Notice2021-11801
BNSF Railway Bridge Across the Missouri River Between Bismarck and Mandan, North Dakota; Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Primary source
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Published
June 7, 2021
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security DepartmentCoast Guard
Abstract
The United States Coast Guard, as the lead federal agency, announces the availability of a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA implementing regulations, and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), evaluating the potential environmental consequences of permitting the replacement of the existing BNSF Railway Bridge across the Missouri River between the cities of Bismarck and Mandan, ND, or constructing a bridge adjacent to the existing bridge. The applicant proposes to remove the existing structure, which is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The Coast Guard is analyzing proposed alternatives, through the NEPA and NHPA processes, to construct the new bridge while retaining the existing bridge. The Coast Guard is making the draft EIS available for public review and requests public comments. Additionally, the Coast Guard intends to host a virtual public meeting to provide additional information to the public and to solicit comments on potential issues and concerns.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 107 (Monday, June 7, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 107 (Monday, June 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30323-30324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11801]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket Number USCG-2019-0882]
BNSF Railway Bridge Across the Missouri River Between Bismarck
and Mandan, North Dakota; Draft Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability of draft Environmental Impact Statement,
request for comments, and announcement of virtual public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The United States Coast Guard, as the lead federal agency,
announces the availability of a draft Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS), in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA implementing
regulations, and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA),
evaluating the potential environmental consequences of permitting the
replacement of the existing BNSF Railway Bridge across the Missouri
River between the cities of Bismarck and Mandan, ND, or constructing a
bridge adjacent to the existing bridge. The applicant proposes to
remove the existing structure, which is eligible for listing on the
National Register of Historic Places. The Coast Guard is analyzing
proposed alternatives, through the NEPA and NHPA processes, to
construct the new bridge while retaining the existing bridge. The Coast
Guard is making the draft EIS available for public review and requests
public comments. Additionally, the Coast Guard intends to host a
virtual public meeting to provide additional information to the public
and to solicit comments on potential issues and concerns.
DATES: Substantive and relevant comments must be submitted to the
online docket via <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/">https://www.regulations.gov/</a> on or before July 22,
2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit substantive and relevant comments identified
by docket number USCG-2019-0882 using the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov/">https://www.regulations.gov/</a>. See the ``Public Participation and
Request for Comments'' portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
for further instructions on submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rob McCaskey, Coast Guard District
Eight Project Officer, 314-269-2381.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background and Purpose
BNSF Railway Company owns and operates the existing bridge that
crosses the Missouri River between the cities of Mandan, and Bismarck,
North Dakota. With bridge components over 130 years old, the in-place
structure is approaching the end of its useful service life. The
structure has a history of exposure to ice jams and its substructure
configuration renders it potentially susceptible to scour events which
remove sediment from around the bridge abutments and piers. Although
currently stable, the structure has experienced structural issues at
both approaches in the past, resulting in unanticipated substructure
movements. Since the bridge's original construction in 1882, the east
hill slope has begun to move which resulted in the slope moving the
pier west towards the river. Multiple remediation efforts to correct
the pier damage and slope movement took place from the early 1900s to
the mid-1950s. The purpose of the project is to construct a new,
independent bridge across the Missouri River upstream of the in-place
structure. The new structure will provide a significant improvement in
operational reliability and safety, and will provide enhanced
structural redundancy thereby making it less susceptible to damage. As
the current structure is over 130 years old, it requires substantial
inspection and maintenance, which are disruptive to rail service. The
new structure will be a single-track bridge but have the capability to
carry a second track in the future when and if volumes necessitate that
addition.
The BNSF Bismarck Bridge was constructed with similar methods in
the same era as the Brooklyn Bridge. It is an iconic landmark that
predates official North Dakota statehood by 6 years. The bridge is
eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for
its association with broad patterns of railroad, commercial and
military history of the United States. Because of these attributes,
certain interest groups have expressed a desire to preserve the
existing bridge.
The federal bridge statutes, including the General Bridge Act of
1946 (33 U.S.C. 525 et seq.), require that the location and plans of
bridges in or over navigable waters of the United States be approved by
the Secretary of Homeland Security, who has delegated that
responsibility to the Coast Guard. The Missouri River is a navigable
water of the United States as defined in 33 CFR 2.36(a). The Coast
Guard's primary responsibility regarding BNSF's proposed railroad
bridge is to ensure the structure does not unreasonably obstruct
navigation. In exercising these bridge authorities, the Coast Guard
considers navigational and environmental impacts, which include
historic and tribal effects.
The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for this project and, as
such, is responsible for the review of its potential effects on the
human environment, including historic properties and tribal impacts,
pursuant to NEPA and NHPA. The Coast Guard is, therefore, required by
law to ensure potential environmental effects are carefully evaluated
in each bridge permitting decision.
The four alternatives considered for the proposed project include
different span lengths and different distances from the current bridge.
Specifically, the alternatives include:
<bullet> Building a new bridge with 200-foot spans and piers 92.5
feet upstream of the existing bridge (alternative considered keeping
the existing bridge and removing the existing bridge).
<bullet> Building a new bridge with 400-foot spans and piers 92.5
feet upstream of
[[Page 30324]]
the existing bridge (alternative considered keeping the existing bridge
and removing the existing bridge).
