Response to Comments on the DEIS and SDEIS1
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Chapter 18: Response to Comments on the DEIS and SDEIS1 A. INTRODUCTION This chapter responds to all substantive comments received on the DEIS published in February 2007 and the SDEIS published in March 2008. The DEIS and its Notice of Availability was distributed to interested agencies and individuals and were posted on the ARC website in advance of the February 9, 2007 Federal Register notice. NJ TRANSIT advertised information about the public hearings in over 20 publications in New York and New Jersey. The DEIS public hearings were held on March 12, 2007 in Newark, New Jersey, on March 14, 2007 in North Bergen, New Jersey and on March 27, 2007 in Manhattan, New York. The DEIS public comment period began on February 9, 2007 and concluded on April 10, 2007. The SDEIS and its Notice of Availability were distributed to interested agencies and individuals and was posted on the ARC website in advance of the March 14, 2008 Federal Register notice. NJ TRANSIT advertised information about the SDEIS public hearings in nine publications in New York and New Jersey. The SDEIS public hearings were held on March 31, 2008 in Newark, New Jersey and on April 1, 2008 in Manhattan, New York. The SDEIS public comment period began on March 14, 2008 and concluded on April 28, 2008. This chapter presents the agencies, organizations and individuals that commented on the DEIS and SDEIS, and summarizes and responds to those comments. Section B of this chapter lists the resource agencies, elected officials, local governments, community boards, organizations and individuals that provided comments on the DEIS and the SDEIS. A summary comment code is shown following each commenter name. The comment code begins with the Name/Organization, followed by a number starting with 1, and the Comment Type [L=letter; T=testimony; E=email]. For example, “Amtrak 1E” is the first comment submitted by Amtrak via email. Section C summarizes the comments and the responses to the comments. The comment summaries convey the spirit of the comments, but do not in all cases quote the comments verbatim. The comments are organized by subject area (Table 18-1). Within each subject area, DEIS comments are listed first, followed by SDEIS comments. The DEIS comment numbers are followed by the letter “D” and the SDEIS comment numbers are followed by the letter “S”. Following each comment is a list in parenthesis of the people or organizations that commented. If multiple comments were received on the same subject, they are summarized into a single comment with each commenter code listed afterwards. All reference letters, testimony, and emails included in Appendix 18 are annotated with the comment code in the margin. 1 This entire chapter is new for the FEIS. 18-1 Access to the Region’s Core FEIS TABLE 18-1: COMMENT SUBJECT AREAS • Purpose and Need (Chapter 1) • Project Alternatives (Chapter 2) • Public Transportation (Chapter 3, Section 3.1) • Station Access and Parking (Chapter 3, Section 3.2) • Roadways (Chapter 3, Section 3.3) • Pedestrians (Chapter 3, Section 3.4) • Freight (Chapter 3, Section 3.5) • Land Use (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.2 and 5.2) • Community and Environmental Justice (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.3 and 5.3) • Visual and Aesthetic Resources (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.5 and 5.5) • Air Quality (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.6 and 5.6) • Noise & Vibration (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.7 and 5.7) • Ecology (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.8 and 5.8) • Water Resources (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.9 and 5.9) • Parklands (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.10 and 5.10) • Soils & Geology (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.11 and 5.11) • Contaminated Materials (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.12 and 5.12) • Safety and Security (Chapters 4 and 5, Section 4.13 and 5.13) • Utilities, EMF, Energy (Chapters 4 and 5, Section 4.15-4.17 and 5.15-5.17) • Indirect and Cumulative Effects (Chapters 4 and 5, Sections 4.18 and 5.18) • Construction Methods (Chapters 3 and 5, Section 3.6 and Chapter 5) • Archaeological and Historic Resources (Chapters 6 and 7) • Financial (Chapter 10) • Permits (Chapter 11) • Public Participation, Consultation and Coordination (Chapters 12 and 13) • Project Support and Opposition • Miscellaneous The SDEIS Refined Build Alternative addressed many of the concerns and issues raised during the DEIS comment period. Nearly 100 of the 630 DEIS comments were addressed by the SDEIS Refined Build Alternative. The ARC FEIS indicates with double-underlining changes and additions that were not included in the DEIS or the SDEIS. Responses to comments that were addressed by the SDEIS refinements are not highlighted in the FEIS, but are described in this chapter. 