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City staff: existing ROD limits local options; supplemental EIS or new EIS likely needed
Summary
City staff told the Aspen council CDOT and FHWA signed the Record of Decision (ROD) and that there is no known process for a cooperating agency to withdraw it; staff said pursuing new alternatives would at minimum require a supplemental EIS and that devolution of State Highway 82 would not, by itself, change the ROD outcome.
City staff summarized written responses they received from CDOT and the Federal Highway Administration about the Record of Decision tied to the Castle Creek project. Jim Clark told council that the ROD is signed by CDOT and FHWA and that staff is not aware of any process for a cooperating agency to withdraw the ROD: "the rod is actually signed by CDOT and FHWA, and... there's no known process... for a cooperating agency... to withdraw from a record of decision," he said.
Staff explained the practical implications: the selected preferred alternative in the ROD would remain unless the signatories alter or withdraw it. If the city wishes to pursue solutions not studied in the original EIS, the minimum federal NEPA path would be a supplemental EIS; depending on scope, the process could also require a new EIS. Council members asked whether devolution (transfer of State Highway 82 to local control) or self-funding the project would change the ROD’s legal effect. Staff responded that devolution or local funding does not automatically void the ROD and that the ROD would remain in effect unless formally altered.
