12250 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 50 / Thursday, March 15, 2007 / Notices 

per day. The relocation of the northsouth mainline will require the 

construction of a new corridor 

approximately 10 to 13 miles in length 

depending on the alignment alternative. 

The east-west corridor may be 

approximately 8 to 9 miles in length. 

The relocation of the railroad corridors 

would eliminate at least 47 grade 

crossings. The relocated rail corridors 

would be entirely grade separated. 

The numerous grade crossings with 

high vehicle traffic volumes within the 

city limits require the CSXT trains to 

reduce speed as they pass through 

Vincennes. Two CSXT mainlines cross 

in the middle of the city, and trains that 

switch between mainlines move slowly, 

creating traffic backups, emergency 

vehicle delays, and delays in rail 

operations. Frequently, train movements 

literally cut the city in half. In addition, 

the large volumes of trains and 

vehicular traffic crossing the railroad 

corridor increase the probability of 

collisions at the crossings. 

Cooperating Agencies: The Federal 

Railroad Administration has agreed to 

serve as a cooperating agency. No others 

have been yet identified for this project. 

Environmental Issues: Possible 

environmental impacts include 

displacement of commercial and 

residential properties, increased noise 

in some areas, decreased noise in other 

areas, effects to historical properties or 

archaeological sites, viewshed impacts, 

impacts to water resources, wetlands, 

farmed wetlands, prime farmland, 

sensitive biological species and habitat, 

land use compatibility impacts, and 

impacts to agricultural lands. 

Alternatives: The EIS will consider 

alternatives that include: (1) Taking no 

action; (2) rail relocation and 

reconstruction of railroad line(s) and 

grade separations on new location. 

Scoping and Comment: FHWA 

encourages broad participation in the 

EIS process and review of the resulting 

environmental documents. A scoping 

meeting will be conducted in the City of 

Vincennes area at a date and place, 

which will be widely publicized well in 

advance of the meeting. Comments, 

questions, and suggestions related to the 

project and potential environmental 

concerns are invited from all interested 

agencies and the public at large to 

ensure that the full range of issues 

related to the proposed action and all 

reasonable alternatives are considered 

and all significant issues are identified. 

These comments, questions, and 

suggestions should be forwarded to the 

address listed above. The public is 

invited to participate in the scoping 

process as well. Notices of availability 

for the Draft EIS, Final EIS, and Record 

of Decision will be provided through 

direct mail, the Federal Register and 

other media. Notification also will be 

sent to Federal, State, local agencies, 

persons, and organizations that submit 

comments or questions. Precise 

schedules and locations for public 

meetings will be announced in the local 

news media. Interested individuals and 

organizations may request to be 

included on the mailing list for the 

distribution of meeting announcements 

and associated information. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program No. 20.205, Highway Planning and 

Construction. The regulations implementing 

Executive Order 12372 regarding 

intergovernmental consultation on Federal 

programs and activities apply to the 

program). 

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315; 23 CFR 771.123; 

49 CFR 1.48. 

Issued on: March 9, 2007. 

Robert F. Tally, P.E., 

Division Administrator, Indianapolis, 

Indiana. 

[FR Doc. E7–4725 Filed 3–14–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the California High Speed Train 

System From Los Angeles to Orange 

County, CA 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA) 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 and the 

California High Speed Rail Authority 

(Authority) will jointly prepare a project 

level Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) and project level Environmental 

Impact Report (EIR) for the section of 

the Authority’s proposed California 

High-Speed Train (HST) System from 

the City of Los Angeles (Union Station) 

to Orange County (Anaheim) in 

compliance with relevant State and 

federal laws, in particular the California 

Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA). 

FRA is issuing this notice to solicit 

public and agency input into the 

development of the scope of the EIS and 

to advise the public that outreach 

activities conducted by the Authority 

and its representatives will be 

considered in the preparation of the 

combined EIR/EIS. The Authority and 

FRA completed a Program EIR/EIS for 

the California HST System in 2005 as 

the first-phase of a tiered environmental 

review process for the proposed 

California HST System. The Authority 

certified the Final Program EIR and 

issued a decision, and FRA issued a 

Record of Decision in November 2005 

on the Final Program EIS, selecting the 

HST Alternative for further project level 

environmental review and selecting 

corridor alignments and potential 

station locations, including a corridor 

between Los Angeles and Orange 

County. The preparation of this project 

level Los Angeles-Orange County HST 

EIR/EIS will involve development of 

preliminary engineering designs and 

assessment of environmental effects 

associated with the construction, 

operation, and maintenance of the HST 

system, including track, ancillary 

facilities and stations, along the 

previously selected Los Angeles-Orange 

County corridor. 

