Current Project Phase

What is an EIS?

In August 2006, RTD FasTracks began a comprehensive planning study of transit alternatives between North Denver, Commerce City, Thornton and Northglenn.  The finished product of this study, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), is scheduled to be completed in 2008. The North Metro EIS will select a recommended alternative, identify the impacts that may be caused by its implementation and recommend ways of mitigating these impacts. NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, requires that federal agencies prepare detailed analyses of any of their actions that significantly affect the quality of the environment.  Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) are the result of this requirement.  Since 1969, EISs have been produced on virtually every type of activity, such as oil and gas development, scientific research in Antarctica, protection of wildlife habitat, and construction of light rail and commuter rail lines.
NEPA requires that an EIS include:

• A community involvement process
  
  
• A clear statement of all reasonable transportation alternatives that address identified needs
  
  
• An analysis of those transportation alternatives
  
  
• Identification, evaluation and full disclosure of impacts on the natural and man-made environment

The North Metro EIS, guided by the National Environmental Policy Act, will include an extensive community involvement process. It will focus on how proposed improvements would impact the community and the environment. The North Metro EIS will be defined by several project milestones:

Project Scoping

During this phase, the North Metro team met with local, state and federal agencies as well as community members to gain information on the project.  Scoping is helping RTD FasTracks identify the range of alternatives and issues to be evaluated in the EIS.
Specifically, scoping determines:

• What will be analyzed in the study
  
  
• The level of importance of specific issues and needs
  
  
• Current public concerns associated with the proposed action
  
  
• If previous planning efforts were adequate

Based on input received during scoping, RTD continues to refine and finalize the scope of the alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS and also its Purpose and Need Statement, the benchmark from which all alternatives will be evaluated.

Evaluation Criteria

In order to narrow the field of transit options for the corridor, RTD FasTracks will evaluate transportation alternatives to meet the project's Purpose and Need.  NEPA requires each alternative to be evaluated on potential environmental issues in more than 20 categories, including land use, economics, wetlands, air quality, traffic, etc. If environmental impacts exceed allowable limits, mitigation measures must be identified and evaluated to determine how much the negative impacts can be minimized or eliminated.  After completing this evaluation and considering public input, RTD will determine the Preferred Alternative (PA) for the North Metro Corridor.  The PA is the alternative that meets the Purpose and Need for the project as well as the evaluation criteria developed for the project.  It is anticipated that the North Metro Project will utilize local funds as well as Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) funds.  The TIFIA program is similar to the FTA's New Starts program, so RTD will evaluate how alternatives qualify under the New Starts program criteria (as a substitute for the TIFIA program).

Sepcifically, each alternative's ability to qualify for federal funding will depend on it ability to provide:

• Mobility improvements
  
  
• Environmental benefits
  
  
• Operating efficiencies
  
  
• Cost-effectiveness

Advanced Basic Engineering of the PA

After selecting the PA, RTD FasTracks will begin detailed evaluation and advanced basic engineering studies of the recommended alternative. These studies will determine the exact details about the likely impacts of the PA and recommend mitigation measures to address them.

Draft EIS and Final EIS

NEPA requires that RTD publish a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), documenting the entire process and clearly detailing its recommendations. Publication of the Draft EIS begins a 45-day public comment period where the public can review the report and submit comments that RTD must address.  Two public hearings will be held during the comment period.  RTD must respond to every comment submitted for the DEIS in the Final EIS.  The Final EIS is the formal document submitted to the FTA for its review and approval.  After reviewing the Final EIS, FTA will issue a Record of Decision either approving or declining RTD FasTracks' request to complete final design and construction of the recommended alternative.

Purpose and Need

The Purpose and Need statement establishes the benchmark from which all North Metro EIS alternatives are evaluated. The Purpose and Need statement can build from findings of past studies (e.g. the MIS), but it can not be so overly directive that it is impossible to develop a "reasonable range of alternatives."The "purpose" is essentially the reason for the project. The "need" statements should present the current and projected conditions that the project must address. Based on public and agency scoping, purpose and need will be formulated for the North Metro Corridor and finalized in the winter of 2006.

Alternatives Under Consideration

Using the Major Investment Study, better known as the North Metro Transportation Study, as a starting point, there have been several alternatives considered during the North Metro EIS. These alternatives were refined until a Preferred Alternative (PA) - the Build Alternative, was selected.

The alternatives under consideration in 2007 for the North Metro Corridor were:

Alternative 1: No-Build (NB)

Alternative 2: Transportation System Management/Travel Demand Management (TSM/TDM)

Alternative 3: Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) Transit

Alternative 4: Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) Transit

Alignment Option 1: UPRR Alignment from Denver Union Station (DUS)

Alignment Option 2: BNSF Alignment from DUS

The alternatives under consideration in 2008 are:


Timing of the EIS decision-making process is as follows:

• Fall 2006 - Scoping phase to identify the scope of the study and alternatives to be evaluated.
  
  
• Late 2006 - Summer 2007 - Conduct increasingly detailed evaluation of alternatives to eliminate flawed alternatives and identify those that best meet the needs of the corridor with the least environmental impact (includes four public workshops).
  
  
• Fall 2007 - Select a recommended alternative, the Preferred Alternative (PA), to undergo a very detailed level of analysis (includes two public workshops).
  
  
• Fall 2007-Summer 2008 - Conduct basic engineering on the PA to identify the impacts that may be caused by its implementation and recommendations to mitigate those impacts.
  
  
• Fall 2008 - Publish the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), a very detailed report summarizing the impacts of the recommended alternative and the proposed methods to mitigate them, followed by a 45-day public comment period (includes two public hearings).
  
  
• Early 2009 - Respond to all DEIS comments in the Final EIS that is submitted to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
  
  
• Middle 2009 - FTA issues Record of Decision on the North Metro EIS, allowing RTD to complete the design of the North Metro Corridor and begin construction. RTD will conduct extensive community outreach throughout the project to ensure that the recommendations in the EIS are reflective of what is best for the North Metro Corridor community.