I-93 Improvements: Salem to Manchester Draft Supplemental - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

I-93 Improvements: Salem to Manchester Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and Reevaluation/Section 4(f) Evaluation Public Hearing – September 22, 2009 Derry Municipal Center – 7:00 pm

Public Hearing Agenda Public Hearing Agenda • Project Description and Background • FHWA Role • DSEIS Process and Conclusions • Project Status Update • Opportunity for Public Comment MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Project Description Project Description and Background and Background MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Project Description Project Description • Reconstruction and widening of I-93 from MA State line in Salem to I-293 in Manchester, a distance of 19.8 miles. • Widening from three-lanes in each direction to four-lanes in each direction between State line and Exit 1. • Widening from two-lanes in direction to four-lanes in each direction between Exit 1 and I-293. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Project Description Project Description • Reconstruction of five existing interchanges and cross roads, including the replacement of deficient bridges. • Public transportation and transportation demand management enhancements, including new park-and-ride lots at Exits 2, 3 and 5; improvements to the existing park-and-ride lot at Exit 4; and expanded commuter bus service. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Project Environmental Project Environmental Commitments Commitments • Protection of approximately 1,000 acres of land as part of compensatory wetland and floodplains mitigation. • Funding of $3 million for the NHDES Drinking Water Supply Land Grant Program to be used to purchase property rights to aid in the protection of water quality along the corridor. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Project Environmental Project Environmental Commitments Commitments • Funding of $3.5 million for a Community Technical Assistance Program to help I-93 corridor municipalities manage growth related issues. • Extensive storm water treatment measures. • Participation in ongoing regional chloride studies. NHDOT has dedicated $4.5 million for salt reduction, including $2.5 million available to I-93 corridor municipalities to fund salt reduction. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Purpose and Need for the Project Purpose and Need for the Project • Improve transportation efficiency and reduce safety problems along the corridor. – Severe peak period congestion that interferes with the movement of people and goods. – Hazardous conditions resulting from congestion and geometric deficiencies. – Deteriorating infrastructure conditions MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Court Decision Court Decision • August 30, 2007 decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire in the case - Conservation Law Foundation v. Federal Highway Administration and New Hampshire Department of Transportation . • Court directed NHDOT and FHWA to prepare a focused Supplemental EIS that specifically considers how “…Delphi Panel’s population forecasts affect Defendants’ analysis of both the effectiveness of the Four Lane Alternative as a traffic congestion reduction measure and the indirect effects of the additional population predicted by those forecasts on secondary road traffic and air quality issues.” MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Federal Highway Federal Highway Administration Role Administration Role MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Federal Highway Administration Federal Highway Administration • Agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation. • Mission is to improve the quality of the Nation’s highway system and its intermodal connections. • Works cooperatively with partners to ensure transportation system plans and improvements take full account of the impacts on the human and natural environment. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Lead Federal Agency Role Lead Federal Agency Role • Transportation improvement projects which FHWA must take action on and/or provide funding towards typically require FHWA to take on the lead federal agency role to ensure such improvements are evaluated and developed in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Lead Federal Agency Role Lead Federal Agency Role • NEPA requires all federal projects to be evaluated for potential impacts to both the human and natural environment in order to determine the significance of any such impacts, whether such impacts can be avoided and, if not, then full consideration of minimizing and mitigating impacts must be given. • For projects which are anticipated to significantly affect the human and/or natural environment NEPA requires the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

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Original I- -93 EIS Process 93 EIS Process Original I • I-93 Project initiation, Notice Of Intent, Early coordination and Scoping process (NOI published October 2000). • I-93 Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS September 2002). • I-93 Public hearings/comment (November 2002). • I-93 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS April 2004). • I-93 Record of Decision (ROD June 2005). • Lawsuit filed (February 2006). • U.S. District Court judgment, Supplemental EIS required (August, 2007). MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Overview of Supplemental EIS Overview of Supplemental EIS Requirements/Process Requirements/Process • Required whenever there are changes, new information, or further developments on a project which may result in significant environmental impacts not identified in the most recently distributed version of the draft or final EIS. • No required format, but should provide sufficient information to describe the proposed action, the reasons why a SEIS is being prepared and the status of the previous draft or final EIS. • SEIS needs to address only those changes or new information that are the basis for preparing the supplement and were not addressed in the previous EIS. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Overview of Supplemental EIS Overview of Supplemental EIS Requirements/Process Requirements/Process • Reference to and summarizing the previous EIS is preferable to repeating unchanged, but still valid, portions of the original document. New environmental requirements effective after the previous EIS was prepared only need to be addressed to the extent they apply to the portion of the project being evaluated and are relevant to the subject of the supplement. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Overview of Supplemental EIS Overview of Supplemental EIS Requirements/Process Requirements/Process • A SEIS is developed using the same process used to prepare an original EIS Except that scoping is not required (e.g. NOI, Draft, Public comment, Final, ROD). • In some cases, such as with the I-93 Project, a supplemental EIS may be required to address issues of limited scope. In such cases, the preparation of the SEIS shall not necessarily: – Prevent the granting of new approvals. – Require the withdrawal of previous approvals. – Require the suspension of project activities not directly affected by the supplement. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

SEIS Process SEIS Process • Draft SEIS must be made available at the public hearing and for a minimum of 15 days in advance of the public hearing. • 45 day comment period. Federal Register Notice of Availability of the I-93 DSEIS published August 17, 2009. • Comments received on the DESIS must be reviewed and adequately addressed in the FSEIS document. • Approval and availability of Supplemental ROD: – No sooner than 30 days after Federal Register notice (FSEIS). – No sooner than 90 days after Federal Register notice (DSEIS). MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

DSEIS Process and Conclusions DSEIS Process and Conclusions MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

DSEIS Purpose DSEIS Purpose • Additional analysis of traffic and air quality issues required by the Court Order. • Reevaluation of 2004 FEIS to provide an up-to-date consideration of the environmental effects of the project. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

DSEIS Population & Employment DSEIS Population & Employment Scenarios Scenarios • Future population and employment projections are key inputs to travel demand modeling. • Scenario 1- based on experimental “Delphi Panel” approach referenced in 2004 FEIS. • Scenario 2- based on latest official State population and employment projections. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D

Scenario 1 Scenario 1 Delphi Panel Results Delphi Panel Results • Meet requirements of Court Order (study traffic and air quality effects using population and employment results from Delphi Panel process). • However, results of Delphi Panel process are outdated and unrealistically high. MOVING RebuildingI93.com RebuildingI93.com A H E A D