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Notice of Intent To Prepare and Environmental Impact Statement for a Proposed Highway Project, Somerset County, PA and Garrett County, MD Publication: Federal Register Agency: Federal Highway Administration Byline: Alicia E. Nolan Date: 2 June 2023 Subjects: American Government  , Roads & Highways
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 106 (Friday, June 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36355-36359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11794]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
[Docket No. FHWA-2023-0006]
Notice of Intent To Prepare and Environmental Impact Statement
for a Proposed Highway Project, Somerset County, PA and Garrett County,
MD
AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Department of
Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: FHWA in coordination with the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation (PennDOT) and the Maryland Department of Transportation
State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) is issuing the Notice of Intent
(NOI) to solicit comments and advise the public, agencies, and
stakeholders that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be
prepared to study potential improvements to the US 6219, Section 050
Transportation Improvement Project from Meyersdale, PA to Old Salisbury
Road, MD. The project includes the proposed construction of an 8.0 mile
(6 miles in Pennsylvania and 2 miles in Maryland) four-lane limited
access facility on new alignment from the end of the Meyersdale Bypass
in Somerset County, Pennsylvania to the newly constructed portion of US
219 in Garrett County, Maryland. This NOI contains a summary of the
information required in the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
regulations. This NOI should be reviewed together with the
Supplementary NOI Document, which contains important details about the
proposed project and complements the information in this NOI. Persons
and agencies who may be interested in or affected by the proposed
project are encouraged to comment on the information in this NOI and
the Supplementary NOI Document. All comments received in response to
this NOI will be considered and any information presented herein,
including the preliminary purpose and need, preliminary alternatives
and identified impacts, may be revised in consideration of the
comments.
DATES: Comments on the NOI or the Supplementary NOI Document are to be
received by FHWA through the methods below by July 3, 2023.
ADDRESSES: This NOI and the Supplementary NOI Document are also
available in the docket referenced above at www.regulations.gov and on
the project website located at www.penndot.pa.gov/us219meyersdalesouth.
The Supplementary NOI Document will be mailed upon request. Interested
parties are invited to submit comments by any of the following methods:
Website: For access to the documents, go to the Federal eRulemaking
Portal located at www.regulations.gov or the project website located at
www.penndot.pa.gov/us219meyersdalesouth. Follow the online instructions
for submitting comments.
Mailing address or for hand delivery or courier: Jon Crum, Team
Leader--Planning and Environment, Federal Highway Administration,
Pennsylvania Division Office, 30 North 3rd Street, Suite 700,
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 17101-1720.
Email address: Jonathan.Crum@dot.gov.
[[Page 36356]]
All submissions should include the agency name and the docket
number that appears in the heading of this Notice. All comments
received will be posted without change to the www.regulations.gov,
including any personal information provided. A summary of the comments
will be included in the Draft EIS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FHWA: Jon Crum, Team Leader for
Planning and Environment, Federal Highway Administration--Pennsylvania
Division, 30 North 3rd Street, Suite 700, Harrisburg, PA 17101-1720;
email: Jonathan.Crum@dot.gov; 717-221-3735. PennDOT: Nicki Donahoe, PE,
Project Manager, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Engineering
District 9-0, 1620 N. Juniata Street, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; email:
ndonahoe@pa.gov; 814-317-1650. MDOT: Jeremy Beck, Senior Project
Manager, Maryland Department of Transportation, State Highway
Administration, Office of Planning and Preliminary Engineering, 707
North Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202; email:
JBeck@mdot.maryland.gov; 410-545-8518/800-548-5026.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is important to note that the FHWA,
PennDOT, and MDOT SHA are committed to public involvement for this
project. All public comments received in response to this notice will
be considered and revisions may be made to the information presented
herein as appropriate. The environmental review of alternatives for the
transportation project along Section 050 of US 219 will be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), 23 U.S.C.
139, CEQ regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508), FHWA
regulations implementing NEPA (23 CFR 771.101-771.139) and all
applicable Federal, State, and local governmental laws and regulations.
Background
PennDOT originally studied US 219 improvements south of Somerset,
Pennsylvania, during the 1990s. These studies identified a five-mile
section of US 219 through Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, as the area's most
immediate transportation problem. The Meyersdale Bypass project was
constructed in 1998 as a four-lane, limited access highway located west
of existing US 219 in Meyersdale Borough and Summit Township, Somerset
County, Pennsylvania. This project was followed by the completion of an
11-mile four-lane limited access facility in 2018 from Somerset to
Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. In 2021, MDOT SHA completed construction of
an approximately 1.4-mile section from Interstate 68 (I-68) in Maryland
to Old Salisbury Road, just south of the State line.
