[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 227 (Monday, November 28, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71370-71372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-6526]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Bay Area To Central Valley High-Speed Train Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that FRA with 
the California High Speed Rail Authority (Authority) will jointly 
prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) and 
programmatic (program) environmental impact report (EIR) for the San 
Francisco Bay Area to Central Valley portion of the California High-
Speed Train (HST) System in compliance with state and Federal laws, in 
particular the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). FRA is also issuing this 
notice to solicit public and agency input into the development of the 
scope of the Bay Area to Central Valley HST Program EIR/EIS and to 
advise the public that outreach activities conducted by the Authority 
and its representatives will be considered in the preparation of the 
EIR/EIS. The FRA and the Authority recently completed a Program EIR/EIS 
as the first-phase of a tiered environmental review process for the 
Proposed California HST system, and as part of the selected HST 
Alternative defined a broad corridor between the Bay Area and Central 
Valley generally bounded by (and including) the Pacheco Pass (SR-152) 
to the South, the Altamont Pass (I-580) to the North, the BNSF Corridor 
to the East, and the Caltrain Corridor to the West. The Bay Area to 
Central Valley HST Program EIR/EIS will further examine this broad 
corridor as the next phase of the tiered environmental review process.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information regarding the 
programmatic environmental review, please contact: Mr. Dan Leavitt, 
Deputy Director of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, 925 L 
Street, Suite 1425, Sacramento, CA 95814, (telephone 916-324-1541) or 
Mr. David Valenstein, Environmental Program Manager, Office of 
Passenger Programs, Federal Railroad Administration, 1120 Vermont 
Avenue (Mail Stop 20), Washington, DC 20590, (telephone 202 493-6368).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The need for a high-speed train (HST) system 
is directly related to the expected growth in population and resulting 
increases in intercity travel demand in California over the next twenty 
years and beyond. As a result of this growth in travel demand, there 
will be more travel delays from the growing congestion on California's 
highways and at airports. In addition, there will be effects on the 
economy and quality of life from a transportation system that is less 
and less reliable as travel demand increases and from deteriorating air 
quality in and around California's metropolitan areas. The intercity 
highway system, commercial airports, and conventional passenger rail 
serving the intercity travel market are currently operating at or near 
capacity, and will require large public investments for maintenance and 
expansion in order to meet existing demand and future growth. The 
proposed high HST system would provide a new mode of high-speed 
intercity travel that would link the major metropolitan areas of the 
state; interface with international airports, mass transit, and 
highways; and provide added capacity to meet increases in intercity 
travel demand in California in a manner sensitive to and protective of 
California's unique natural resources.

Background

    The California High-Speed Rail Commission, established in 1993 to 
investigate the feasibility of high-speed rail in California, concluded 
that a HST system is technically, environmentally, and economically 
feasible and set forth recommendations for the technology, corridors, 
financing, and operations of a proposed system. Following the 
Commission's work, a new nine-member California High-Speed Rail 
Authority (Authority) was established in 1996 and is authorized and 
directed by statute to undertake the planning for the development of a 
proposed statewide HST network that is fully coordinated with other 
public transportation services. The Legislature has granted the 
Authority the powers necessary to oversee the construction and 
operation of a statewide HST network once financing is secured. As part 
of the Authority's efforts to implement a HST system, the Authority 
adopted a Final Business Plan in June 2000, which reviewed the economic 
feasibility of a 700-mile-long HST system capable of speeds in excess 
of 200 miles per hour on a dedicated, fully grade-separated state-of-
the-art track.
    The FRA has responsibility for oversight of the safety of railroad 
operations, including the safety of any proposed high-speed ground 
transportation system. For the California proposal, the FRA would need 
to take

[[Page 71371]]

certain regulatory actions before any new high-speed train system could 
operate.
    Between 2001 and 2005, the Authority and FRA completed a Program 
EIR/EIS for the proposed California HST System. The Authority certified 
the Program EIR under CEQA and approved the proposed HST System, and 
the FRA issued a Record of Decision under NEPA on the Program EIS for 
the proposed California HST system. The Program EIR/EIS established the 
purpose and need for the HST system, analyzed a proposed high-speed 
train alternative and compared it with a No Project/No Action 
Alternative and a Modal Alternative. In conjunction with approving the 
Program EIR/EIS, the Authority and the FRA selected the High-Speed 
Train Alternative and selected certain corridors/general alignments, 
general station locations, mitigation strategies, design practices and 
further measures to guide development of the HST system at the site-
specific project level to avoid and minimize potential adverse 
environmental impacts.
    For the Bay Area to Central Valley segment, the Authority and FRA 
selected a broad corridor between the Bay Area and the Central Valley 
containing a number of feasible route options and proposed further 
study in this area to make programmatic selections of alignments and 
stations. The FRA consulted with the Council on Environmental Quality 
(CEQ), and CEQ concurred that the proposed tiering of programmatic 
decisions for this segment would be consistent with NEPA and would 
support compliance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The primary 
purpose of the Bay Area to Central Valley HST Program EIR/EIS 
environmental process is to do further studies to help identify a 
preferred alignment between these two parts of the state.
    The preparation of this Program EIR/EIS is being coordinated with 
the concurrent preparation of a Bay Area Regional Rail Plan by a 
coalition of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), 
the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Peninsula Joint 
Powers Board (Caltrain) and the Authority. Bay Area voters in 2004 
passed Regional Measure 2, which requires MTC to adopt a Regional Rail 
Plan. As stipulated in the Streets and Highways Code Section 30914.5 
(f), the Regional Rail Plan will define the future passenger rail 
transportation network for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, 
including an evaluation of the HST options. Information on the Regional 
Rail Plan is available on the Internet at: http://www.bayarearailplan.info.

