allowing the 

carrier to declare in advance the stop 

and start dates of service. 

Under the WSG, carriers are required 

to inform the coordinator of their 

intended summer and winter operations 

by January 31 and August 31, 

respectively. Any operations not 

declared by these dates are surrendered 

and are not given historical status for 

the subsequent applicable scheduling 

season. However, they also are not 

counted against a carrier’s slot holdings 

when determining use-or-lose. Thus, if 

a carrier were to advise the FAA that it 

would commence operations on June 1, 

2008 and cease those operations on 

August 31, the only timeframe for 

determining use-or-lose would be June 1 

through August 31, even though the 

summer scheduling season runs from 

March 30 to October 25. Assuming the 

carrier conducted enough flights under 

an Operating Authorization (OA) in the 

June through August timeframe to 

receive historical recognition, it would 

be given the OA for summer 2009 from 

June 1 through August 31. 

The FAA believes this approach has 

merit. A strict seasonal use-or-lose 

policy would require carriers to operate 

flights on the shoulders of a scheduling 

season just to assure they would not 

lose the related OA. This unnecessary 

service would have the effect of 

increasing congestion during the spring 

and fall. 

Accordingly, we are amending the 

Order to specify that for purposes of 

use-or-lose and historical allocation for 

subsequent seasons, carriers must tell 

the FAA when a particular operation 

will start and stop. Because it is too late 

to meet the submission date specified in 

the WSG for summer 2008, carriers who 

wish to have less than the entire 

summer season subject to the use-orlose provision must report usage for this 

upcoming summer by February 29, 

2008. Carriers are encouraged to submit 

information on all service scheduled for 

summer 2009 by February 29, to assist 

the FAA in finalizing schedules as soon 

as possible. Notification to the FAA for 

winter 2008/2009 and summer 2009 

schedules will follow the WSG. For 

purposes of the winter 2008/2009 

scheduling season, historic usage rights 

will be determined by the appendix to 

the Order since there were no capacity 

restraints at JFK in the 2007 winter 

scheduling season. The FAA will 

receive initial schedule requests for the 

winter 2008/2009 scheduling season by 

the May 15 deadline and coordinate 

with carriers at the June 2008 IATA 

Schedules Conference. 

Paragraph nine of the Order also 

requires carriers to report on usage 

within 14 days for every two-month 

reporting period. Since the WSG use-orlose requirement applies to an entire 

scheduling season, there is no need for 

carriers to report to the FAA every two 

months. That requirement has been 

changed. First, the FAA does not believe 

it needs reports every two months. One 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
8738 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 31 / Thursday, February 14, 2008 / Notices 

option would be for the FAA to merely 

require a report be filed at the end of the 

scheduling season. However, the 

coordination process for allocating OAs 

for the following season begins 

approximately six weeks before the end 

of the season. The beginning of this 

coordination process requires the 

coordinator to notify carriers of tentative 

historical allocations. The FAA needs to 

know a carrier’s usage rate before it can 

provide even a tentative historical 

allocation. Accordingly, the FAA has 

decided to replace the bimonthly 

reporting requirement with a 

requirement that carriers provide an 

interim report approximately two 

months before the end of the scheduling 

season, and a final report at the end of 

the season. 

Some carriers have requested that 

they be allowed 30 days to submit their 

reports rather than 14. As discussed in 

the preamble to the Order published in 

January 2008, OAs are allocated on a 

daily basis, and the use-or-lose 

requirements apply separately to each 

day in the week that a carrier conducts 

a specific operation. Under the HDR, the 

use-or-lose provisions applied to a 

specific operation for which a slot had 

been allocated regardless of how many 

days a week the slot was used. 

While the FAA does not believe a 

seasonal reporting requirement is 

significantly more burdensome than a 

bi-monthly requirement, we 

acknowledge that the determination of 

use-or-lose based on a daily OA 

allowance, rather than the weekly 

allowance contemplated under past useor-lose regimes, means that a carrier 

could have to account for up to seven 

times as many OAs as it would under 

the requirements in the HDR and the 

ORD and LGA orders. Accordingly, we 

believe it is reasonable to extend the 

period for submitting a final usage 

report from 14 days to 30. 