18-2 Chapter 18: Response to Comments on the DEIS and SDEIS B. LIST OF COMMENTERS AGENCIES FEDERAL Federal Highway Administration - New Jersey Division, Lawrence Cullari, letter of 4/10/2007 (Comments FHWA NJ 1L through FHWA NJ 7L) Federal Railroad Administration, David Valenstein, email of 2/6/2007 (Comment FRA 1E) Federal Railroad Administration, Mark Yachmetz, letter of 4/6/2007 (Comment FRA 1L) National Marine Fisheries Service, Stanley Gorski, letter of 4/10/2007 (Comments NMFS 1L though NMFS 23L) United States Coast Guard, Jeff Yunker, email of 3/16/2007 (Comment USCG 1E) United States Coast Guard, Waterways Management Division, M. McBrady, letter of 3/27/2007 (Comments USCG 1L through USCG 5L); letter of 5/6/2008 (Comment USCG2 1L) United States Department of the Interior, Willie R. Taylor, letter of 4/16/2007 (Comments USDOI 1L through USDOI 32L); letter of 5/15/2008 (Comments USDOI2 1L through USDOI2 4L) United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region II, John Filippelli, letter of 4/10/2007 (Comments EPA 1L through EPA 27L); letter of 4/28/2008 (Comments EPA2 1L through EPA2 10L) REGIONAL Amtrak, Jared Roberts, email of 4/10/2007 (Comments Amtrak 1E through 4E) Amtrak, Alexander Kummant, letter of 4/28/2008 (Comments Amtrak2 1L through 5L) Amtrak, Anne Witt, letter of 8/11/2008 (NJ TRANSIT response letter dated October 27, 2008) Conrail, Leo McGlynn, email of 4/13/2007 (Comments Conrail 1E through Conrail 2E) Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, Cedric Fulton spoken testimony of 4/1/2008 (Comments PATH 1L) Office of Budget Administration, Scott Webber, email of 4/9/2008 (Comments OBA 1E through 2E) STATE/CITY City of New York Parks & Recreation, Joshua Laird, letter of 4/10/2007 (Comments NYP&R 1L through NYP&R 10L) Hudson County Improvement Authority, Norman Guerra, spoken testimony of 3/14/2007 (Comment HCIA 1T); email of 3/28/2008 (Comment HCIA2 1E through 21E) Hudson River Park Trust, Noreen Doyle, letter of 4/9/2007 (Comments HRPT 1L through HRPT 18L) 18-3 Access to the Region’s Core FEIS STATE/CITY (CONTINUED) Metropolitan Transportation Authority, William Wheeler, letter of 4/10/2007 (Comments MTA 1L through MTA 29L); letter of 4/18/2008, (Comment MTA2 1L); spoken testimony of 4/1/2008 (Comment MTA2 1T) New Jersey Department of Community Affairs - Office of Smart Growth, Eileen Swan, letter of 4/11/2007 (Comment NJ Smart Growth 1L) New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Frank Faranca, letter of 3/6/2007 (Comments NJDEP 1L through NJDEP 2L) New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Gary Sondermeyer, letter of 4/19/2007 (Comment NJDEP2 1L) New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Kenneth Koschek, letter of 4/19/2007 (Comments NJDEP3 1L through NJDEP3 35L); letter of 4/30/2008 (Comments NJDEP4 1L through NJDEP4 4L) New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, David Socolow, letter of 4/10/2007 (Comment NJLWD 1L) New Jersey Department of Transportation, Kris Kolluri, letter of 4/9/2007 (Comment NJDOT 1L) New Jersey State Legislature, Loretta Weinberg, letter of 4/21/2008 (Comment NJSL 1L) New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Terell Estesen, email of 4/10/2007 (Comments NYCDEP 1E through NYCDEP 3E) New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Steven Lawitts, letter of 4/28/2008 (Comment NYCDEP 1L) New York State Assembly, Daniel O'Donnell, spoken testimony of 3/31/2008 (Comment NYStateAssem 1T) New York State Department of Transportation, Region 11, Ian Francis, letter of 4/9/2007 (Comments NYSDOT 1L through NYSDOT 33L) New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, Beth Cumming, letter of 3/26/2007 (Comments NYSOPRHP 1L through NYSOPRHP 4L) Permanent Citizens’ Advisory Committee to the MTA, William Henderson spoken testimony of 4/1/2008 (Comments PCAC2 1T through PCAC2 5T); email of 4/28/2008 (Comments PCAC3 1E through PCAC3 3E) ELECTED OFFICIALS Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Dennis McNerney, spoken testimony of 3/13/2007 (Comments Bergen Freeholder 1T through Bergen Freeholder 2T) Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer, spoken testimony of 3/27/2007 (Comments MBP Stringer 1T through MBP Stringer 7T) Middlesex County, Jun Choi, letter of 3/12/2007 (Comment Mayor Choi 1L) 18-4 Chapter 18: Response to Comments on the DEIS and SDEIS ELECTED OFFICIALS (CONTINUED) New Jersey House of Representatives, Albio Sires, spoken testimony of 3/14/2007 (Comment Congressman Sires 1T) New Jersey House of Representatives, Frank Pallone, letter of 3/13/2007 (Comment Congressman Pallone 1L); spoken testimony of 3/31/2008 (Comment NJRepPallone 1T) New Jersey House of Representatives, Bill Pascrell, spoken testimony of 3/31/2008 (Comment NJRepPascrell 1T) New Jersey State Legislature, John Wisniewski, letter of 3/12/2007 (Comment NJ General Assembly 1L) New York City Comptroller’s Office, Steve Strauss,