<bullet> Building a new bridge with 200-foot spans and piers 42.5
feet upstream of the existing bridge (alternative considered keeping
the existing bridge and removing the existing bridge).
<bullet> Building a new bridge with 200-foot spans and piers 20
feet upstream of the existing bridge and removing the existing bridge
(BNSF Preferred Design).
The alternatives were developed to meet the purpose and need of the
project, which is to provide BNSF Railway with a new bridge that can
accommodate two tracks at a future date should a second track become
needed. There are specific constraints in the area that must be taken
into consideration as designs are evaluated. For example, the bridge is
close to the Missouri River Natural Area, which is a federally funded
park managed by the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department in
cooperation with the North Dakota Department of Transportation, Morton
County Parks, and the City of Mandan. The Missouri River Natural Area
is the home to many species, including bald eagles, fox, deer and owls.
Likewise, the bridge is in close proximity to the Bismarck Reservoir,
which is a major source of drinking water for residents of the area and
is located in an area with a history of significant slope stability
issues.
As part of this evaluation process, the Coast Guard solicits
substantive and relevant comments from the public, and any Federal,
State, and local agencies with expertise in, and authority over,
particular resources that may be impacted by a project. Additionally,
the Coast Guard seeks input from any tribes that may be affected or
otherwise have expertise or equities in the project. Agencies that have
already participated in the environmental review of this Project
include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS), the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA), the North Dakota State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and
the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).
II. Discussion
The Coast Guard developed a draft EIS that addresses impacts
associated with the alternatives mentioned in Section I above. These
impacts include those environmental control laws listed in the Coast
Guard's Bridge Permit Application Guide (available at <a href="https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5pw/Office%20of%20Bridge%20Programs/BPAG%20COMDTPUB%20P16591%203D_Sequential%20Clearance%20Final">https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5pw/Office%20of%20Bridge%20Programs/BPAG%20COMDTPUB%20P16591%203D_Sequential%20Clearance%20Final</a>(July2016).p
df), as well as those impacts associated with floodplain rise, impacts
to the Bismarck Water Reservoir and the Missouri River Natural Area.
On January 15, 2021, a Programmatic Agreement in accordance with
Section 106 of the NHPA was signed to address the adverse effect on the
historic bridge. To date, the Coast Guard has held 16 consultation
meetings with stakeholders to develop the Final Programmatic Agreement.
The Coast Guard is currently working with consulting parties to develop
a Memorandum of Agreement, which will act as an implementation plan for
the Programmatic Agreement. The Programmatic Agreement is available in
the appendix of the draft EIS.
We request your substantive and relevant comments on environmental
concerns that you may have related to the draft EIS. Your comments will
be considered in preparing a final environmental document.
III. Public Participation and Comments
We encourage you to submit substantive and relevant comments (or
related material) on the draft Environmental Impact Statement. We will
consider all substantive and relevant submissions and may adjust our
final action based on your comments. If you submit a comment, please
include the docket number for this notice, indicate the specific
section of this document to which each comment applies, and provide a
reason for each suggestion or recommendation.
We encourage you to submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/">http://www.regulations.gov/</a>. If your material cannot be
submitted using <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/">http://www.regulations.gov/</a>, contact the person in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate
instructions. The draft EIS and public comments will be available in
our online docket at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/">http://www.regulations.gov/</a> and can be viewed by
following that website's instructions.
We accept anonymous comments. All substantive and relevant comments
received will be posted without change to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/">http://www.regulations.gov/</a>
and will include any personal information you have provided. For more
information about privacy and submissions to the docket in response to
this document, see DHS's eRulemaking System of Records notice (85 FR
14226, March 11, 2020).
IV. Virtual Public Meeting
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Coast Guard intends to
hold a virtual public meeting to receive oral and written comments on
this draft EIS. The meeting will be held on June 30, 2021 from 6:00-
9:00 p.m. (Central), and can be accessed online at <a href="https://ch2m-pge.my.webex.com/ch2m-pge.my/j.php?MTID=m45e9e9fb750989eb89f8bf260630b06c">https://ch2m-pge.my.webex.com/ch2m-pge.my/j.php?MTID=m45e9e9fb750989eb89f8bf260630b06c</a>. Attendees may also join
by phone. The call-in number is 1-510-338-9438 (USA toll) and the
access code is 182 625 0321. The meeting is expected to last
approximately 3 hours.
The virtual meeting is open to the public. Those who plan to attend
the meeting and wish to present substantive and relevant comments may
request to do so through the online docket at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, and will be called in order of requests received.
Attendees who have not previously made a request to present comments
will follow those who have already submitted a request, as time
permits. If a large number of persons wish to speak, the presiding
officer may be required to limit the time allotted to each speaker. It
is requested that one member from a group speak on behalf of that group
in order to allow more views to be presented. The public meeting may
end early if all present wishing to speak have done so.
A transcript of the meeting will be made available for public
review approximately 30 days after the meeting. All substantive and
relevant comments will be incorporated into the official case record.
Information on Service for Individuals With Disabilities: For
information on services for individuals with disabilities or to request
special assistance during the public meeting contact Mr. Rob McCaskey
at the telephone number under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section of this notice.
This notice is issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 552 (a) and
40 CFR 1506.6.
Dated: June 1, 2021.
Brian L. Dunn,
Chief, U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Bridge Programs.
[FR Doc. 2021-11801 Filed 6-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
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