Because carriers may choose to 

initiate operations after the 

commencement of a scheduling season, 

or cease operations prior to the end of 

the season, there may be some available 

capacity in the shoulder periods of both 

the summer and winter scheduling 

seasons. In general, the FAA believes 

not reallocating this capacity is 

beneficial because it should result in 

further delay reductions. However, the 

FAA also recognizes that some of this 

capacity could be reintroduced into the 

system without significantly impacting 

delay. The agency also realizes that a 

carrier may have a short-term need to 

conduct operations during these time 

periods. Accordingly, a carrier may 

request that the FAA allow it to 

temporarily operate a flight at a time 

period where there is some newly 

available capacity. Paragraph 10 has 

been amended to reflect this possibility. 

The FAA retains full discretion to 

determine whether to allow these 

additional operations. in addition, these 

operations will not be afforded 

historical status when determining OAs 

for the next applicable season. Any 

longer-term capacity returned by virtue 

of the Order’s use-or-lose provisions 

would be reallocated for the next 

applicable season via an auction 

procedure. 

The Appendix to the Order shows 

allocations based on a peak week in 

August 2007. Many carriers, especially 

foreign flag carriers, have provided the 

FAA with information on dates of 

operation either with the initial 

schedule submission at the IATA 

Schedules Conference or in subsequent 

schedule requests. The FAA has 

previously acted on that information 

and the Appendix is not meant to 

supersede any prior confirmations that 

carriers may have received. Most 

domestic operators have not specified 

seasonal adjustments in their requests. 

Once carriers have told us when they 

expect to operate flights for purposes of 

use-or-lose and historical allocation, the 

FAA will update the allocation records 

to reflect actual anticipated operations. 

Carriers seeking confirmation of their 

allocation may contact the slot office 

directly. However, schedules previously 

confirmed by the FAA do not require 

reconfirmation. 

Appeal of Decisions 

Paragraph 1c of the Order originally 

specified that the FAA Vice President, 

System Operations Services, is the final 

decision-maker for determinations 

regarding the assignment of an OA to 

conduct an arrival or departure at JFK 

during the affected hours. This 

provision was designed to address 

clerical errors or other adjustments to 

the Appendix to the order. However, the 

FAA realizes that there would be other 

decisions that a carrier may wish to 

appeal to the FAA. Because these issues 

would likely relate to a legal 

interpretation by the Office of the Chief 

Counsel rather than a purely operational 

issue, the FAA has decided the Chief 

Counsel should be the final decisionmaker for all appeals to the agency 

under the Order. In addition, since the 

Office of the Chief Counsel handled all 

appeals under the HDR, it has the 

greatest experience in this area. 

Obviously, the operational arms of the 

FAA would be consulted on all matters 

under appeal. Paragraph 1c of the Order 

has been amended accordingly. 

Transaction Paperwork for Irregular 

Operations 

Paragraph seven of the Order 

addresses the transfer of OAs, including 

day-of-transfers among carriers under 

the same marketing control to address 

irregular operations. The Order 

originally specified that the FAA must 

be informed of these transactions within 

three days (72 hours). This provision 

was intended to mirror the comparable 

provision in the LGA Order. That order 

was amended to extend the reporting 

requirement to five days (72 FR 63224, 

November 8, 2007). As the FAA 

intended to mirror the existing 

requirement at LGA, paragraph seven 

has been changed to specify that the 

FAA must be notified of same day 

transfers within five days. 

Clarification of the Order 

OA Management 

The FAA has received questions 

regarding the management of OAs in 15 

or 30-minute increments. The appendix 

to the Order allocates OAs in 15-minute 

increments. However, the FAA will 

track arrivals and departures in 30- 

minute intervals. 

Codeshare Partners 

Some carriers have indicated that the 

requirement under the Order that OAs 

be held by the operating carrier rather 

than the marketing carrier is 

inconsistent with common practice 

internationally. The FAA continues to 

believe that the OAs should actually be 

held by the operator actually conducting 

the flight. This position is consistent 

with how we have handled slots under 

the HDR and arrival and operations 

authorizations at ORD and LGA. 

The Amended Order 

Because this amendment merely 

corrects technical errors and provides 

further clarification, the FAA is not 

seeking public comment on the changes. 

For the convenience of the affected 

parties, the Order is recited below in its 

entirety. 

