VII. Agencies and People Consulted 7.1 Public Scoping Workshop Notice of a public scoping workshop to be held on July 30, 2008, was advertised in The Washington Post on June 29 and June 30, 2008; a copy of the notice and proof of the advertisement order is provided in Appendix B. Notice of the workshop was also posted on the Airport s web site (http://www.mwaa.com). The workshop was held at the Historic Main Terminal adjacent to Terminal A at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Representatives from the Authority and its study team were available to explain the scoping process, the FAA s RSA program, the environmental resources that may be affected by the Proposed Action, and the estimated timeframe for completing the EA and implementing the Proposed Action. The presentation boards used to explain the scoping process, the FAA s RSA program, and the Authority s preferred alternative are available on the Airport s web site. 1 Six members of the public attended the workshop. Of these, three submitted Public Comment Forms at the workshop. Copies of those forms are provided in Appendix B. 7.2 Agency Scoping Meeting The Authority invited the agencies listed below, by letter dated June 27, 2008, to an agency scoping meeting at 10:30 a.m. on July 31, 2008, at the West Building of the Airport. A copy of the invitation letter is included in Appendix B. Federal: Federal Aviation Administration, Eastern Region Office, Washington Airports District Office, Airport Traffic Control Tower, Eastern Service Center Air Traffic Organization; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District and Norfolk District, Northern Virginia Field Office; U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Capital Region; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service and Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management; U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia and Chesapeake Bay Field Offices; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, East Region; U.S. Coast Guard, Wetlands Division; and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Commonwealth of Virginia: Office of Environmental Impact Review and Department of Environmental Quality. Local: Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning; Metropolitan Washington Airlines Committee; Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; National Capital Planning Commission; Mayors of Washington, D.C. and Alexandria, Virginia; District Department of the Environment, Natural Resources Administration; District State Historic Preservation Office; District Department of Health; County Executive of Prince George s County; County Manager of Arlington County. Representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration (by telephone), the National Park Service, and the District Department of the Environment participated in the meeting. 1 The presentation boards used to explain the scoping process, the FAA s RSA program, and the Authority s preferred alternative are available online at: http://www.mwaa.com/_/file/_/pn2008_07_30_exhibits.pdf. Final Environmental Assessment VII-1 December 2009
The agency scoping meeting consisted of a PowerPoint presentation detailing the FAA s RSA program, the NEPA process, the Proposed Action, and the environmental resources located within the study area that could be affected by the Proposed Action. Representatives of the Authority and its study team responded to questions. Minutes from the agency scoping meeting are included in Appendix B. 7.3 Scoping Comments The public and relevant agencies were offered the opportunity to provide additional written comments by mail or email. Appendix B provides copies of all public and agency comments received during the comment period. The public and agency comments are organized separately, in order of the date on which they were received. 7.4 Other Consultation During the course of preparing this EA, the following persons were consulted: Federal Agencies Federal Aviation Administration - Jennifer Mendelsohn, Washington Airports District Office - Terry Page - Maria Stanco, Eastern Region National Marine Fisheries - John Nichols National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Julie Crocker U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service - Mary J. Ratnaswamy, Ph.D. - Robert Zepp U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service - Sally Blumenthal - Deborah Feldman - Jon G. James - Sean McCabe - Dan McClarren - Brent O Neill - Vincent Santucci - Brent Steury - David Vella - Matt Virta U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Theresita M. Crockett-Augustine - Paul Wettlaufer - Jack Dinne Final Environmental Assessment VII-2 December 2009
