[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 144 (Thursday, July 26, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43902-43903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-18305]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Notice of Availability of a Supplemental Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for the California High-Speed Train Project Fresno to 
Bakersfield Section

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), United States Department 
of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that a 
Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been 
prepared for the Fresno to Bakersfield Section of the California High-
Speed Train (HST) Project (Project). FRA is the lead Federal agency and 
the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) is the lead state 
agency for the environmental review process. The Supplemental Draft EIS 
was prepared by FRA and the Authority to meet the federal requirements 
of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and to serve as the 
Authority's Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in 
compliance with the state law requirements of the California 
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
(USACE) is a Cooperating Agency for the Supplemental Draft EIS.

DATES: Written comments on the Supplemental Draft EIS for the Fresno to 
Bakersfield Section should be provided to the Authority at the address 
listed below on or before September 20, 2012. Public hearings are 
scheduled on August 27, August 28, and August 29, 2012, at the times 
and dates listed in the Addresses Section below in Fresno, Hanford, and 
Bakersfield, CA.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the Supplemental Draft EIS should be 
sent to the California High-Speed Rail Authority, EIR/EIS Comments, 770 
L Street, Suite 800, Sacramento, CA 95814, or may be submitted online 
at [email protected]. Comments may also be provided orally 
or in writing at the public hearings scheduled at the following times 
and locations:
     Fresno, CA, Wednesday, August 29, 2012, 3:00 to 8:00 p.m., 
Fresno Convention Center, Exhibit Hall III, 848 M Street, Fresno, CA;
     Hanford, CA, Tuesday, August 28, 2012, 3:00 to 8:00 p.m., 
Hanford Fraternal Hall, 1015 N. 10th Avenue, Hanford, CA; and
     Bakersfield, CA, Monday, August 27, 2012, 3:00 to 8:00 
p.m., Beale Memorial Library, 701 Truxton Avenue, Bakersfield, CA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David Valenstein, Chief, 
Environment and Systems Planning Division, Office of Railroad Policy 
and Development, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., MS-20, Washington, DC 20590 
(telephone: 202-493-6368).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed California HST system would 
provide intercity, high-speed passenger rail service on more than 800 
miles of tracks throughout California, connecting the major population 
centers of Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, 
Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Orange County, and San Diego. It will 
use state-of-the-art, electrically powered, high-speed, steel-wheel-on-
steel-rail technology, including contemporary safety, signaling, and 
automated train-control systems, with trains capable of operating up to 
220 miles per hour (mph) over a fully graded-separated, dedicated 
double track alignment. The HST System is comprised of multiple 
sections, one of which is the Fresno to Bakersfield Section analyzed in 
the Supplemental Draft EIS.
    This project-level EIS tiers off of the Statewide Program EIR/EIS 
published by the Authority and the FRA in 2005 and builds off of 
subsequent decisions. The Fresno to Bakersfield Section is comprised of 
a 114-mile dedicated, double-track high-speed passenger rail corridor 
between Fresno and Bakersfield, CA. The Project includes proposed 
stations in downtown Fresno and Bakersfield, and a possible Kings/
Tulare Regional Station in the vicinity of Hanford, CA. A heavy 
maintenance facility for assembly, testing, and commissioning of 
trains, train inspection and service, and train overhaul may be 
constructed in the Fresno to Bakersfield Section.
    In August 2011, FRA issued a Draft EIS and circulated the document 
for a 60-day public and agency review and comment period. The Draft EIS 
analyzed a no action alternative and various action alternatives for 
the construction and operation of the California HST Project Fresno to 
Bakersfield Section, including alignment alternatives and station 
locations. FRA and Authority held three public hearings on the Draft

[[Page 43903]]

EIS held in Fresno, Hanford, and Bakersfield on September 20, September 
21, and September 22, 2011 respectively to collect public comments.
    Based on substantive comments received during the public and agency 
review of the Draft EIS, the Authority and FRA decided to reintroduce 
alignment alternatives west of Hanford. In response to concerns raised 
by stakeholders in metropolitan Bakersfield, the Authority and FRA also 
decided to evaluate another alternative in Bakersfield (Bakersfield 
Hybrid Alternative) in an effort to minimize impacts to residential and 
community facilities. The Authority and FRA determined that the 
introduction of these new alternatives and other refinements being 
considered for existing Fresno to Bakersfield route alternatives 
required preparation of a Supplemental Draft EIS under NEPA and a 
Revised Draft EIS under CEQA.
    Consistent with the provisions of NEPA Section 102(2)(c) (42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations 
implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500 et seq.), and FRA's Procedures for 
Considering Environmental Impacts (64 FR 28545, May 26, 1999), the 
Supplemental Draft EIS describes the Project's purpose and need, 
identifies the reasonable range of alternatives including the no action 
alternative, evaluates the potential environmental effects associated 
with those alternatives, and identifies mitigation measures to minimize 
potential environmental effects.
    Copies of the Supplemental Draft EIS are available online at FRA's 
Web site: www.fra.dot.gov; the Authority's Web site: 
www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov; and are also available for viewing at the 
following locations near the planned rail system:
     Fresno County Public Library, Central Branch, Central 
Reference Department, 2420 Mariposa Street, Fresno, CA;
     Fresno County Public Library, Clovis Regional Library, 
1155 Fifth Street, Clovis, CA;
     Fresno County Public Library, Laton Branch, 6313 DeWoody 
Street, Laton, CA;
     Kern County Library, Beale Memorial Library, 701 Truxtun 
Avenue, Bakersfield, CA;
     Kern County Library, Corcoran Branch, 1001 Chittenden 
Avenue, Corcoran, CA;
     Kern County Library, Delano Branch, 925 10th Avenue, 
Delano, CA;
     Kern County Library, Shafter Branch, 236 James Street, 
Shafter, CA;
     Kern County Library, Wasco Branch, 1102 7th Street, Wasco, 
CA;
     Kings County Library, Hanford Branch (Main Library), 401 
N. Douty Street, Hanford, CA;
     Kings County Library, Lemoore Branch, 457 C Street, 
Lemoore, CA;
     Tulare County Library, Visalia Branch (Main Library), 200 
West Oak Avenue, Visalia, CA; and
     Tulare Public Library, 475 North M Street, Tulare, CA.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 19, 2012.
Paul Nissenbaum,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Policy & Development.
[FR Doc. 2012-18305 Filed 7-25-12; 8:45 am]
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