Notice To Rescind a Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Southern Evacuation Life Line Project in Georgetown and Horry Counties, SC

Emily O. Lawton
Federal Highway Administration
7 September 2018

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 174 (Friday, September 7, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 45480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19445]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


Notice To Rescind a Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Southern Evacuation Life Line Project in 
Georgetown and Horry Counties, SC

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice to rescind a Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that, 
effective immediately, we are rescinding a Notice of Intent (NOI) to 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed 
Southern Evacuation Life Line (SELL) project in Georgetown and Horry 
counties, South Carolina.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily O. Lawton, Division 
Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, Strom Thurmond Federal 
Building, 1835 Assembly Street, Suite 1270, Columbia, South Carolina 
29201, Telephone: (803) 765-5411, Email: emily.lawton@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FHWA, in cooperation with the South 
Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), issued a NOI on March 
17, 2006, to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on a 
proposal for a new alignment roadway, known as the Southern Evacuation 
Life Line (SELL), located in Georgetown and Horry counties, South 
Carolina. The purpose of the project was to establish a new alignment 
hurricane evacuation route for the southeastern portion of Horry County 
and the northeastern portion of Georgetown County in South Carolina, 
between U.S. 17 near Garden City, SC, and U.S. 501 near Aynor, SC. The 
FHWA was initially involved as the lead federal agency for this project 
as there was a federal earmark of $4 million being used for the project 
that was being administered by FHWA. A Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) was prepared and a Notice of Availability was issued 
on August 15, 2008. However, the proposed project was postponed after 
the DEIS was published due a lack of funding at that time. The $4 
million from the federal earmark that was being administered by FHWA 
was completely expended for this effort.
    In late 2016, Horry County passed the RIDE III Capital Project 
Sales Tax program, which included an allocation of $25 million for the 
SELL project to fund preliminary engineering (including the preparation 
of a new environmental impact statement), as well as right-of-way 
acquisition, should a build alternative be selected for the project.
    Since the federal earmark has been completely expended, and no new 
federal-aid highway program funding has been identified for the 
project, FHWA no longer has a federal action per Title 23 of the U.S. 
Code. In addition, given the amount of time that has passed since the 
DEIS was completed, SCDOT and Horry County will essentially need to 
restart the NEPA process for the project. Due to this, the FHWA is 
issuing a Notice to Rescind the Notice of Intent to prepare and EIS for 
the SELL project that was initially issued March 17, 2006.

    Dated: August 31, 2018.
Emily O. Lawton,
Division Administrator, Columbia, South Carolina.
[FR Doc. 2018-19445 Filed 9-6-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-22-P