Action
Notice of intent to prepare a major investment study/draft environmental impact statement (MIS/DEIS).
Summary
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT) intend to prepare a Major Investment Study/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (MIS/DEIS) to study transportation access improvements along the Northern Branch corridor in Bergen County, New Jersey. The MIS/DEIS is being prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, and implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the FTA/Federal Highway Administration's Environmental Impact regulations (23 CFR part 771), and the FTA/FHWA Statewide Planning/Metropolitan Planning regulations (23 CFR part 450). This study will also comply with the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, section 4(f) of the 1966 U.S. Department of Transportation Act, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice, and other applicable rules, regulations, and guidance documents. The purpose of the Northern Branch Corridor MIS/DEIS is to examine solutions for improving mobility in Bergen County, New Jersey and to document the social, economic, and environmental impacts of implementing identified study alternatives. The MIS/DEIS will identify a preferred alternative that will improve mobility within that region. The MIS/DEIS will evaluate Baseline Alternative and a Build Alternative. The Build Alternative under consideration was selected as a result of the findings of the West Shore Region Alternatives Analysis Report (December 1999). The Alternatives Analysis Report recommended an alternative for advancement to the MIS/DEIS phase of the project made up of the following components: West Shore corridor commuter rail service via the Meadowlands Sports Complex; Northern Branch corridor light rail service via Hudson Bergen Light Rail Transit (HBLRT); and NYS&W corridor light rail service via HBLRT. All three of these proposed new rail services would involve construction of new transportation infrastructure, including tracks, stations and yards. This MIS/DEIS will examine the Northern Branch corridor light rail service via HBLRT.