DATES: Written comments on the scope 

of the Los Angeles-Orange County HST 

EIR/EIS should be provided to the 

Authority by April 24, 2007. Public 

scoping meetings are scheduled from 

April 5–April 12, 2007, as noted below. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the 

scope should be sent to Mr. Dan Leavitt, 

Deputy Director, ATTN. Los Angeles—

Orange County, California High-Speed 

Rail Authority, 925 L Street, Suite 1425, 

Sacramento, CA 95814, or via e-mail 

with the subject line ‘‘Los AngelesOrange County HST’’ to: 

comments@hsr.ca.gov. Comments may 

also be provided orally or in writing at 

the scoping meetings scheduled at the 

following locations: 

• Union Station/METRO (Los 

Angeles), METRO Board Room, One 

Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012, 

on April 5, 2007, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

• Anaheim, Gordon Hoyt Conference 

Room, City Hall West, 201 S. Anaheim 

Boulevard, Anaheim, CA on April 11, 

2007, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 6 

p.m. to 8 p.m.. 

• Norwalk, Arts & Sports Complex 

Community Meeting Center (Sproul 

Room), 13000 Clarkdale Avenue, 

Norwalk, CA 90651 on April 12, 2007, 

from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 6 p.m. 

to 8 p.m.. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

David Valenstein, Environmental 

Program Manager, Office of Railroad 

Development, Federal Railroad 

Administration, 1120 Vermont Avenue 

(Mail Stop 20), Washington, DC 20590; 

Telephone (202) 493–6368, or Mr. 

Leavitt at the above noted address. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 50 / Thursday, March 15, 2007 / Notices 12251 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

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 highspeed train 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 proposed 

HST, it is anticipated that FRA would 

need to take certain regulatory actions 

prior to operation. 

In 2005, the Authority and FRA 

completed a Final Program EIR/EIS for 

the Proposed California High-Speed 

Train System (statewide program EIR/ 

EIS), as the first-phase of a tiered 

environmental review process. The 

Authority certified the Final Program 

EIR under CEQA and approved the 

proposed HST System, and FRA issued 

a Record of Decision under NEPA on the 

Final Program EIS. This statewide 

program EIR/EIS established the 

purpose and need for the HST system, 

analyzed a HST alternative, and 

compared it with a No Project/No 

Action Alternative and a Modal 

Alternative. In approving the statewide 

program EIR/EIS, the Authority and 

FRA selected the HST Alternative and 

selected certain corridors/general 

alignments and general station 

locations, incorporated mitigation 

strategies and design practices, and 

specified further measures to guide the 

development of the HST System at the 

site-specific project level of 

environmental review to avoid and 

minimize potential adverse 

environmental impacts. 

The Los Angeles-Orange County HST 

EIR/EIS will be developed as a secondtier, site-specific environmental 

document. It is one of a number of 

second-tier environmental reviews for 

sections of the HST system that FRA 

and the Authority intend to undertake. 

It will be tiered from and incorporate by 

reference the certified statewide 

program EIR/EIS in accordance with 

Council on Environmental Quality 

(CEQ) regulations (40 CFR 1508.28) and 

State CEQA Guidelines (14 C.C.R. 

§ 15168[b]). Tiering will ensure that the 

Los Angeles-Orange County HST EIR/ 

EIS builds upon all previous work 

prepared for and incorporated in the 

statewide program EIR/EIS. The EIR/EIS 

will be carried out in accordance with 

FRA’s Procedures for Considering 

Environmental Impacts (64 FR 28545 

[May 26, 1999]) and will address not 

only NEPA and CEQA, but other 

applicable statutes, regulations and 

executive orders, including the 1990 

Clean Air Act Amendments, Section 404 

of the Clean Water Act, the National 

Historic Preservation Act of 1966, 

Section 4(f) of the Department of 

Transportation Act, the Endangered 

Species Act, and Executive Order 12898 

on Environmental Justice. This EIR/EIS 

process will also continue the NEPA/ 

Clean Water Act Section 404 merger 

process established through the 

statewide program EIR/EIS process. 