Preliminary engineering and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS) for US 219 originally began in 2001 but was put on hold in 2007
due to funding constraints. As a result, the document went unpublished.
Several alternatives were evaluated in the DEIS, and these alternatives
served as the starting point for the 2016 Planning and Environmental
Linkages (PEL) Study for this project.
The PEL concluded that Alignments E and E-shift were considered
reasonable and recommended to be evaluated in future NEPA Studies.
However, at the time of the PEL study, adequate funding was not
available to advance the project in its entirety. As a result, the team
completed an evaluation to identify whether any stand-alone projects
existed along the project alignments.
The PEL identified that the MD 1.4-mile section both improves the
existing I-68/US 219 interchange and best addresses the PEL's Project
Vision and Goals by directly serving near future planned development
(Casselman Farm Development Site) located in Garrett County, Maryland's
Smart Growth Priority Funding Area. This section was also found to be
``of sufficient length to address environmental matters on a broad
scope and does not restrict consideration of alternatives for other
reasonably foreseeable transportation improvements'' including the
current study to complete the remaining four-lane US 219 section
between the Meyersdale Interchange in Pennsylvania and the recently
completed 1.4-mile section in Maryland.
After the PEL, MDOT SHA developed seven preliminary concepts for
the 1.4-mile section and presented them at a public workshop on
September 8, 2016, and an open house on September 9, 2016. A Joint
Location/Design Public Hearing was held on February 6, 2017, to obtain
public input on the alternatives under consideration. Based on the
evaluation and comparison of the alternatives, including input from the
public, Alternative 4 Modified was recommended as the MDOT SHA
Preferred Alternative. This section received FHWA Preferred Alternative
and Conceptual Mitigation Package/Categorical Exclusion approval on
July 18, 2018, and was subsequently constructed. The new 1.4-mile
section opened to traffic in May 2021.
The US 6219, Section 050 Transportation Improvement Project was re-
initiated November 9, 2020, when the Secretary of Transportation
announced the commitment of funds for this project.
The following information provided in the NOI is supplemented with
more detail in the Supplemental NOI Document.
(a) The Preliminary Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action
The purpose of the US 6219, Section 050 Transportation Improvement
Project is to complete Corridor N of the Appalachian Development
Highway System, to improve the system linkage in the region, provide
safe and efficient access for motorists traveling on US 219, and
provide transportation infrastructure to support economic opportunities
in existing and planned communities and employment/business centers and
natural resource-based industries within the Appalachian Region.
The project needs identified for this project are that: (1)
existing US 219 does not provide efficient mobility for trucks and
freight, (2) there are numerous roadway and geometric deficiencies
present along the existing US 219 alignment, and (3) the existing
roadway infrastructure is a limiting factor in economic development
opportunities in the Appalachian Region.
The preliminary Purpose and Need was developed with agency
coordination and public input, as described in section e; see the
Supplemental NOI Document for details on the development of the Purpose
and Need. The project purpose and needs were presented to the
Pennsylvania and Maryland resource agencies at an agency coordination
meeting on September 22, 2021, a Community Advisory Committee on
November 3, 2021, and to public officials and the general public at an
open house meeting on June 23, 2022, and a virtual meeting on June 27,
2022. Resource agencies and the public were invited to comment on the
Purpose and Need. The Purpose and Need statement and supporting
documentation, including data and public input summary, will be
available in the Draft EIS. No comments were received from either the
resource agencies or public following the outreach. The Purpose and
Need may be revised based on comments received during the comment
period on this notice.
[[Page 36357]]
(b) A Preliminary Description of the Proposed Action and Alternatives
the Environmental Impact Statement Will Consider
The proposed action is anticipated to include construction of a new
8.0-mile (6 miles in Pennsylvania and 2 miles in Maryland) 4-lane
limited-access facility from the end of the Meyersdale Bypass in
Pennsylvania to the newly constructed portion of US 219 in Maryland.
Agencies and the public are invited to comment on the Range of
Alternatives for the proposed action. Additional information on the
Range of Alternatives is in the Supplementary NOI Document. The Range
of Alternatives proposed to be considered in the EIS are the following:
No Build Alternative
The No Build Alternative involves taking no action, except routine
maintenance along US 219. The existing two-lane alignment of US 219
between Meyersdale, Pennsylvania and Garrett County, Maryland would
remain. No new alignments or additional roadway would be constructed.
