[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 105 (Friday, May 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31190-31191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-11954]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34284]


Southwest Gulf Railroad Company--Construction and Operation 
Exemption--in Medina County, TX

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS).

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SUMMARY: On February 27, 2003, Southwest Gulf Railroad Company (SGR) 
filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board (Board) pursuant 
to 49 U.S.C. 10502 for authority to construct and operate a rail line 
approximately seven miles long from a Vulcan Construction Materials, LP 
(VCM) proposed limestone quarry to a Union Pacific Railroad Company 
(UP) rail line near Dunlay, Texas. SGR proposed construction and 
operation of the rail line to transport limestone aggregate from VCM's 
proposed quarry to the UP rail line. SGR anticipates operating 
approximately four trains per day (comprising two inbound empty and two 
outbound loaded trains). Each train would consist of 100 railcars.
    The Board's Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) has prepared 
the FEIS was pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA), 42 United States Code (U.S.C.) 4231 et seq. Under NEPA, the 
Board must consider the environmental impacts of actions requiring 
Board authorization and complete its environmental review before making 
a final decision on a proposed action. SEA is the office within the 
Board that carries out the Board's responsibilities and related 
environmental laws and regulations, including the Council on 
Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations for implementing NEPA at 40 
CFR Part 1500; the Board's environmental regulations at 49 CFR Part 
1105; and the Section 106 National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 
(NHPA) process.

DATES: This notice is effective on May 30, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the FEIS have been served on all interested 
parties and will be made available to additional parties upon request. 
The entire FEIS is also available for review on the Board's Web site 
(http://www.stb.dot.gov) by clicking on the ``Decisions and Notices'' 
link, then ``E-LIBRARY'' and searching by the Service Date (May 30, 
2008) or Docket Number (FD 34284). Copies of the FEIS will also be 
available for public review at the following locations (hours vary, 
contact individual repositories for available times): the Hondo Public 
Library at 1011 19th Street, Hondo, Texas, telephone: (830) 426-5333; 
the Castroville Public Library, 802 London Street, Castroville, Texas, 
telephone: (830) 931-4095; and the San Antonio Central Library, 600 
Soledad, San Antonio, Texas, telephone: (210) 207-2500.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diana Wood, Section of Environmental 
Analysis, Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, 
DC 20423-0001, telephone (202) 245-0302, fax (202) 245-0454, or by e-
mail at [email protected]. Assistance for the hearing impaired is 
available through the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-
8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SEA issued a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) on November 5, 2004, for public review and comment. 
The DEIS evaluated the potential environmental impacts that could 
result from SGR's proposed rail line construction and operation, as 
well as four alternatives (including the No-Action Alternative) to 
SGR's Proposed Route and recommended mitigation that could be 
undertaken to reduce the potential impacts identified. In response to 
the DEIS, SEA received approximately 120 written comment

[[Page 31191]]

letters, as well as oral comments submitted at two public meetings held 
in Hondo, Texas, on December 2, 2004. After carefully reviewing all 
comments received, as well as additional information about the project 
proposal submitted by SGR, SEA decided to prepare a Supplemental Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS). The SDEIS focused on three 
specific matters: (1) To seek to avoid potential impacts to the 
historically sensitive Quihi area, it evaluated three Eastern 
Alternative rail routes that were not studied in detail in the DEIS and 
compared these three alternative routes to the four rail routes 
previously studied in the DEIS and to the No-Action Alternative; (2) it 
discussed the progress of additional historic property identification 
efforts following issuance of the DEIS; and (3) it provided an 
additional noise analysis that SEA performed based on updated 
operational data provided by SGR indicating that trains may operate 
during nighttime hours. The three eastern alternative rail routes 
evaluated in the SDEIS are (1) The Eastern Bypass Route, (2) the MCEAA 
Medina Dam Alternative, and (3) SGR's Medina Dam Modified Route. SEA 
also determined that a more detailed study of three rural historic 
landscape districts in the area (the Quihi Rural Historic District, the 
New Fountain Rural Historic District, and the Upper Quihi Rural 
Historic District) was warranted. This study was completed and included 
in the SDEIS. In response to the SDEIS, SEA received 237 written 
comments.
    The FEIS provides a summary of all the comments received on the 
DEIS and SDEIS with SEA's corresponding responses. In response to 
concerns raised during the SDEIS process, the FEIS presents the 
Modified Eastern Bypass Route, a modification to the Eastern Bypass 
Route. The modification would follow the same right-of-way as the 
Eastern Bypass Route, but instead of bisecting the Weiblen property and 
Castoville West Subdivision, it would closely follow property lines to 
the extent practicable to minimize adverse impacts to the Weiblen and 
Castroville West properties, and finally connect to the Proposed Route 
in the southern end of the alignment before connecting to the UP main 
line.
    SEA has concluded that the following Eastern Alternatives (the 
Eastern Bypass Route, the Modified Eastern Bypass Route, and the MCEAA 
Medina Dam Alternative) would be the environmentally preferred 
alignments. Should the Board authorize construction and operation of 
the proposed rail line, SEA recommends that it authorize all of these 
routes, subject to the 91 environmental mitigation measures set out in 
this FEIS. These conditions, which address a number of environmental 
resource areas, such as groundwater; surface water and wetlands; 
traffic safety; noise and vibration; biological resources; air quality; 
land use; and historic preservation, would minimize the potential 
adverse environmental effects of the construction and operation of the 
proposal. One of the conditions requires compliance with a Programmatic 
Agreement, which has been signed by all the necessary parties, setting 
out a process for addressing potential impacts to historic sites under 
any of the Eastern Alternatives.
    Issuance of this FEIS completes the Board's environmental review 
process. The Board will now make a final decision on the proposed 
project. In the interest of bringing this matter to closure, the Board 
will act as promptly as possible.
    In making its final decision on the proposed project, the Board 
will consider the entire environmental record, including all public 
comments, the DEIS, the SDEIS, the FEIS, and SEA's final recommended 
mitigation. No project-related construction may begin until the Board's 
final decision has been issued and has become effective. Parties who 
wish to file an administrative appeal of the Board's final decision may 
do so in writing within 30 days from the publication of the notice of 
the FEIS. SEA anticipates that EPA will publish its Notice of 
Availability of the FEIS in the Federal Register on June 6, 2008 and 
that the deadline for filing administrative appeals will be July 7, 
2008.

    Decided: May 30, 2008.
    By the Board, Victoria Rutson, Chief, Section of Environmental 
Analysis.
Anne K. Quinlan,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-11954 Filed 5-29-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P