EIS Process

Alternative Analysis and Screening Process

EIS Process

The East Corridor EIS follows a process outlined by the National Environmental Policy Act. It is designed to ensure that reasonable transportation alternatives are considered, that community input plays a key role, and that the environmental and community impacts are fully disclosed. The process includes:

Community Outreach
A continuous community outreach process is integrated into every step of the project to ensure that the corridor residents, businesses, the traveling public and other interested parties have an opportunity to have meaningful participation in the process.

1. Scoping - Issues and concerns were solicited from various agencies, the community, and others. Scoping activities included door-to-door questionnaire, block meetings, neighborhood meetings, business meetings, and corridor meetings.

2. Purpose and Need - Using the input from scoping, data gathering, and technical analysis, a purpose and need statement was developed. It served as the basis for the alternative development, screening, and environmental evaluation.

3. Evaluation Criteria - Working with the community, agencies, and other stakeholders, criteria were developed to compare the numerous alternatives that were considered.

4. Alternative Development - A full range of alternatives, including previous and current proposals and new ideas from the community and stakeholders were developed for consideration.

5. Alternative Screening - Once the full range of alternatives was developed, the alternatives were screened using the previously established criteria to eliminate those that were not reasonable and would not meet the purpose and need.

6. Draft EIS (DEIS) Evaluation - The Preferred Alternative and the No-Action Alternative are fully evaluated in the DEIS. The DEIS is an official document issued during the process and includes a detailed analysis of the social, environmental, and economic impacts of the alternatives and design option.

7. Formal Public Comment on DEIS - With the release of the DEIS, the public and agencies have an opportunity to review and comment on the DEIS. The public hearings were held to present the information and obtain formal comments.

8. Final EIS (FEIS) - After addressing public and agency comments, additional analysis was completed to develop the FEIS.

9. Public hearing after FEIS - Following the release of the FEIS, the public will have a chance to review and comment on the FEIS. A public meeting(s) will be held to present the information.

10. Record of Decision (ROD) - After receiving public and agency comments and providing responses, it is expected that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will issue a ROD formalizing the official decision on the Preferred Alternative.

Alternative Analysis and Screening Process

As part of the analysis, a four-step process was used to reduce the master list of alternatives to a handful that will receive full evaluation in the DEIS. Additional information on alternative analysis can be found in the Alternative Development and Screening Process Presentation. Alternatives will be evaluated on each level based on the evaluation criteria determined from the project purpose, need, goals, and objectives.

1. Initial Screening - A series of yes or no questions were used during initial screening to evaluate alignments, station locations, and technologies to each other within categories. Alternatives not eliminated in initial screening were then refined and evaluated in comparative screening.

2. Comparative Screening - Comparative screening continued to look at transit alignments and technologies relative to themselves within categories to determine if some were clearly better than others were. A qualitative (good/better/best) approach was used to determine the alternatives within each category that were more effective at meeting the purpose and need.

3. Detailed Screening - Alignments, station locations, and technologies remaining after comparative screening, were combined to create several different corridor-wide transit alternatives for analysis in detailed screening. A quantitative (measure-based) analysis was used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the various alternatives.

4. Alternative Refinement - Alternatives that remained following detailed screening were developed in more detail and further analyzed as part of alternative refinement. The evaluation was more in depth than the detailed screening analysis and was used to determine the alternatives most responsive to the project purpose and need. This fourth level of screening considered engineering feasibility; potential effects on social, environmental, and economic resources; and an analysis of capital, operation, and maintenance costs.

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