rtlie Commonwealtli of :Massacliusetts
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PJ(fcutive Office of P,nergy andP,nvironmentaf;4.ffairs
100 cam6ridge Street, Suite 900
(]3oston, :M;4. 02114
Deval L. Patrick
GOVERNOR
Tel: (617) 626-1000
Fax: (617) 626-1181
http://www.mass.gov/envir
Timothy P. Murray
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Ian A. Bowles
SECRETARY
November 6, 2009
Secretary Jeffrey B. Mullan
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
10 Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116
Re:
Request for Withdrawal ofthe Notice of Project Change
The Urban Ring (EEA #12565)
Dear Secretary Mullan:
I write in response to two recent letters from former Secretary James Aloisi concerning
the project known as the Urban Ring and the Notice of Project Change (NPC) that was filed by
the Executive Office of Transportation (EaT) on June 30, 2009. Those letters, dated October 15,
2009 and October 29,2009, which seek to alternately withdraw the June 30 NPC and then
substitute a new NPC in its place, raised certain questions concerning the review status of the
Urban Ring project under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). As set forth
below, this letter seeks to clarify my position concerning the project's current status under
MEPA and to request further direction from the new Massachusetts Department of
Transportation (MassDOT) no later than December 15,2009 regarding MassDOT's plan with
respect to this long-standing MEPA project.
As it has been described in prior MEPA filings, the Urban Ring is a proposed Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT) system that would run in an approximately circular ring through densely
developed portions of Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford and Somerville.
The project has been under MEPA review since 2001 and is subject to a Special Review
Procedure (SRP), which established a Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) to assist EaT in its
preparation of environmental review documents for the project. That SRP was most recently
modified on May 30, 2008 to re-establish the schedule for submission of these documents.
Under the May 30,2008 SRP, the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) detailing the
environmental impacts associated with construction and implementation of new bus rapid transit
routes and new and improved stations along the entire route of the Urban Ring is due to be
submitted by December 31, 2009. At this point in time, all parties to the process acknowledge
that this impending deadline is unlikely to be met.
Recognizing the implementation and funding challenges facing the project and the
likelihood that the December 31 deadline would not be met, on March 6, 2009 I issued a
Certificate on the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report (RDEIR) that directed EaT to
undertake a realistic assessment of the schedule for environmental review and implementation of
the Urban Ring. That Certificate further specified that EaT should file a NPC that would
identify specific early action items to address issues pertaining to the phasing, financing, timing
of construction, and implementation ofthe overall project. The resulting June 30 NPC contained
an Implementation Plan for the project that recommended a phased implementation of the project
in light of its scale, complexity and cost. The NPC specifically included: (1) a recommendation
to implement continuous Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service in the Northern Tier of the Urban
Ring corridor between Logan Airport and Kendall Square pending completion of a FEIR for this
portion of the project; (2) a recommendation to implement several potential "early actions" that
could improve transit service in the Southern Tier; and (3) a discussion of the major
infrastructure elements in the Southern Tier (the Fenway/LMA Tunnel, the Charles River
crossing, and the Allston connection) that were presented as having significant barriers to
implementation in terms of capital costs, and environmental and abutter impacts. The June 30
NPC was noticed for public review and comment in accordance with the requirements of MEPA
and I received over thirty letters from interested stakeholders in response.
Subsequent to the close of the comment period on the NPC, I received several requests
from EaT to extend my decision period on the NPC in light of the significant volume of public
comments received and in consideration of what appeared to be evolving plans for this project
within EaT. Those extensions continued up until October 13, 2009 when the MEPA Office
was advised that EaT planned to submit a letter on October 14 clarifying its stance relative to
the Urban Ring NPC Certificate and the Special Review Procedure and also requesting an
additional short extension on the Certificate deadline. I held off on issuing my decision on the
NPC pending receipt ofthis additional information from EaT.
Instead, on October 15,2009, Secretary Aloisi submitted a letter seeking to withdraw
the June 30 NPC in light of significant new circumstances affecting the project, including the
completion of a rail acquisition agreement with CSX and the finalization of the Boston
Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which was approved on September 24,2009. Before I
had an opportunity to formally respond to this request, Secretary Aloisi sent a letter on October
29 indicating that it supersedes both EaT's June 30, 2009 NPC and his prior letter of October
15. That letter seeks to substitute a new NPC in place of the June 30 NPC in light of the new
circumstances cited in his earlier letter.
