United States Department of the Interior 

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 

Souther Nevada Fish and Wildlif Ofce 

I REPLY REFER TO: 

2023-01243530 

Matthew Mielke 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

Federal Railroad Administration 

4701 North Torrey Pines Drive 

Las Vegas, Nevada 89130 

Ofce of Regional Outreach & Project Delivery 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Washington D.C. 20590 

September 1, 2023 

Sent electronically 

Subject: Modifcations to the Proposed Action and Concurrence Request: Biological 

Opinion on Brightline West High-Speed Train Project, Apple Valley, Califria 

to Las Vegas, Nevada (FWS-SB-20B0244-21 TA0969) 

Dear Mr. Mielke, 

By correspondence dated August 11, 2023, you requested the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 

(Service) concurrence that the proposed design modifcations fr the Brightline West HighSpeed Train Project (previously XpressWest, File No.FWS-SB-20B0244-21 TA0969), did not 

require the re-initiation of frmal consultation under section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species 

Act of 1973, as amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Your letter provided a history of the 

Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) previous consultation, a summary of the design 

modifcations, and a list of revised protective measures fr the fderally threatened desert 

tortoise ( Gopherus agassizii). 

Your request described several design modifications including: the realignment or movement of 

stations and ancillary fcilities, additional temporary construction areas, and several culvert 

redesigns. The 2011 Project design evaluated in the DesertXpress EIS included an operations, 

maintenance, and storage fcility (OMSF) in close proximity to the original Victorville Station 

west of the 1-15 feeway and included fcilities fr maintaining and storing trains. Project 

modifcations evaluated in 2020 relocated the Victorville Station to the south side of the 1-15 

feeway at Dale Evans Parkway in Apple Valley. The current modifed Project (2022) relocated 

the vehicle maintenance and storage activities to a site located in Segment 6 west of the 1-15 

freeway and south of Sloan Road, refrred to as the Las Vegas (Sloan) Vehicle Maintenance 

Facility (VMF). An additional feight track corridor would connect the VMF to the adjacent 

UPRR. The relocated VMF and adjacent UPRR 7 connection would require 246 acres of 

permanent fotprint and 105 acres of temporary fotprint. These fcilities would be located on 

land under BLM jurisdiction. 

On June 13, 2023, the Service (Souther Nevada and Palm Springs Fish and Wildlif Ofces) 

met with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and FRA to review the modifed Project (2022) to 
2022-0083649-S7 2 

the proposed action specifc to the Sloan VMF. Through this meeting and subsequent meetings 

and collaboration, the Service's Souther Nevada Fish and Wildlie Ofce advised BLM and 

FRA to consider all areas within and immediately adjacent to the Sloan VMF, including the 

habitat between the existing Union Pacifc Railroad (UPRR) and the 1-15 roadway as impacts on 

desert tortoise habitat. Areas not directly afected and converted fom suitable tortoise habitat to 

railroad infastructure would become isolated fom adjacent tortoise habitat and therefre 

unusable by desert tortoise. Within the Sloan VMF isolation area prior to construction, the FRA, 

BLM, and Service plan to translocate all desert tortoises to the Stump Springs regional 

population-augmentation site (Stump Springs) or a Service approved recipient site. Desert 

tortoise exclusion ence design will be determined through collaboration with the Service 

regarding the proposed Sloan VMF location. In addition, the Service and BLM requested that 

FRA evaluate the culverts south of the Sloan VMF along the UPRR and 1-15 fr their 

efectiveness to fcilitate tortoise movement. The Service requested the 2021 BO mitigation 

measures be updated to refect translocation plan strategy requirements, as well as the culvert 

assessment. With the assistance of your planning team and the Bureau, revised protective 

measures have been developed to provide additional clarity and to refect the current project 

design modifcations. No additional design modifcations were requested by the Service's Palm 

Springs Fish and Wildlie Ofce. 

Overall, the combined modified Project footprints fom 2020 and 2022 are smaller than the 

proposed action area evaluated in the 2011 BO. Although the proposed action has been modifed 

in terms of disturbance acreage and fcility location, potential efects remain similar to or less 

than those described in the 2011 BO. The implementation of the newly revised (2022-2023) 

protective measures and continued collaboration between FRA, BLM, and the Service, will assist 

in the conservation needs of the Mojave desert tortoise. All other proposed measures to minimize 

efects to desert tortoises and their habitat in the project area remain valid as described in the 

original 2011 biological opinion and subsequent 2021 biological opinion. The Service concurs 

with the Federal Railroad Administration's determination that re-initiation of frmal consultation 

is unnecessary because the proposed changes to the project do not meet the re-initiation criteria 

for frmal consultation (5 0 CFR 402 .16). 

If you have any questions about this biological opinion, please contact Kelly Douglas in the 

Souther Nevada Fish and Wildlie Ofice in Las Vegas at (702) 515-5102 or by e-mail at 

kelly_douglas@fs.gov. Please reerence the above fle numbers in fture correspondence 

concering this consultation. 

Sincerely, 

GLEN 

KNOWLES 

Glen Knowles 

Field Supervisor 

Digitally signed by GLEN 

KNOWLES 

Date: 2023.09.01 

08:57:43 -07'00' 
2022-0083649-S7 

cc: 

Wildlif Biologist - Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas Field Ofce, Nevada 

Supervisory Biologist - Habitat, Nevada Department of Wildlif, Las Vegas, Nevada 

Habitat Biologist - Nevada Department of Wildlif, Las Vegas, Nevada 

Fish and Wildlif Biologist - U.S. Fish and Wildlif Service Ecological Services, Palm Springs, 

Califria 

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