Federal Partnership to Expedite Environmental Reviews in California

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.

California High Speed Rail
From 2029, the California High Speed Rail system will run from San Francisco to Los Angeles in under three hours at speeds of over 200 miles per hour

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.

FRA Administrator Amit Bose said:

“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.

Governor Gavin Newsom said:

“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.”

Get your news featured on Railway-News

Please fill in the contact form opposite. A member of the team will be in touch shortly.








    We'd love to send you the latest news and information from the world of Railway-News. Please tick the box if you agree to receive them.

    For your peace of mind here is a link to our Privacy Policy.

    By submitting this form, you consent to allow Railway-News to store and process this information.

    Subscribe
    Follow Railway-News on LinkedIn
    Follow Railway-News on Twitter