8 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Courtesy of Cuomo’s offi ce
FAA releases draft environmental impact statement
for LGA AirTrain, opens virtual public comment period
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e Federal Aviation Administration
released its Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) for the proposed
LaGuardia Airport AirTrain, and has
opened its public comment period on
Friday, Aug. 21.
Th e website lists a total of fi veupcoming
public workshops and hearings —
which will not be held in person due to
COVID-19 — within a three-day period.
Information on how to register and
comment on the project is available,
including how residents can send on-therecord
comments by U.S. Mail, email, and
through a web comment form.
Th e virtual public comment period for
the DEIS will be 45 days long, and will
end Oct. 5 at 5 p.m.
Th ere will be two public workshops on
Tuesday, Sept. 22 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
and Wednesday, Sept. 22 from 7 to 9
p.m. with public hearings following aft er.
Th ere will be an additional public hearing
from 2 to 4 p.m. on Th ursday, Sept. 24.
Individuals may register for the
FAA’s Zoom Webinars, or tune in during
the livestream on their YouTube and
Facebook accounts.
Th e FAA notifi ed the Queens Public
Library that branches can download the
DEIS documents for residents who are
not online.
Residents without internet access can
call the project hotline at (855) 542-3479
to submit formal comment on the project
and/or receive a dial-in number to listen
to the workshop or hearing of their
choice.
The DEIS examines the potential
environmental impacts of the proposed
Access Improvement Project at
LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
Th e study examined the current proposed
plan of an above-ground automated
people mover from Willets Point
to LGA terminals. Specifi cally, it examined
the air train with“three APM stations;
passenger walkway and circulation
systems connecting the APM stations to
transportation facilities; an APM operations,
maintenance, and storage facility
and parking structure for airport,
APM, and Metropolitan Transportation
Authority (MTA) employees; three traction
power substations; utilities infrastructure;
and various connected actions
to allow construction and operation of
the proposed LGA Access Improvement
Project.”
Th e 34-page long Executive Summary is
divided into subheads detailing purpose
and need of the project, the proposed
action of the current plan, timeframe of
the project, request for federal funding,
alternatives actions (including the current
plan, no action alternative, and other
examined routes), aff ected environment,
environmental consequences and cumulative
impacts, among others.
The FAA is conducting the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
for the LGA AirTrain because the Port
Authority plans to requestfunding for
the AirTrain under the Passenger Facility
Charge (PFC) program. Th e FAA’s
EIS study is in accordance with the-
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969(NEPA), which requires the FAA to
identify and publicly disclose the potential
environmental impacts of the proposed
project.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo fi rst proposed the
people mover in 2015, which was then
said to cost about $450 million; but the
cost is now up to $2 billion.
Th e AirTrain has become a highly contested
project within Queens grassroots
organizations, but also has the support
of economic organizations, including the
Queens Chamber of Commerce.
In June, several local groups called for
Congress not to direct COVID-19 federal
stimulus funds for the Port Authority
toward the project, with particular concerns
over the project’s environmental
impacts on the immediate community.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez recently voiced her agreement
with the local groups, much of which are
within her district.
According to am New York Metro, the
transit agency is considering stalling the
project due to months of loss of revenue
as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A rendering of the proposed AirTrain to LaGuardia.
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