With respect to scheduled flight 

operations at JFK, it is ordered that: 

1. This Order assigns operating 

authority to conduct an arrival or a 

departure at JFK during the affected 

hours to the U.S. air carrier or foreign 

air carrier identified in the appendix to 

this Order. The FAA will not assign 

operating authority under this Order to 

any person or entity other than a 

certificated U.S. or foreign air carrier 

with appropriate economic authority 

and FAA operating authority under 14 

CFR part 121, 129, or 135. This Order 

applies to the following: 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 31 / Thursday, February 14, 2008 / Notices 8739 

a. All U.S. air carriers and foreign air 

carriers conducting scheduled 

operations at JFK as of the date of this 

Order, any U.S. air carrier or foreign air 

carrier that operates under the same 

designator code as such carrier, and any 

air carrier or foreign-flag carrier that has 

or enters into a codeshare agreement 

with such carrier. 

b. All U.S. air carriers or foreign air 

carriers initiating scheduled or regularly 

conducted commercial service to JFK 

while this Order is in effect. 

c. The Chief Counsel of the FAA, in 

consultation with the Vice President, 

System Operations Services, is the final 

decision-maker for determinations 

under this Order. 

2. This Order governs scheduled 

arrivals and departures at JFK from 6 

a.m. through 10:59 p.m., Eastern Time, 

Sunday through Saturday. 

3. This Order takes effect on March 

30, 2008, and expires at 11:59 p.m., 

Eastern Time, on October 24, 2009. 

4. Under the authority provided to the 

Secretary of Transportation and the 

FAA Administrator by 49 U.S.C. 40101, 

40103 and 40113, we hereby order that: 

a. No U.S. air carriers or foreign air 

carriers initiating or conducting 

scheduled or regularly conducted 

commercial service to JFK may conduct 

such operations without an Operating 

Authorization assigned by the FAA. 

b. Except as provided in the appendix 

to this Order, scheduled U.S. air carrier 

and foreign air carrier arrivals and 

departures will not exceed 81 per hour 

from 6 a.m. through 10:59 p.m., Eastern 

Time. 

c. The Administrator may change the 

limits if he determines that capacity 

exists to accommodate additional 

operations without a significant increase 

in delays. 

5. For administrative tracking 

purposes only, the FAA will assign an 

identification number to each Operating 

Authorization. 

6. A carrier holding an Operating 

Authorization may request the 

Administrator’s approval to move any 

arrival or departure scheduled from 6 

a.m. through 10:59 p.m. to another half 

hour within that period. Except as 

provided in paragraph seven, the carrier 

must receive the written approval of the 

Administrator, or his delegate, prior to 

conducting any scheduled arrival or 

departure that is not listed in the 

appendix to this Order. All requests to 

move an allocated Operating 

Authorization must be submitted to the 

FAA Slot Administration Office, 

facsimile (202) 267–7277 or e-mail 

7-AWA-Slotadmin@faa.gov, and must 

come from a designated representative 

of the carrier. If the FAA cannot approve 

a carrier’s request to move a scheduled 

arrival or departure, the carrier may 

then apply for a trade in accordance 

with paragraph seven. 

7. A carrier may lease or trade an 

Operating Authorization to another 

carrier for any consideration, not to 

exceed the duration of this Order. 

Notice of a trade or lease under this 

paragraph must be submitted in writing 

to the FAA Slot Administration Office, 

facsimile (202) 26707277 or e-mail 

7-AWA-Slotadmin@faa.gov, and must 

come from a designated representative 

of each carrier. The FAA must confirm 

and approve these transactions in 

writing prior to the effective date of the 

transaction. The FAA will approve 

transfers between carriers under the 

same marketing control up to five 

business days after the actual operation, 

but only to accommodate operational 

disruptions that occur on the same day 

of the scheduled operation. 

8. A carrier may not buy, sell, trade, 

or transfer an operating authorization, 

except as described in paragraph seven. 

9. Historical rights to Operating 

Authorizations and withdrawal of those 

rights due to insufficient usage will be 

determined on a seasonal basis and in 

accordance with the schedule approved 

by the FAA prior to the commencement 

of the applicable season. 

a. For each day of the week that the 

FAA has approved an operating 

schedule, any Operating Authorization 

not used at least 80% of the time over 

the time-frame authorized by the FAA 

under this paragraph will be withdrawn 

by the FAA for the next applicable 

season except: 

i. The FAA will treat as used any 

Operating Authorization held by a 

carrier on Thanksgiving Day, the Friday 

following Thanksgiving Day, and the 

period from December 24 through the 

first Saturday in January. 

ii. The Administrator of the FAA may 

waive the 80% usage requirement in the 

event of a highly unusual and 

unpredictable condition which is 

beyond the control of the carrier and 

which affects carrier operations for a 

period of five consecutive days or more. 

b. Each carrier holding an Operating 

Authorization must forward in writing 

to the FAA Slot Administration Office a 

list of all Operating Authorizations held 

by the carrier along with a listing of the 

Operating Authorizations and: 

i. The dates within each applicable 

season it intends to commence and 

complete operations. 