The Los Angeles-Orange County HST 

EIR/EIS and other project level EIR/EISs 

will examine a range of project 

alternatives for portions of the proposed 

HST system within corridors selected in 

the statewide program EIR/EIS, as well 

as a no action alternative. This and 

other project level EIR/EISs will fully 

describe site-specific environmental 

impacts and will identify specific 

mitigation measures to address those 

impacts and will incorporate design 

practices to avoid and minimize 

potential adverse environmental 

impacts. The FRA and the Authority 

will assess the site characteristics, size, 

nature, and timing of proposed sitespecific projects to determine whether 

the impacts are potentially significant 

and whether impacts can be avoided or 

mitigated. This and other project EIR/ 

EISs will identify and evaluate 

reasonable and feasible site-specific 

alignment alternatives, evaluate the 

impacts from construction, operation, 

and maintenance of the HST system, 

and identify mitigation measures. 

Information and documents regarding 

the HST environmental review process 

will be made available through the 

Authority’s Internet site: http:// 

www.cahighspeedrail.gov/. 

Purpose and Need: The need for a 

HST system is directly related to the 

expected growth in population, and 

increases in intercity travel demand in 

California over the next twenty years 

and beyond. With growth in travel 

demand, there will be an increase in 

travel delays arising from the growing 

congestion on California’s highways and 

at airports. In addition, there will be 

negative effects on the economy, quality 

of life, and air quality in and around 

California’s metropolitan areas from a 

transportation system that will become 

less reliable as travel demand increases. 

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 to meet existing demand and 

future growth. The purpose of the 

proposed HST system is to 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. 

Alternatives: The Los Angeles-Orange 

County HST EIR/EIS will consider a No 

Action or No Project Alternative and 

HST Alternatives for the Los Angeles to 

Orange County corridor. 

No Action Alternative: The take no 

action (No Project or No Build) 

alternative is defined to serve as the 

baseline for assessment of the HST 

Alternative. The No Build Alternative 

represents the region’s transportation 

system (highway, air, and conventional 

rail) as it existed in 2006, and as it 

would exist after completion of 

programs or projects currently planned 

for funding and implementation by 

2030. The No Build Alternative defines 

the existing and future intercity 

transportation system for the Los 

Angeles to Orange County corridor 

based on programmed and funded 

improvements to the intercity 

transportation system through 2030, 

according to the following sources of 

information: State Transportation 

Improvement Program (STIP), Regional 

Transportation Plans (RTPs) for all 

modes of travel, airport plans, and 

intercity passenger rail plans. 

HST Alternative: The Authority 

proposes to construct, operate and 

maintain an electric-powered steelwheel-on-steel-rail HST system, over 

700-mile 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 gradeseparated tracks, with state-of-the-art 

safety, signaling, and automated train 

control systems. The Los Angeles to 

Orange County corridor that was 

selected by the Authority and FRA with 

the statewide program EIR/EIS follows 

the existing BNSF/Metrolink rail 

corridor (also known as the LOSSAN 

Corridor) from Los Angeles Union 

Station as far south as Irvine. The Los 

Angeles-Orange County HST EIR/EIS 


rmajette on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES
12252 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 50 / Thursday, March 15, 2007 / Notices 

will consider HST service from Los 

Angeles to Anaheim. The HST system 

can provide service to Orange County 

with a terminus in Anaheim. Beyond 

Anaheim right-of-way is constrained 

and environmental conditions are 

different. HST service beyond Anaheim 

to Irvine may be considered separately 

in the future. 

Further engineering studies to be 

undertaken as a part of this EIR/EIS 

process will examine and refine 

alignments in the selected corridor, 

including the alignment option 

identified in the statewide program EIR/ 

EIS that shares tracks with other 

passenger services separated from 

freight trains with 4 total tracks (2 for 

passenger rail service and 2 for freight 

service) between Los Angeles and 

Fullerton and 2 total tracks with 

additional passing tracks South of 

Fullerton. With this alignment option, 

the electrified HST would share tracks 

(at reduced speeds) with non-electric 

Metrolink commuter rail, Amtrak 

Surfliner intercity services and 

occasional freight trains (there are fewer 

freight operations south of Fullerton). 

