The California State Transportation Agency and the California High-Speed Rail Authority have renewed an agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to help expedite environmental reviews for rail projects.
The renewed agreement allows the State to continue assuming responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
By doing so, it can stand in the shoes of the FRA for certain duties under federal environmental law to streamline decision-making and deliver a more efficient environmental review process.
Through this agreement, California is the only state with NEP A Assignment responsibilities for rail projects.
This allows the California High-Speed Rail Authority to expedite reviews on projects such as the Los Angeles to Anaheim high-speed rail section, the Link US project at Los Angeles Union Station and the ACEforward project in Northern California.
“We are pleased to continue our partnership with the State of California and the California High-Speed Rail Authority on the renewal of this agreement. Initiatives like this are essential to keep the project’s momentum going. California’s high-speed rail project is an important piece of an electrified, high-speed passenger rail network in the western United States that will connect millions of people, provide new economic opportunities and good-paying jobs, and make world-class passenger rail a reality in America.”
This renewed agreement allows for fewer layers of review for environmental projects. It therefore aligns with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-8-23, which is aimed at accelerating critical infrastructure projects across California to build more, faster.
The state was initially granted NEPA authority in 2019 for a five-year duration. With FRA’s approval of this renewal, the state’s authority will now be extended for 10 years.
“The partnership and work that California and the FRA continue to do is essential to our goal of building clean infrastructure faster. By streamlining permitting and cutting red tape, we’re working to maximize taxpayer dollars and accelerate timelines – to get passengers on California high-speed rail trains as quickly as possible.”
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