A. For the summer 2008 scheduling 

season, the report must be received by 

the FAA no later than February 29, 

2008, unless the carrier intends to 

utilize its Operating Authorizations for 

the entire scheduling season. 

B. For the winter 2008/2009 

scheduling season, the report must be 

received by the FAA no later than 

August 31, 2008. 

C. For the summer 2009 scheduling 

season, the report must be received by 

the FAA no later than January 31, 2009. 

ii. The completed operations for each 

day of the applicable scheduling season: 

A. No later than September 1 for the 

summer scheduling season: 

B. No later than January 15 for the 

winter scheduling season. 

iii. The completed operations for each 

day of the scheduling season within 30 

days after the last day of the applicable 

scheduling season. 

10. In the event that a carrier 

surrenders to the FAA any Operating 

Authorization assigned to it under this 

Order or if there are unallocated 

Operating Authorizations, the FAA will 

determine whether the unallocated 

Operating Authorizations should be 

reallocated. The FAA may temporarily 

allocate an Operating Authorization at 

its discretion. Such temporary 

allocations will not be entitled to 

historical status for the next applicable 

scheduling season under paragraph 9. 

11. If the FAA determines that a 

reduction in the number of allocated 

Operating Authorizations is required to 

meting operational needs, such as 

reduced airport capacity, the FAA will 

conduct a weighted lottery to withdraw 

Operating Authorizations to meet a 

reduced hourly or half-hourly limit for 

scheduled operations. The FAA will 

provide at least 45 days’ notice unless 

otherwise required by operational 

needs. Any Operating Authorization 

that is withdrawn or temporarily 

suspended will, if reallocated, be 

reallocated to the carrier from which it 

was taken, provided that the carrier 

continues to operate scheduled service 

at JFK. 

12. The FAA will enforce this Order 

through an enforcement action seeking 

a civil penalty under 49 U.S.C. 46301(a). 

A carrier that is not a small business as 

defined in the Small Business Act, 15 

U.S.C. 632, will be liable for a civil 

penalty of up to $25,000 for every day 

that it violates the limits set forth in this 

Order. A carrier that is a small business 

as defined in the Small Business Act 

will be liable for a civil penalty of up 

to $10,000 for every day that it violates 

the limits set forth in this Order. The 

FAA also could file a civil action in U.S. 

District Court, under 49 U.S.C. 46106, 

46107, seeking to enjoin any air carrier 

from violating the terms of this Order. 

13. The FAA may modify or withdraw 

any provision in this Order on its own 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
8740 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 31 / Thursday, February 14, 2008 / Notices 

or on application by any carrier for good 

cause shown. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on February 8, 

2008. 

Kerry B. Long, 

Chief Counsel, Federal Aviation 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 08–661 Filed 2–8–08; 3:55 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

Federal Transit Administration 

Environmental Impact Statement: 

Tappan Zee Bridge/I–287 Corridor 

Between Suffern, NY (Rockland 

County) and Port Chester, NY 

(Westchester County) 

AGENCIES: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA) and Federal 

Transit Administration (FTA), United 

States Department of Transportation 

(DOT). 

ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent. 

SUMMARY: The FHWA and FTA are 

jointly issuing this Revised Notice of 

Intent (NOI) to advise the public of 

modifications to the environmental 

review process for the Tappan Zee 

Bridge/I–287 Corridor Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS). These revisions 

include the intent of FHWA and FTA to 

use a tiered process to facilitate project 

decision-making, and the intent of 

FHWA and FTA to utilize the 

environmental review provisions 

afforded under Section 6002 of the Safe, 

Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 

Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for 

Users (SAFETEA–LU). The EIS will 

build upon the extensive alternatives 

analysis, environmental and technical 

studies and public comments and 

outreach conducted to date, which are 

available online at the project’s Web site 

(www.tzbsite.com). This NOI revises the 

NOI that was published in the Federal 

Register on December 23, 2002. 

The proposed tiering approach will 

allow the joint lead agencies to focus on 

both broad overall corridor issues in a 

Tier 1 transit analysis of general 

alignment and mode choice while 

simultaneously assessing site specific 

impacts, costs and mitigation measures 

in a Tier 2 bridge and highway analysis. 

The scope of analysis in the Tier 1 and 

Tier 2 will be appropriate to the level 

of detail necessary for those documents 

and will receive input from the public 

and reviewing agencies. The intent of 

the joint lead agencies is for the Tier 1 

and Tier 2 analyses to be developed 

concurrently in order to maximize the 

efficiencies and potential for 

multimodal solutions. 