This alignment option is based on the 

premise that the capacity and 

compatibility issues associated with the 

shared operations with existing nonelectric service (Surfliners, Metrolink, 

and freight) can be resolved. Additional 

alignment options will be considered 

that involve dedicated HST tracks that 

may be exclusive to HST service or that 

may also accommodate Metrolink 

express services. 

Station location options were selected 

by the Authority and FRA with the 

statewide program EIR/EIS considering 

travel time, train speed, cost, local 

access times, potential connections with 

other modes of transportation, ridership 

potential, and the distribution of 

population and major destinations along 

the route, and local planning 

constraints/conditions. Alternative 

station sites at the selected general 

station locations will be identified and 

evaluated in this project level EIR/EIS. 

Station area development policies to 

encourage transit-friendly development 

near and around HST stations that 

would have the potential to promote 

higher density, mixed-use, pedestrianoriented development will be prepared 

in coordination with local and regional 

planning agencies. Potential station 

locations to be evaluated in the Los 

Angeles-Orange County HST EIR/EIS 

include: City of Los Angeles-Union 

Station; City of Norwalk-Norwalk 

Transportation Center; and City of 

Anaheim-Anaheim Regional 

Transportation Intermodal Center 

(ARTIC). In addition, potential sites for 

turnback/layover train storage facilities 

and a main HST repair and heavy 

maintenance facility will be evaluated 

in the Los Angeles-Orange County HST 

EIR/EIS. 

Probable Effects: The purpose of the 

EIR/EIS process is to explore in a public 

setting the effects of the proposed 

project on the physical, human, and 

natural environment. The FRA and the 

Authority will continue the tiered 

evaluation of all significant 

environmental, social, and economic 

impacts of the construction and 

operation of the HST system. Impact 

areas to be addressed include: 

Transportation impacts; safety and 

security; land use and zoning; 

secondary development; land 

acquisition, displacements, and 

relocations; cultural resource impacts, 

including impacts on historical and 

archaeological resources and parklands/ 

recreation areas; neighborhood 

compatibility and environmental 

justice; natural resource impacts 

including air quality, wetlands, water 

resources, noise, vibration, energy, 

wildlife and ecosystems, including 

endangered species. Measures to avoid, 

minimize, and mitigate all adverse 

impacts will be identified and 

evaluated. 

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 a potential for 

significant impacts identifiable at a 

project level. Public agencies with 

jurisdiction are requested to advise FRA 

and the Authority of the applicable 

permit and 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 agencies are requested to advise 

FRA if they anticipate taking a major 

action in connection with the proposed 

project and if they wish to cooperate in 

the preparation of the project level EIR/ 

EIS. Public scoping meetings have been 

scheduled as an important component 

of the scoping process for both the State 

and Federal environmental review. The 

scoping meetings described in this 

Notice will also be advertised locally 

and included in additional public 

notification. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on March 9, 

2007. 

Mark E. Yachmetz, 

Associate Administrator for Railroad 

Development. 

[FR Doc. E7–4710 Filed 3–14–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the California High Speed Train 

System from Palmdale to Los Angeles, 

CA 

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 and the 

California High Speed Rail Authority 

(Authority) will jointly prepare a project 

level Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) and project level Environmental 

Impact Report (EIR) for the section of 

the Authority’s proposed California 

High-Speed Train (HST) System from 

the City of Palmdale to the City of Los 

Angeles in compliance with relevant 

State and federal laws, in particular the 

California Environmental Quality Act 

(CEQA) and the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA). 

FRA is issuing this notice to solicit 

public and agency input into the 

development of the scope of the EIS and 

to advise the public that outreach 

activities conducted by the Authority 

and its representatives will be 

considered in the preparation of the 

combined EIR/EIS. The Authority and 

FRA completed a Program EIR/EIS for 

the California HST System in 2005 as 

the first-phase of a tiered environmental 

review process for the proposed 

California HST System. The Authority 

certified the Final Program EIR and 

issued a decision, and FRA issued a 

Record of Decision in November 2005 

on the Final Program EIS, selecting the 

HST Alternative for further project level 

environmental review and selecting 

corridor alignments and potential 

station locations, including a corridor 

between Palmdale and Los Angeles. The 

preparation of this project level 

Palmdale-Los Angeles HST EIR/EIS will 

involve development of preliminary 

engineering designs and assessment of 

environmental effects associated with 

the construction, operation and 


rmajette on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES