Transit projects get EPA approval

Green Line extension, Fairmount rail improvement, others OK’d

A series of MBTA projects the state agreed to accelerate in a 2006 settlement received approval Thursday from the Environmental Protection Agency, an expected move that found the state’s plan meets federally-required air quality standards.

Many of the projects were promised in 1990 as part of a deal surrounding the Big Dig. In 2005, a settlement between the state and the Conservation Law Foundation — who argued delays were hampering the transit improvements — pledged to move the projects forward. One of the projects is the Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford, and the state is still determining where the extension will end — at Route 16 or College Avenue. On Monday, officials will hold a community meeting in Somerville to inform residents how the environmental process will work.

Another is the Fairmount commuter rail improvement project, which will add four new stops between Readville and South Station.

The MBTA held community meetings on the design of two of those stations — Four Corner and Talbot Avenue — in recent weeks and plans to hold two more next week on the Blue Hill Avenue and Newmarket stations.

Connecting the Blue and Red lines — the only two MBTA lines not currently linked — between Bowdoin and Charles/MGH stations is also in the works, as is a plan to add 1,000 total new parking spaces at various T stations.

Other commitments included last year’s completion of the Greenbush commuter rail line and upgrading multiple Blue Line stations and building new platforms.