Alternatives

    An initial alternatives evaluation will consider all reasonable HST 
alignment and station options within the selected broad corridor at a 
programmatic level of analysis to identify the most practical and 
feasible HST options for analysis in the Bay Area to Central Valley HST 
Program EIR/EIS. The alternatives will include:
    No-Action Alternative: The take no action (No-Project) alternative 
is defined to serve as the baseline for comparison of HST alternatives. 
The No-Build Alternative represents the state's transportation system 
(highway, air, and conventional rail) as it exists in 2005, and as it 
would exist after completion of programs or projects currently planned 
for funding and implementation by 2020, according to the following 
sources of information:
     State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)
     Regional Transportation Plans (RTPs) for all modes of 
travel
     Airport plans
     Intercity passenger rail plans (Amtrak Five- and Twenty-
year Plans)
    High-Speed Train Alternatives: The Authority and FRA have selected 
a steel-wheel-on-steel-rail HST system for advancement, over 700 miles 
long (1,126-kilometer long) capable of speeds in excess of 200 miles 
per hour (mph) (320 kilometers per hour [km/h]) on dedicated, fully 
grade-separated tracks, with state-of-the-art safety, signaling, and 
automated train control systems that would serve the major metropolitan 
centers of California, extending from Sacramento and the San Francisco 
Bay Area, through the Central Valley, to Los Angeles, Orange County, 
the Inland Empire, and San Diego. The Authority and the FRA have also 
selected a broad corridor for the HST between the Bay Area and Merced 
generally bounded by (and including) the Pacheco Pass (SR-152) to the 
South, the Altamont Pass (I-580) to the North, the BNSF Corridor to the 
East, and the Caltrain Corridor to the West. Within this corridor there 
are several potential alignments and potential station locations that 
will be considered. In heavily constrained urban areas, potential 
alignments that assume sharing corridors and/or tracks with other 
passenger rail services will be considered. The Authority and FRA will 
consider all reasonable and practical HST alignment and station 
alternatives and will focus the program environmental analysis on the 
alternatives that best meet the purpose and need of the HST system. 
Within the previously selected broad corridor, the Authority would not 
pursue alignments through Henry Coe State Park or a station at Los 
Banos.
    Station placement would be determined on the basis of ridership 
potential, system-wide needs, and local planning constraints/
conditions. Station placement will be coordinated with local and 
regional planning agencies, and will provide for seamless connectivity 
with other modes of travel. Potential station locations to be evaluated 
further include: Gilroy, San Jose, Redwood City, San Francisco 
International Airport (SFO), San Francisco, Merced, Modesto, Tracy, 
Pleasanton, Fremont/Union City, Oakland International Airport (OAK), 
and Oakland. The potential sites listed represent general locations for 
planning purposes.

Scoping and Comments

    FRA encourages broad participation in the EIS process during 
scoping and review of the resulting environmental documents. Comments 
and suggestions are invited from all interested agencies and the public 
at large to insure the full range of issues related to the proposed 
action and all reasonable alternatives are addressed and all 
significant issues are identified. In particular, FRA is interested in 
determining whether there are areas of environmental concern where 
there might be the potential for significant impacts identifiable at a 
programmatic level. Public agencies with jurisdiction are requested to 
advise the FRA and the Authority of the applicable environmental review 
requirements of each agency, and the scope and content of the 
environmental information that is germane to the agency's statutory 
responsibilities in connection with the proposed project.
    Public ``scoping'' meetings have been scheduled together with 
regional rail plan workshops as an important component of the scoping 
process for both the State and Federal environmental review. Scoping 
meetings will be advertised locally and additional public notice will 
be provided separately with the dates, times, and locations of these 
scoping meetings. Scoping meetings are scheduled for the following 
major cities:
     Oakland on November 29, 2005--Joseph P. Bort Metrocenter, 
Larry Dahms Auditorium, 101 Eighth Street, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 
p.m. to 8 p.m.
     San Jose on November 30, 2005--New San Jose City Hall--
Council Wing, Community Room, W120, 200 East Santa Clara Street, from 3 
p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

[[Page 71372]]

     San Francisco on December 1, 2005--San Francisco Civic 
Center Complex, Hiram Johnson Building, Auditorium, 455 Golden Gate 
Avenue, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
     Livermore on December 5, 2005--Livermore public San 
Francisco Civic Center Complex, Hiram Johnson Building, San Diego Room, 
455 Golden Gate Avenue, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
     Modesto on December 6, 2005--DoubleTree Hotel, 1150 Ninth 
Street, Modesto, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
     Suisun City on December 8, 2005--Suisun City Hall, Council 
Chambers, 701 Civic Center Blvd., from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 
p.m.
    Persons interested in providing comments on the scope of the 
programmatic EIR/EIS should do so by December 16, 2005. Comments can be 
sent in writing to Mr. David Valenstein at the FRA address identified 
above. Comments may also be addressed to Mr. Dan Leavitt of the 
Authority at their address identified above. Information and documents 
regarding the environmental review process will also be made available 
through the Authority's Internet site: http://www.cahighspeedrail.gov/.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on November 18, 2005.
Mark E. Yachmetz,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Development.
 [FR Doc. E5-6526 Filed 11-25-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P