Alignment DA
Alignment DA was delineated using suggestions by the study area
farmers and Cooperating and Participating Agencies during former 2001
NEPA efforts to avoid natural resource impacts by staying closer to US
219 and avoiding the mountain slope/ridge. Alignment DA starts at the
southern end of the Meyersdale Bypass, proceeding in a southerly
direction to just south of the Mast farm, where it heads westward
toward existing US 219. The alignment crosses between the Deal and Mast
farms, then turns in a southwesterly direction, crossing existing US
219 just south of Salisbury, Pennsylvania. Alignment DA then travels in
a southerly direction, crossing existing US 219 again just south of the
Mason-Dixon Line and staying close to existing US 219, and ties into
the newly constructed section of US 219.
Alignment DA-Shift
Alignment DA-Shift resulted from combining Alignment DA with
Alignment E-Shift. Alignment E-Shift was suggested by residents during
former 2001 NEPA efforts to move the alignment further away from
residences along Old Salisbury Road. Alignment DA-Shift follows the
same alignment as Alignment DA from Meyersdale until about one mile
south of the Mason-Dixon Line, where the alignment is shifted eastward,
away from Old Salisbury Road.
Alignment DU
Alignment DU resulted from combining suggestions from the US Fish
and Wildlife Service (USFWS) with an alignment identified during former
2001 NEPA efforts. USFWS suggested an alternative to avoid the mountain
slope/ridge in Pennsylvania and reduce potential impacts to terrestrial
wildlife. Alignment DU follows Alignment DA until Greenville Road,
where instead of continuing southwest towards existing US 219, the
alignment travels south towards the Mason-Dixon Line. Alignment DU and
Alignment DA coincide again south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Alignment DU-Shift
Like Alignment DA Shift, Alignment DU-Shift resulted from combining
Alignment DU with Alignment E-Shift to move the alignment further away
from residences along Old Salisbury Road. Alignment DU-Shift mimics the
alignment of Alignment DU from Meyersdale until south of the Mason-
Dixon Line, where the alignment is shifted eastward and away from Old
Salisbury Road.
Alignment E
Alignment E was suggested during former 2001 NEPA efforts to avoid
farmland in Pennsylvania and avoid residential areas along existing US
219. Alignment E starts at the southern end of the Meyersdale Bypass
and proceeds in a southerly direction along the face of Meadow
Mountain. At the Pennsylvania/Maryland border, Alignment E would extend
in a southwesterly direction, east of the existing US 219.
Alignment E-Shift
Alignment E-Shift was suggested by residents along Old Salisbury
Road during former 2001 NEPA efforts and involves moving Alignment E
further away from the residences on Old Salisbury Road. Alignment E-
Shift follows Alignment E, with the exception of a small shift in
Maryland, slightly eastward, away from the homes along Old Salisbury
Road. Alignment E does not directly impact the homes along Old
Salisbury Road; however, residents requested an evaluation of a
slightly eastward shift to move the alignment further from their homes.
The trade-off is that Alignment E-Shift bisects a farm field that is
only slightly impacted by Alignment E. This shifted section is the same
as the shifted section of Alignment DA-Shift and Alignment DU-Shift.
(c) Brief Summary of Expected Impacts
PennDOT and MDOT SHA have conducted scoping activities for the US
6219, Section 050 Transportation Improvement Project, such as secondary
source data collection, agency coordination, and public outreach, to
identify the types of environmental, cultural, and socio-economic
resources present in the Study Area and those likely to be impacted.
The following resources will be evaluated in the EIS and supporting
technical studies: cultural resources (archaeology and historic
architecture); hazardous materials; air quality; noise-sensitive areas;
natural resources (wildlife and habitat; threatened, endangered, and
special status species; waters of the US; water quality; groundwater;
floodplains; and farmlands); visual resources; Section 4(f) resources
(recreational facilities, historic properties, and State Game Lands);
and socioeconomics, land use, and right-of-way (communities and
community facilities, population and housing, economic resources, land
use and right-of-way, and Environmental Justice).
Based on an analysis completed to date using both the EPA's
EJScreen Tool and the Maryland EJScreen Mapper, EJ populations (low
income) are present within the study area. However, there are no
residential or non-residential EJ relocations anticipated.
