The FRA established various categories for High Speed Rail as: Emerging (up to 90mph), Regional (90-125 mph), and Core Express (125-250 mph).
NEPA and the EIS - What they mean for High Speed Rail
The National Environmental Policy Act is the umbrella under which this Project is being conducted. Under NEPA, agencies are encouraged to use a tiered EIS approach to make planning decisions (moving from analyzing broader planning perspectives in Tier 1 to examining narrower, specific actions in Tier 2).
Public and resource agency involvement is an important component of the environmental assessment process, including specific requirements for a scoping process, formal circulation of draft and final documents, and public hearings and meetings. The intent is to ensure that the appropriate criteria and environmental factors are being considered and made available for input and comment during the decision-making process.
Tier 1 EIS Process:
What is a Draft EIS?
A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) contains a complete description of the affected environment, the range of alternatives under consideration and a detailed analysis of the impacts of each alternative. Once the DEIS is completed, the public will have an opportunity to review the document and submit comments which will be incorporated into the Final Environmental Impact Statement.
In the coming weeks, the project website will be updated with the latest project related information including a briefing on the current status of the project, an interactive table of the alternatives under analysis and an informational video on the project. The project team encourages the public and project stakeholders to read the latest issue of the project newsletter, review the project briefing and interactive table and watch the informational video to stay informed on the project’s latest progress. Please visit the website on a regular basis to receive the latest project related information.