Although I appreciate the spirit of Secretary Aloisi's October 29 letter, unfortunately I
cannot accept it as a valid NPC filing because it does not meet many of the requirements for
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filing under the MEPA regulations. l Public notice is at the core of MEPA' s purposes, and the
regulatory filing and distribution requirements perform an important function to ensure that aU
permitting agencies, prior public commenters and other identified stakeholders receive adequate
notice of the filing submitted for review. Particularly where this project has been the subject of
such engaged stakeholder involvement in the past eight years, it is critical that the notice and
distribution requirements be met before I can accept a filing for formal review. Therefore,
because I cannot accept Secretary Aloisi's substitute NPC filing, and particularly because
Secretary Aloisi's letters have made clear that the information presented in the June 30 NPC has
now been superseded, I must view the June 30 NPC filing as withdrawn. My directive of March
6, 2009 to file an NPC therefore now remains open.
I am also mindful, however, that the new MassDOT assumed responsibility for the
planning of this project as of November 1,2009. Under the new leadership of the Board of
Directors and yourself as Secretary, MassDOT may need additional time to evaluate the possible
options for this project, including the new circumstances presented by former Secretary Aloisi in
his October letters. One of those circumstances is that the Urban Ring project has not been
included on the list of recommended transit projects that will receive state and federal funding in
the recently completed RTP. It is my understanding that as a consequence of this, the Urban
Ring will not be permitted to proceed through the federal financing process or through the
federal environmental impact process until such time as the RTP is revised in futUre years. Even
prior to this development, the Urban Ring was not expected to begin construction until at least
2015. Further delay to that already extended'schedule, and the additional uncertainty
surrounding when, if at all, the project may ultimately be advanced through the RTP process,
makes meaningful environmental impact review ofthe entire project difficultto achieve.
MassDOT must therefore address the funding realities facing the project, including the impact of
federal funding requirements imposed by the Federal Transit Administration, and contain a
revised plan and schedule for the project in light ofthese fiscal circumstances. These are all
important factors to be addressed by the new MassDOT Board. I am hereby directing, therefore,
that MassDOT provide the MEPA Office with a statement of intent no later than December 15,
2009 as to its proposed plans with respect to moving forward with the Project. This time frame
should allow the MassDOT Board time to meet to consider the plans for this project.
In addition to this interim deadline, I am also directing MassDOT to file the outstanding
required NPC for this project no later than March 31, 2010. I have determined that it is
appropriate to give MassDOT this additional time to prepare the NPC in light of the significant
challenges the authority faces as a result of the integration of former Massachusetts Turnpike
Authority, Tobin Bridge and Department of Conservation and Recreation assets. Please note that
the new NPC filing must provide specific details concerning any proposed early action items,
I Specifically, pursuant to 301 CMR 11.10(7), A NPC must be circulated to any agency or person who
received the Environmental Notification Fonn (ENF) for the project (which would include any agency
,that may be required to grant a Pennit for the proposed project, including in this case, the Department of
Environmental Protection, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Massachusetts Water
Resources Authority) or any person that commented on the ENF or any prior EIR for the project. It
appears that many of the required agencies and public commenters were not notified of the Secretary's
October 29 letter. In addition, the required NPC filing fonn was also not completed, and required
infonnation and attachments specified by the fonn, including plans depicting the change(s) relative to
what we previously reviewed, were also omitted.
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their potential environmental impacts, and MassDOT's plans to advance the remaining elements
of the project through a revised SRP. This process must be coordinated with the CAC and other
stakeholders in advance of any submission. Once properly filed and distributed, I will be pleased
to consider any proposal that will contribute to the improved functioning of transit networks in
the affected communities.
Please also be aware that if MassDOT wishes to move forward with implementation of
any early action items in advance of completion of MEPA review for the entire Urban Ring
project, I will allow MassDOT to submit a request for a Waiver in connection with the NPC
filing. In that case, the NPC filing should specify how the proposed early action items meet the
standards for a Waiver under Section 11.11 ofthe MEPA regulations. In general,
implementation of early action items that have the potential to increase transit mobility with
minimal environmental impacts are entirely consistent with the requirements of MEPA, which
allows and encourages early implementation of phases of a project that can confer environmental
benefits. If MassDOT wishes to put forth a comprehensive implementation proposal prioritizing
certain early action components, I am certain that a modified SRP could be established that
would facilitate environmental review in advance of the preparation of a Final EIR for the entire
project.
Finally, as you are aware, there are numerous actively engaged stakeholders participating
in the environmental impact process for this project, including members ofthe CAC. The
comments I received on the withdrawn NPC uniformly highlighted the need for greater clarity
concerning the future review process for the project, and that need for clarity is only increased by
Secretary Aloisi's recent letters. I therefore ask that MassDOT coordinate with the CAC as it
develops its plans for the Urban Ring in advance of the December 15 deadline.
I look forward to reviewing MassDOT's response.
Ian A. Bowles
Secretary
Cc: Citizens Advisory Council for the Urban Ring
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