The level of review of the identified resources for the EIS will be
commensurate with the anticipated effects to each resource from the
proposed project and will be governed by the statutory or regulatory
requirements protecting those resources. The analyses and evaluations
conducted for the EIS will identify the potential for effects,
avoidance measures, whether the anticipated effects would be adverse,
and mitigation measures for adverse effects. Additional information on
the expected impacts is provided in the Supplementary NOI document
available for review in the docket established for this project and on
the project website as noted in the ADDRESSES section. Comments on the
expected impacts to be analyzed in the DEIS are welcomed during the NOI
comment period.
Agencies, stakeholders, and the public are invited to comment on
the expected impacts. The environmental impact analysis will not begin
until the Purpose and Need, Range of Alternatives, and impact
categories are finalized based on public comment on this notice. The
identification of impacts may be revised due to the consideration of
public comments. See
[[Page 36358]]
the Supplementary NOI Document for a more detailed description of the
Summary of Expected Impacts. The studies to identify the impacts, as
well as the analyses of impacts from the retained alternatives, will be
presented in the Draft EIS.
(d) Anticipated Permits and Other Authorizations
At the request of the sponsor, the permitting schedule includes the
following timetable. A Clean Water Act Section 404 permit decision from
the US Army Corps of Engineers is anticipated on September 17, 2027.\1\
Other anticipated State authorizations include a Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection Section 401 Water Quality
Certification/Chapter 105 Standard Permit on September 17, 2027, and a
Maryland Department of the Environment Joint Federal/State Title 5
Permit Application for the Alteration of any Floodplain, Waterway,
Tidal or Nontidal Wetland in Maryland on September 17, 2027. Section 7
consultation under the Endangered Species Act is expected to be
concluded on June 27, 2023, and Section 106 consultation under the
National Historic Preservation Act is anticipated to be concluded on
December 13, 2023. See the Supplemental NOI Document for more detail on
the anticipated permits and other authorizations.
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\1\ 23 U.S.C. 139(d)(10) requires all authorization decisions
necessary for the construction of a major project be completed no
later than 90 days from the issuance of the ROD for the project.
This deadline may be extended where Federal law prohibits granting
the decision within this period of time, the project sponsor
requests a different timeline, or if the extension would facilitate
the completion of the environmental review and authorization process
for the project.
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(e) Scoping and Public Review
Agency Scoping
FHWA, PennDOT, and MDOT SHA have conducted agency coordination to
inform the purpose and need and preliminary project alternatives,
scoping meeting, and other elements outlined in this document. An
Agency Coordination Plan was reviewed and agreed to by the Pennsylvania
and Maryland resource agencies, including the Cooperating and
Participating agencies. It is a living document that will be updated
through the EIS process. The resource agency meetings in Pennsylvania
are referred to as Agency Coordination Meetings (ACM) and the resource
agency meetings in Maryland are referred to as Interagency Review
Meeting (IRM). Since PennDOT is the lead agency for this project, the
agency meetings are typically held on the ACM's regularly scheduled
meeting dates. Some variation does occur and, in that case, the same
information is presented to both the ACM and the IRM. The list of
agency coordination meetings held begins after November 9, 2020, the
date Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary announced the commitment of
funds for this project.
April 28, 2021 (ACM-PA) and June 16, 2021 (IRM-MD)
US 219-050: Meyersdale, PA to Old Salisbury Rd., MD
reintroduction
Summary of the PEL Process
Current Project Status
Agency Involvement
September 9, 2021--Joint ACM and IRM
Process to Move from PEL to NEPA
ACM/IRM Role
Cooperating and Participating Agencies
Review Purpose and Need/Logical Termini
Review PEL Alternatives Studied
Agency PEL comments to be addressed in NEPA
November 16, 2021--Joint Scoping Meeting
Scoping Meeting Overview
Review Agency Questions from 9/22/21 Meeting
Virtual Scoping using Google Earth
Comparison of PennDOT & MDOT SHA NEPA Planning Processes
Present Technical Methodologies Matrix
Review Tentative Project Schedule
May 25, 2022 (ACM-PA) and June 15, 2022 (IRM-MD)
Recent Activities
Purpose and Need and Logical Termini Review
Proposed NEPA Study Alternatives
Public and Agency Coordination Plan Review
Review agency input received following from the November 16,
2021, Virtual Field Scoping Meeting
Review information to be presented at the June 2 Community
Advisory Committee (CAC) and June 23 Public Meeting
August 24, 2022--Joint ACM and IRM
Present results of the CAC meeting, Public Officials meeting,
Open House meeting and Virtual meeting
Reviewed secondary source impacts of Proposed NEPA Study
Alternatives
Public Review
PennDOT and MDOT SHA conducted public outreach activities during
the Pre-NOI phase of the US 6219, Section 050 Transportation
Improvement Project to present information and collect public input.
