Topics:  Interstate Highway System

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 51219]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19745]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


Rescinding a Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement for the I-71/I-75 Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Improvements 
Project, Hamilton County, OH and Kenton County, KY

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice to rescind a notice of intent to prepare an 
environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA, in cooperation with the Ohio Department of 
Transportation (ODOT), is issuing this Notice to advise the public that 
we are rescinding the July 20, 2006 Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare 
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the I-71/I-75 Brent Spence 
Bridge corridor improvements project, located in Hamilton County, Ohio 
and Kenton County, Kentucky. We are rescinding the NOI because the 
project was down scoped to an Environmental Assessment (EA) in 2010 and 
a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) was issued in 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For FHWA: Laura S. Leffler, Division 
Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, Ohio Division, 200 North 
High Street, Suite 328, Columbus, OH 43215, Telephone: (614) 280-6896, 
Email: Laurie.leffler@dot.gov. For ODOT: Timothy McDonald, Deputy 
Director, Division of Planning, 1980 West Broad Street, Mail Stop 3200, 
Columbus, OH 43223, Telephone: (614) 644-0273, Email: 
Tim.McDonald@dot.ohio.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    An electronic copy of this notice may be downloaded from the Office 
of the Federal Register's website at www.FederalRegister.gov and the 
Government Publishing Office's website at www.GovInfo.gov.

Background

    The FHWA, in cooperation with the ODOT, previously intended to 
prepare an EIS for proposed improvements to I-71/I-75 and connecting 
routes in the vicinity of the existing Brent Spence Bridge Ohio River 
crossing and the Cities of Cincinnati, OH and Covington, KY. The NOI, 
which was published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2006 (71 FR 
41310), indicated that the purpose and need of the project was to 
improve traffic flow and level of service, improve safety, correct 
geometric deficiencies, and maintain links in key mobility, trade, and 
national defense transportation corridors.
    As stated in the 2006 NOI, alternatives under consideration 
included: (1) Taking no action; (2) rehabilitation/upgrading of the 
existing infrastructure combined with construction of new facilities on 
new alignment; (3) replacement infrastructure on new alignment; and, 
(4) other alternatives that may be developed during the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. During the NEPA process, the 
conceptual alternatives were narrowed to feasible alternatives that 
essentially stayed on the I-71/75 mainline, reducing the potential 
impacts from the project. Due to this, ODOT asked that the project be 
down scoped to an EA on December 11, 2009, which FHWA agreed to on 
March 11, 2010. An EA was prepared and a FONSI was approved on August 
9, 2012. However, the NOI was not rescinded at that time. FHWA is 
rescinding the NOI at this time. Should a need to prepare an EIS arise 
in the future, then another NOI would be issued at that time.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 20.205, 
Highway Research, Planning and Construction. The regulations 
implementing Executive Order 12372 regarding intergovernmental 
consultation on Federal programs and activities apply to this 
program)

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; 23 CFR part 771.

    Issued on: September 8, 2021.
Laura S. Leffler,
Ohio Division Administrator, Federal Highway Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-19745 Filed 9-13-21; 8:45 am]
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