The Tier 1 transit analysis will 

provide the basis for a corridor level 

decision on transit mode(s), 

alignment(s), and logical termini within 

the Corridor and sufficient detail of 

impact assessments and preliminary 

engineering to allow the Tier 2 highway 

and bridge elements to proceed to final 

design and construction. Because the 

transportation needs of the corridor 

require a multimodal solution, the 

highway, bridge, and transit elements 

are intricately tied to one another and 

require iterative and concurrent 

development, analysis and 

consideration up to the decision on 

mode and alignment. Once the transit 

mode and alignment decisions are 

made, the analysis can focus on the 

needs of the corridor which includes the 

structural needs of the existing Tappan 

Zee Bridge and associated highway 

network, while preserving the transit 

corridor within the existing right of 

way. 

Additional purposes of this revised 

NOI are to: 

• Advise the public of lead agency 

roles. 

• Outline how the provisions of 

SAFETEA–LU Section 6002 will be met. 

• Update interested parties regarding 

the current approach to preparing the 

EIS. 

• Provide updated information on the 

proposed project, purpose and need for 

the project, and range of alternatives. 

• Re-invite participation in the EIS 

process, including comments on the 

refined scope of the EIS proposed in this 

notice. 

• Announce the dates, times and 

locations of upcoming scoping update 

meetings. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael P. Anderson, Project Director, 

NYSDOT, 660 White Plains Road, Suite 

340, Tarrytown, NY 10591, Telephone: 

(914) 358–0600; or Willet Schraft, 

Senior Operations Engineer, FHWA, 

New York Division, Leo W. O’Brien 

Federal Building, 7th Floor, Clinton 

Avenue and North Pearl Street, Albany, 

NY 12207, Telephone: (518) 431–4125; 

or Donald Burns, Senior Planner, FTA, 

One Bowling Green, Room 429, New 

York, NY 10004, Telephone: (212) 668–

2170. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

December 23, 2002, the FHWA and 

FTA, in cooperation with the New York 

State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) and 

the Metro-North Railroad, a subsidiary 

of the Metropolitan Transportation 

Authority (MTA/MNR) issued a Notice 

of Intent to prepare an Alternatives 

Analysis (AA) and an Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS) for the I–287 

Corridor in Westchester and Rockland 

Counties, NY (FR Volume 67, No. 246). 

Extensive AA public involvement 

activity has been conducted since 

publication of that NOI such that a 

revised tiered approach is warranted. Of 

considerable note, is that the New York 

State Department of Transportation 

(NYSDOT) has become a sponsoring 

agency and taken on the role of lead 

State project manager. As a sponsoring 

agency, NYSDOT, as well as NYSTA 

and MTA/MNR, are considered Joint 

Lead Agencies for the project under 

SAFETEA–LU. 

1. Scoping 

In January 2003, after the December 

2002 NOI was published, three scoping 

meetings were held: one in Westchester 

County; one in Rockland County; and 

one in Orange County. Public and 

agency comments received during those 

scoping meetings have been 

incorporated into the AA. As a result of 

the initial scoping process which 

included a Level 1 and Level 2 

alternatives screening process, the 

alternatives have been reduced from 150 

alternative elements to six alternatives. 

As a result of the changes in the project 

conditions and approach that have 

precipitated the issuance of this revised 

NOI, scoping update meetings will be 

conducted to obtain current comments 

on the scope of the EIS. To assist 

interested parties in formulating their 

comments, a scoping informational 

packet will be prepared and made 

available upon request from the 

NYSDOT representative identified 

above or online at the project’s Web site 

(www.tzbsite.com). The scoping packet 

will include the project’s purpose and 

need, goals and objectives, range of 

alternatives, environmental issues that 

will be addressed during the course of 

the study and the public and agency 

coordination plan, pursuant to 

SAFETEA–LU. In addition, the scoping 

packet will include the evaluation 

criteria that will be used to conduct a 

third level (‘‘Level 3’’) alternatives 

screening process, which will further 

analyze the remaining alternatives. 

In early 2008, three additional public 

scoping update meetings will be 

conducted, one each in Westchester, 

Rockland and Orange Counties, to 

solicit additional public comments on 

the scope of the EIS. Each meeting will 

run from 4 to 9 p.m. and consist of an 

informal open house setting and two 

formal presentations. Formal 

presentations will be made at 5 p.m. and 

again at 7 p.m. After each presentation, 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES