UPDATED WITH NYS DOT COMMISSIONER JOAN MCDONALD’S COMMENTS: New York State says there are no serious environmental challenges facing its planned replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge.

The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), which was posted on the state’s Tappan Zee website Tuesday, signaled no major changes in the state’s approach to replacing the aging span. It states the bridge should be replaced — and transit won’t be immediately included.

“The Replacement Bridge Alternative would not preclude future bus rapid transit (BRT) or commuter rail service at the Tappan Zee Hudson River crossing,” says one paragraph of the DEIS (see page 20, here), “but such a proposal would be subject to a separate environmental review and approval process at the time that it is foreseeable and financing is available…Therefore, the Replacement Bridge Alternative would not adversely impact transit services.”

Speaking by phone, Joan McDonald — the New York State Transportation Commissioner — said that the state’s position hasn’t changed.

“That is what we have said all along…Our position has always been you cannot build transit until you replace the bridge,” she said. “We don’t think it is financially feasible at this time for transit to be included, but we are building a bridge that will last for 100+ years, so at some point in the future, if the ridership numbers, and the fare box recovery ratio warrant the investment, we will make sure that it happens. So we are building the bridge to not preclude it in the future. And what that means is the footings will be spread appropriately and there will be enough weight-bearing capability on the bridge to hold transit in the future.”

When asked if there was anything anyone could say at the upcoming hearings that would change the state’s position, McDonald answered “most likely no, but we will see what comes out of the public comment process.”

The DEIS is part of the regulatory process the state must follow in order to replace the bridge. It must address concerns made during the public comment period — including at a pair of hearings held in October.

A quick scan of the DEIS revealed no major surprises. Under a heading entitled “unavoidable impacts” (p. 26, here), the DEIS states several properties would need to be purchased, the views of some Rockland County residences may be obstructed, and the oyster bed habitat in the Hudson River will likely be disturbed during construction. The state would also need to use a small portion of the Elizabeth Place Park in South Nyack for construction purposes. McDonald said that the state has paying close attention to the possible construction impacts on the river. “That is probably the area of most significance,” she said, “that we don’t disrupt [the Hudson River] habitat.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has made rebuilding the bridge one of his key issues. He toured the bridge before he formally took office, and in October of last year he announced the Obama Administration had granted the project expedited approval. Most recently, he mentioned it in his State of the State address this month.

In a press release today (pdf), the state DOT lined up a number of state officials and and labor leaders, praising Governor Cuomo’s leadership.

Advocates haven’t yet given up hope for bus rapid transit. Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, says the DEIS doesn’t adequately address why BRT isn’t being included, and that her preliminary review of the massive DEIS documents had raised a number of other issues, including an “explanation of how this project fits into goals in legislation recently passed by the state to implement projects that are consistent with smart growth principles.” Her group has put together a website calling for BRT on the bridge.

Cuomo has not yet announced how he plans to pay for the bridge’s construction, estimated at over $5 billion, but he has said he intends to use a proposed infrastructure bank to finance it. In December, the state hired new financial advisers for the project.

The state has scheduled two public hearings about the DEIS — Tuesday, February 28th in Nyack, and Thursday, March 1 in Tarrytown. Comments on the DEIS will be accepted until March 15 — after which point the state will move forward on crafting a final environmental impact statement for review by the federal government.

“It’s an exceptionally exciting project,” McDonald said. “It is a necessary component of our transportation network, and it will create many jobs during construction, and it’s critical for the economic vitality of the New York metropolitan region and the lower Hudson Valley.”

The state has set a goal of breaking ground on the new Tappan Zee Bridge later this summer or early in the fall.