State Agencies - Virginia Department of Environmental Quality - Ellie Irons Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage - Michelle E. Edwards - Kristaal McKelvey Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Dam Safety, Floodplain Management - David Gunn, P.E. Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries - Amy Ewing - Amy Martin - Jaime L. Sajecki Virginia Department of Historic Resources - Marc Holma Local Agencies District of Columbia - Adrian Fenty, Mayor D.C. Department of the Environment - Fisheries and Wildlife, Bryan King - Water Quality, Adion Chinkuyu - Water Quality, Collin Burrell D.C. State Historic Preservation Office - C. Andrew Lewis City of Alexandria, Transportation and Environmental Services - Erica Bannerman - Lalit Sjarma Potomac River Fisheries Commission - Kirby A. Carpenter Other Parties Consulted - Stephen Eckenrode, Resident, Palisade Gardens - Jelani Gowdy, Resident - Bernadette Lipari, Resident, Laurel, Maryland - Karyl Owings, Member, Sailing Club of Washington - Peter Pennington, Resident, Alexandria, Virginia 7.5 Review of Draft Environmental Assessment The Draft EA was made available for public comment pursuant to a public notice placed in The Washington Post on June 23-24, 2009 and on the Authority s website (http://www.mwaa.com). A copy of the notice is included in Appendix H. Beginning June 24, 2009, the Draft EA was available for public review during business hours at the following locations: Final Environmental Assessment VII-3 December 2009
Arlington County Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy St, Arlington, VA 22201 Aurora Hills Branch Library, 735 S. 18th St, Arlington, VA, 22202 Federal Aviation Administration, Washington Airports District Office, 23723 Air Freight Lane, Suite 210, Dulles, Virginia, 20166. The Authority s website (www.mwaa.com/news_publications/newsroom/public_notices). Copies of the Draft EA were provided directly to: Federal Agencies - Federal Aviation Administration - National Marine and Fisheries Service - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia Field Office - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - U.S. National Park Service - Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Virginia Agencies - Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Environmental Impact Review (25 copies for distribution to Virginia agencies) Local Agencies - Arlington County Manager - DC Mayor - DC State Historic Preservation Officer Other Recipients - Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments - National Capital Planning Commission - Metropolitan Washington Airlines Committee Notice of a public review workshop to be held on July 15, 2009 was advertised in The Washington Post on June 23 and June 24, 2009; a copy of the notice is included in Appendix H. Notice of the workshop was also posted on the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority s (Authority s) web site (http://www.mwaa.com). The workshop was held at the Historic Main Terminal adjacent to Terminal A at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Representatives of the Authority and its study team were available to explain the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) process, the Federal Aviation Administration s (FAA s) Runway Safety Area (RSA) Program, the environmental resources that may be affected by the Authority s Proposed Action, and the estimated timeframe for completing the environmental assessment (EA) and for implementing the Proposed Action. The Proposed Action is described in detail in Section 2.3 of the EA. One member of the public attended the workshop but did not submit any comments at the workshop or during the review period, which ran through July 27, 2009. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) is responsible for coordinating Virginia s review of federal environmental documents and responding to appropriate federal officials on behalf of the Commonwealth. VDEQ is also responsible for coordinating the Commonwealth of Virginia s review of Federal Consistency Certifications (FCCs) submitted pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) and providing the state s response. Therefore, this EA will respond to VDEQ s comments made on behalf of VDEQ, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (VDCR), Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), Virginia Marine resources Commission (VMRC), Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR), Virginia Department of Aviation (DoAv), and the Northern Virginia Regional Commission NVRC). Final Environmental Assessment VII-4 December 2009
Table H-1 is a consolidated list of the written correspondence to the Authority pertaining to the Draft EA. The correspondence is included at the end of this Appendix. No comments were received on Floodplains or Natural Resources and Energy Supply. Similarly, no comments were received on the Purpose and Need or Alternatives sections of the Draft EA. Table VII-1 identifies the commenters. Their comments and the Authority s responses to the comments are included in Appendix H. Table VII-1 Correspondence Received Commenter Type Dated Donna Santiago, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Email a/ 05/28/09 Andrew Lewis, District of Columbia, State Historic Preservation Office Stamp Message 07/10/09 David W. Levy, RA, AICP, Director, Urban Design and Plan Review Division, Letter 07/17/09 National Capital Planning Commission Lalit Sharma, Chief, Office of Environmental Quality, Department of Letter 07/24/09 Transportation and Environmental Services, City of Alexandria, Virginia Barbara Okorn, Office of Environmental Programs, U.S. Environmental Letter 07/27/09 Protection Agency Ellie Irons, Manager, Office of Environmental Impact Review, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Letter 07/28/09 Notes: a/ This email was in response to the Authority s March 27, 2009 invitation (letter included at the end of this Appendix) to review a preliminary draft of the EA. Source: As listed in table above Prepared by: Ricondo & Associates, Inc. Final Environmental Assessment VII-5 December 2009
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