
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 80 (Friday, April 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23057-23058]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09585]



[[Page 23057]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Report/
Environmental Impact Statement, Section 4(f) Evaluation and Draft 
General Conformity Determination for the California High-Speed Train 
System Fresno to Bakersfield Section

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: FRA is providing this notice to advise the public that FRA is 
issuing a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Section 4(f) 
Evaluation for the California High-Speed Train (HST) System Fresno to 
Bakersfield Section (Project). FRA is also making a Draft General 
Conformity Determination for the Project available for public review 
and comment. 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 agencies have prepared the Final EIS 
consistent with federal law and also to serve as an Environmental 
Impact Report (EIR) in compliance with the California Environmental 
Quality Act (CEQA) and CEQA Guidelines. The U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers (USACE) and Surface Transportation Board (STB) served as 
Cooperating Agencies for the preparation of this Final EIS.

DATES: The Final EIS and Section 4(f) Evaluation are being made 
available to the public for a 30-day period according to 40 CFR 1506.10 
prior to final FRA action. Written comments on the Draft Conformity 
Determination and Section 4(f) Evaluation for the California HST 
Project Fresno to Bakersfield Section may be sent during the 30-day 
period, to Ms. Stephanie Perez-Arrieta at the contact address below. 
The 30-day period commences on the date the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's notice of availability is published in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for addresses where 
copies of the Final EIS, Section 4(f) Evaluation, and Draft General 
Conformity Determination are available online at the FRA's Web site: 
http://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0468 and the Authority's web site: http://www.hsr.ca.gov/Programs/Environmental_Planning/index.html. Copies are 
also available for viewing at the addresses available in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Stephanie Perez-Arrieta, 
Environmental Protection Specialist, 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: 202-493-0388).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Once completed, the California HST system 
will 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 Final EIS.
    The Final EIS describes the potential environmental impacts, both 
adverse and beneficial, of the Fresno to Bakersfield Project Section, 
identifies appropriate measures to mitigate adverse impacts, and 
identifies the agencies'' preferred alternative. The approximately 114-
mile-long Fresno to Bakersfield Section is a critical Phase 1 link 
connecting to the Merced to Fresno Section and Bay Area HST Sections to 
the north and the Bakersfield to Palmdale and Palmdale to Los Angeles 
HST Sections to the south. This project-level EIS tiers off of the 
Statewide Program EIS published in 2005 and the Bay area to Central 
Valley Program EIS published in 2008 and builds on the earlier 
decisions and Program EISs.
    In August 2011, FRA issued a Draft EIS and circulated the document 
for a 60-day public and agency review and comment period. In July 2012, 
FRA issued a Supplemental Draft EIS for a 90-day public and agency 
review and comment period. Both the Draft and Supplemental Draft EISs 
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 the Authority convened three public hearings for the 
Draft EIS in Fresno, Hanford, and Bakersfield in September 2011, and 
three additional public hearings for the Supplemental Draft EIS in 
Fresno, Hanford, and Bakersfield in August 2012.
    Consistent with the provisions of Section 102(2)(c) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the 
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing NEPA 
(40 CFR parts 1500 to 1508), FRA's Procedures for Considering 
Environmental Impacts (Environmental Procedures) (64 FR 28545, May 26, 
1999), the Final EIS evaluates the potential environmental effects 
associated with Action Alternatives and the No Action Alternative, 
identifies appropriate mitigation measures to minimize the potential 
environmental impacts, and identifies a preferred alternative. The FRA, 
Authority, and Cooperating Agencies considered the entire record and 
the potential for environmental impact in identifying the Preferred 
Alternative. Additionally, the Final EIS includes FRA's Section 4(f) 
Evaluation, which provides the supporting analysis to comply with 49 
U.S.C. 303 and FRA's Environmental Procedures.
    FRA is also issuing a Draft General Conformity Determination for 
public and agency comment. The Draft General Conformity Determination 
has been prepared pursuant to 40 CFR part 93, subpart B, which 
establishes the process for complying with the general conformity 
requirements of the Clean Air Act. Consistent with those regulations, 
FRA is making the Draft Conformity Determination available for public 
review and comment. Analysis of the Project's potential emissions found 
that construction period emissions would exceed the General Conformity 
de minimis threshold for Nitrogen Dioxide (NOX) and volatile 
organic compounds (VOC), a precursor for ozone. However, operation of 
the Project would result in an overall reduction of regional emissions 
of all applicable air pollutants and would not cause a localized 
exeedance of an air quality standard. Conformance of the Project will 
be accomplished through a Voluntary Emissions Reduction Agreement which 
will offset the NOX and VOC emissions consistent with 
applicable regulatory requirements.
    Complete hard copies of the Final EIR/EIS, Section 4(f) Evaluation, 
and the Draft General Conformity Determination are available for 
viewing at the following locations:

 California High-Speed Rail Authority, 770 L Street, Suite 800, 
Sacramento, CA

[[Page 23058]]

 Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC
 California High-Speed Rail Authority, 2550 Mariposa Mall, 
Suite 3015, Fresno, CA
 Fresno Public Library, Central, 2420 Mariposa Avenue, Fresno, 
CA
 Kings County Library, Corcoran, 1001-A Chittenden Avenue, 
Corcoran, CA
 Kings County Library, Hanford, 401 N. Douty Street, Hanford, 
CA
 Tulare Public Library, 475 North M Street Tulare, CA
 Allensworth Community Center, 8123 Avenue 36, Allensworth, CA
 Kern County Library, Beale Memorial, 701 Truxtun Avenue, 
Bakersfield, CA
 Kern County Library, Shafter, 236 James Street, Shafter, CA
 Kern County Library, Wasco, 1102 7th Street, Wasco, CA

    Summary chapters and complete electronic copies are available for 
viewing at the following locations:

 Allensworth
     Allensworth Community Services District, 3336 Road 84
 Armona
     Kings County Library, 11115 C Street
 Bakersfield
     City of Bakersfield Planning Department, 1715 Chester 
Avenue
    --Kern County Library, Baker Branch, 1400 Baker Street
    --Kern County Library, Northeast Branch, 3725 Columbus Street
    --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 1000 South Owens 
Street
    --Greenacres Community Center, 2014 Calloway Drive
    --Community Action Partnership of Kern, 300 19th Street
    --Richard Prado East Bakersfield Senior Center, 2101 Ridge Road
 Clovis
    --Fresno County Public Library, Clovis Regional Library, 1155 Fifth 
Street
 Corcoran
    --City of Corcoran Planning Department, 832 Whitley Avenue
 Delano
    --Kern County Library, Delano Branch, 925 10th Avenue
 Fresno
    --City of Fresno Planning Department, 2220 Tulare Street 6
    --Fresno County Public Library, Cedar-Clinton, 4150 E. Clinton 
Street
    --Fresno County Public Library, Fig Garden, 3071 W. Bullard Avenue
    --Fresno County Public Library, Mosqueda Center, 4670 E. Butler 
Avenue
    --Fresno County Public Library, Sunnyside, 5566 E. Kings Canyon 
Road
    --Fresno County Public Library, West Fresno, 188 E. California 
Avenue
    --Fresno County Public Library, Woodward Park, 944 E. Perrin Avenue
    --Fresno County Public Library, Senior Resource Center, 2025 E. 
Dakota Avenue
    --Fresno County--Clerk to the Board, 2281 Tulare Street 
301
    --Einstein Neighborhood Center, 3566 E. Dakota Avenue
    --Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (F.I.R.M.), 1940 N. 
Fresno Street
    --Mary Ella Brown Community Center, 1350 E. Annadale Avenue
    --Lafayette Neighborhood Center, 1516 E. Princeton Avenue
    --Mosqueda Community Center, 3670 E. Butler Avenue
    --Ted C. Wills Community Center, 770 N. San Pablo Avenue
    --Dickey Development Center, 1515 E. Divisadero Street
    --Frank H. Ball Community Center, 760 Mayor Avenue
 Hanford
    --City of Hanford Planning Department, 317 N. Douty Street
    --Hanford Adult School, 905 Campus Drive
    --Kings Community Action Organization, 1130 N. 11th Avenue
    --Housing Authority of Kings County, 670 S. Irwin Street
 Laton
    --Fresno County Public Library, Laton Branch, 6313 DeWoody Street
    --Laton Community Services District, 6501 E. Latonia Avenue
 Lemoore
    --Kings County Library, Lemoore Branch, 457 C Street
 Pinedale
    --Fresno County Public Library, Pinedale, 7170 N. San Pablo Street
    --Pinedale Community Center, 7170 N. San Pablo Street
 Sacramento
    --Sacramento Public Library, 8281 I Street
 Shafter
    --City of Shafter Planning Department, 336 Pacific Avenue
 Tulare
    --City of Tulare Planning Department, 411 E. Kern Avenue
 Visalia
    --City of Visalia Planning Department, 707 W. Acequia Avenue
    --Tulare County Library, Visalia Branch, 200 West Oak Avenue
 Wasco
    --City of Wasco Planning Department, 746 8th Street
    --Wasco Housing Authority, 750 H Street

    A full list of other federal agencies, state agencies, and selected 
interested parties that have received summary chapters with complete 
electronic copies of the Final EIR/EIS is included in Chapter 9 of the 
Final EIR/EIS, which can be accessed electronically on FRA's Web site 
and Authority's Web site provided above.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2014.
Corey Hill,
Director, Office of Passenger and Freight Programs.
[FR Doc. 2014-09585 Filed 4-24-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P


