Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, US Route 460, Prince George County to City of Suffolk, VA

William T. Walker
Department of Defense
October 3, 2014

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 192 (Friday, October 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59759-59760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23356]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, US Route 460, 
Prince George County to City of Suffolk, VA

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The United States Department of the Army Corps of Engineers 
(USACE) is issuing this notice to advise the public that a Draft 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) has been prepared 
jointly with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and in 
cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for 
the Route 460 Location Study. The study area extends from I-295 in 
Prince George County on the western end to Route 58 in the City of 
Suffolk on the eastern end. (USACE Project Number NAO-2008-03470; FHWA 
Project Number STP-0005(276); VDOT Project Number 0460-969-101,P101; 
UPC 100432).

DATES: Written comments on the Draft SEIS will be received until the 
close of the 45-day public review on November 17, 2014, and can be sent 
to USACE and/or FHWA (see ADDRESSES).

ADDRESSES: William T. Walker, Chief Regulatory Branch, Corps of 
Engineers, 803 Front Street, Norfolk, VA 23510; Ed Sundra, Director of 
Program Development, Federal Highway Administration, 400 North 8th St., 
Suite 750, Richmond, VA 23219.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the SEIS can be 
directed to Alice Allen-Grimes, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Regulatory Branch, 803 Front Street, Norfolk, VA 23510; email: 
Alice.W.Allen-Grimes@usace.army.mil; (757) 201-7219 and/or Ed Sundra, 
Federal Highway Administration, 400 North 8th Street, Suite 750, 
Richmond, VA 23219; email: Ed.Sundra@dot.gov; (804) 775-3357.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This SEIS has been prepared pursuant to 23 
CFR 771.130 and 40 CFR 1502.9(c), because of new information and 
circumstances relevant to environmental concerns of the federal action 
that may result in significant environmental impacts not evaluated in 
the FHWA approved Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).
    1. Project Description and Background: An FEIS for the Route 460 
Location Study was approved by FHWA in June 2008 and a ROD was issued 
in September 2008. In November 2012, based upon the information before 
them at the time, FHWA completed a National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) Re-evaluation of the FEIS, concluding that an SEIS was not 
needed. Based on new information bearing on the environmental impacts, 
including the aquatic impacts, it was later decided that an SEIS is 
required. The Notice of Intent to Prepare this SEIS, published in 
December 2013, indicated that USACE had received an application for the 
construction of a Route 460 project; that application was withdrawn in 
March 2014.
    US Route 460 (Route 460) is a primary east-west arterial highway 
that traverses the Commonwealth of Virginia. From Interstate 295 (I-
295) in Prince George County to US Route 58 (Route 58) in the City of 
Suffolk, Route 460 is a four lane, undivided arterial roadway with 
posted speeds of 35 to 55 miles per hour (mph). This eastern segment of 
the road was built in the mid-1930s as a two-lane roadway. In the mid-
1950s, two lanes were added, widening Route 460 to four undivided 
travel lanes. In the study area Route 460 is approximately 55 miles in 
length and passes through portions of the Counties of Prince George, 
Surry,

[[Page 59760]]

Sussex, Southampton and Isle of Wight; the City of Suffolk; the 
incorporated towns of Waverly, Wakefield, Ivor, and Windsor; and the 
unincorporated communities of Disputanta and Zuni.
    2. Alternatives: The purpose of the improvements to the Route 460 
corridor is to construct a facility that is consistent with the 
functional classification of the corridor, sufficiently addresses 
safety, mobility and evacuation needs, and sufficiently accommodates 
freight traffic along the Route 460 corridor between Petersburg and 
Suffolk, Virginia. The SEIS provides detailed analysis of five 
alternatives (Alternatives 1-5) that meet the Purpose and Need for the 
project as well as applicable design standards, plus the No Build 
Alternative. The Build Alternatives have been developed using varying 
typical sections based on design standards and site specific conditions 
to determine the design corridor width that will likely be needed to 
accommodate construction and estimate the extent of impacts associated 
with each alternative.
    Some of the Alternatives considered in the SEIS are different than 
the alternatives in the original EIS. Transportation Systems Management 
and Improvements to the Existing Alignment with a two-way left turn 
lane were evaluated in the EIS, but were eliminated in the SEIS, along 
with Mass Transit, which was considered for both the EIS and the SEIS 
but not retained in either. Alternatives retained from the EIS include 
the No Build; Alternative 1 (a limited-access tolled facility on new 
location south of the existing Route 460; the Preferred Alternative in 
the 2008 FEIS); Alternative 2 (improvements to the existing Route 460 
with six limited access bypasses around the built-up areas; the four 
lane typical section between the towns is not the same as in the 
original EIS); and Alternative 3 (a limited-access tolled facility on 
new location north of the existing Route 460). In addition, two 
alternatives not previously evaluated were developed as part of the 
SEIS and carried forward: Alternative 4 (improvements of existing Route 
460 to meet current design standards, through the towns with no 
bypasses); and Alternative 5 (8-lanes--4 limited-access tolled lanes 
with 2 bi-directional service lanes on each side between the towns--on 
the same general location as Alternative 2 along the existing roadway 
with bypasses).
    3. Issues: There are several potential environmental and social 
issues that are addressed in the SEIS. Additional issues may be 
identified as part of the public comment process. Issues identified as 
potentially significant and varying depending on the Build Alternative 
considered include:
    a. Potential impacts to wetlands ranging from 90 to 613 acres.
    b. Potential impacts to streams ranging from 4 to 13 linear miles.
    c. Potential displacements to residences of 78 to 167.
    d. Potential displacements to businesses of 12 to 54.
    e. Potential impacts to historic architectural resources.
    f. Potential impacts to wildlife habitat, including riparian 
corridors.
    g. Disruption of communities.
    h. Potential impacts to designated conservation areas.
    i. Cost and tolling.

    4. Scoping and Public Review Process: Throughout the development of 
the project, a variety of scoping and public involvement opportunities 
were provided to alert the public about the project, provide 
information and updates, and solicit feedback. These opportunities 
included but were not limited to a series of public hearings in the 
corridor when the DEIS was issued in 2005 and a series of public 
meetings in 2007 to evaluate conceptual proposals received from the 
private sector in response to the solicitation of private-public 
proposals. Most recently, VDOT hosted public meetings in 2012 and 2014 
to update the public on the project. Public meetings will be conducted 
on October 27, 29 and 30 by VDOT, with FHWA and USACE in attendance. 
VDOT has provided information for the public meetings, including time 
and location, through a variety of means, including their Web site 
(http://www.route460project.org/) and by newspaper advertisement.
    5. Additional Review and Consultation: The SEIS complies with other 
Federal and State requirements including, but not limited to, the State 
water quality certification under Section 401 of the CWA; protection of 
water quality under the Virginia/National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System; consideration of minority and low income 
populations under Executive Order 12898; protection of endangered and 
threatened species under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act; and 
protection of cultural resources under Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act.
    6. Availability of the Draft SEIS: This Draft SEIS has been filed 
with the Environmental Protection Agency, published and circulated. A 
copy of the full document including all Technical Reports can be found 
at http://www.route460project.org/SEIS. In addition, hard copies of the 
SEIS can be found in area libraries and other public facilities, the 
locations of which can be found on the VDOT project Web site (address 
above).

William T. Walker,
Chief, Regulatory Branch U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk 
District.
[FR Doc. 2014-23356 Filed 10-2-14; 8:45 am]
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