However, for purposes of documenting activities in this NOI, the start
date is November 9, 2020, which is when the Pennsylvania Transportation
Secretary announced the commitment of funds for this project.
To date, PennDOT and MDOT SHA reconvened the CAC that had been
previously established for this project and have held two CAC meetings.
The purpose of the CAC is to provide an additional method of
communication between PennDOT, MDOT SHA, FHWA, and the local
communities, and to provide input into project development. The CAC
serves as an advisory group to the Project Team to ensure that local
interests and concerns are considered in a timely manner. These
meetings allowed the CAC the opportunity to comment on any changes to
the project study area since the 2016 PEL document and the revised
Purpose and Need (November 2021), and to provide input on the
preliminary range of NEPA alternatives (June 2022). Additionally,
PennDOT and MDOT SHA offered a public officials meeting (June 23,
2022), an open house public meeting (June 23, 2022), and virtual
meeting (June 27, 2022). These meeting allowed public officials and
citizens the same opportunity to comment on the information presented
at the CAC meetings and served as the public scoping meeting. The
materials for these meetings are on the project website.
PennDOT and MDOT SHA will maintain and update the project website,
as identified in the ADDRESSES section of this notice, to direct the
public to the scoping meeting presentation and solicit public input.
Additionally, PennDOT and MDOT SHA will continue to conduct targeted
outreach to communities in and around the study area. A 30-day comment
period is being held in association with the NOI. There will be at
least three more public involvement opportunities for the US 6219,
Section 050 Transportation Improvement Project from Meyersdale,
Pennsylvania to Old Salisbury Road, Maryland. These will be public
meetings/hearings to receive input on the detailed alternatives (public
meeting), recommended preferred alternative and draft EIS (public
hearing), and selected alternative/conceptual mitigation (public
meeting).
(f) A Schedule for the Decision-Making Process
Following the issuance of this notice, FHWA, PennDOT, and MDOT SHA
will coordinate with the Participating and
[[Page 36359]]
Cooperating Agencies to develop study documentation and the Draft EIS.
The Draft EIS is anticipated to be issued in March 2024.
The combined Final EIS and Record of Decision is
anticipated in February 2025.
A Section 404 permit decision from the United States Army
Corps of Engineers is expected in September 2027.
See the Supplemental NOI Document for additional schedule details.
(g) Request for Identification of Potential Alternatives, Information,
and Analyses Relevant to the Proposed Action
To ensure that a full range of issues related to the study are
addressed and all potential issues are identified, FHWA invites
comments and suggestions from all interested parties. The project team
requests comments and suggestions on purpose and need, potential
alternatives and impacts, and the identification of any relevant
information, studies, or analyses of any kind concerning impacts
affecting the quality of the human environment. Any information
presented herein, including the preliminary purpose and need,
preliminary range of alternatives, and identification of impacts may be
revised after consideration of the comments. The purpose of this
request is to bring relevant comments, information, and analyses to the
agency's attention, as early in the process as possible, to enable the
agency to make maximum use of this information in decision making.
Comments may be submitted according to the instructions in the
ADDRESSES section of this Notice.
(h) Contact Information
FHWA: Jon Crum, Team Leader--Planning and Environment, Federal
Highway Administration, Pennsylvania Division Office, 30 North 3rd
Street, Suite 700, Harrisburg, PA 17101-1720; email address:
Jonathan.Crum@dot.gov; 717-221-3735.
PennDOT: Nicki Donahoe, PE, Project Manager, Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation, Engineering District 9-0, 1620 N Juniata
Street, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648; email: ndonahoe@pa.gov; 814-317-1650.
MDOT SHA: Jeremy Beck, Senior Project Manager, Maryland Department
of Transportation, State Highway Administration, Office of Planning and
Preliminary Engineering, 707 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202;
email: JBeck@mdot.maryland.gov; 410-545-8518/800-548-5026.
Alicia E. Nolan,
Pennsylvania Division Administrator, Federal Highway Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-11794 Filed 6-1-23; 8:45 am]
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