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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report/Statement: California HSR Fresno to Bakersfield

Effective July 23, 2019, this project is assigned to the California High Speed Rail Authority to complete the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process on behalf of FRA, pursuant to the Surface Transportation Project Delivery Program (STPD Program), 23 USC 327.

**Below is archived web content regarding this project.

 

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) and FRA are circulating for public review the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the Fresno to Bakersfield High-Speed Rail (HSR) Project Section.

The Authority and FRA have prepared this Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS to supplement the Final EIR/EIS for the Fresno to Bakersfield Project Section of the California High-Speed Rail Project. When the Final EIR/EIS was certified by the Authority in May 2014, and a preferred alternative was identified, the Authority elected to defer an alignment decision in the Bakersfield area. However, FRA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) in June 2014, approving the preferred alternative identified in the Final EIR/EIS in its entirety.

This Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS identifies a new alternative: the Fresno to Bakersfield Locally Generated Alternative (F-B LGA) that would provide an alternative alignment for a 23-mile segment of the Fresno to Bakersfield Project Section, between the City of Shafter and the City of Bakersfield. The F-B LGA was developed in collaboration with the City of Bakersfield, the City of Shafter and Kern County, as well as local residents, stakeholders and regulatory agencies.

This limited scope Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS evaluates the potential effects of and compares the following two alternatives: the alternative selected in May 2014 and the F-B LGA. The May 2014 alternative refers to a comparable section of the alignment to the F-B LGA that had been approved in the Final EIR/EIS. The May 2014 alternative includes a station located at the corner of Truxtun Avenue, Union Avenue and State Road 204; and a maintenance of infrastructure facility located along the alignment just north of Bakersfield and 7th Standard Road. The F-B LGA provides an alignment to the east of the May 2014 alternative, between Poplar Avenue, in Shafter, and Oswell Street, in Bakersfield. The F-B LGA includes a station located at the intersection of State Route 204 and F Street, and a maintenance of infrastructure facility located along the F-B LGA alignment in northern Shafter, between Fresno Avenue and Poplar Avenue.

The EPA Notice of Availability for the Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS is currently available on the Federal Register.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Surface Transportation Board served as cooperating agencies on this Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS. The Corps is the agency responsible for issuing permits for discharge of dredged or fill material within Waters of the U. S. The Surface Transportation Board is an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers.

Public Hearing

Public Hearing on the Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS will be held:

In Bakersfield on December 19, 2017, from 3 pm to 8 pm at the Bakersfield Marriott Hotel (801 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93301)

Comments

The official comment period for the Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS begins Thursday, November 9, 2017, and ends Tuesday, January 16, 2018. There are several ways to submit comments, including:

  • Online via the Authority’s web comment form
  • Via email at Fresno_Bakersfield@hsr.ca.gov
  • By mail:
    • Attn: Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS for the Fresno to Bakersfield Project Section
      California High-Speed Rail Authority
      770 L Street, Suite 620 MS-1
      Sacramento, CA 95814
  • Leaving verbal comments on the direct line for the Fresno to Bakersfield Project Section at:
    (888) 481-2772
  • Submitting public comments at the December 19, 2017, hearing in Bakersfield, CA

Fresno to Bakersfield Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS documents for download:

The following documents are available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format and are downloadable at no cost. (Note: many of these files are very large and could take up to several minutes to download.) Technical appendices that are part of the project record for the Fresno to Bakersfield Project Section are available on the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s website.

Summary Materials

 
Document Size
Executive Summary (English) 2,099 KB
Executive Summary (Spanish) 2,743 KB

 

Volume I: Report

 
Document Size
Cover 218 KB
Fact Sheet 103 KB
Preface 223 KB
Signature Page 901 KB
Summary 1,279 KB
Table of Contents 404 KB
Title Page 70 KB
Chapter 1 - Project Purpose, Need, and Objectives 567 KB
Chapter 2 - F-B LGA Description 11,089 KB
Chapter 3.1 - Affected Environment, Environmental Consequences, and Mitigation Measures: Introduction 258 KB
Chapter 3.2 - Transportation 11,414 KB
Chapter 3.3 - Air Quality and Global Climate Change 1,901 KB
Chapter 3.4 - Noise and Vibration 3,531 KB
Chapter 3.5 - Electromagnetic Fields and Electromagnetic Interference 753 KB
Chapter 3.6 - Public Utilities and Energy 3,951 KB
Chapter  3.7 - Biological Resources and Wetlands 10,733 KB
Chapter 3.8 - Hydrology and Water Resources 1,596 KB
Chapter  3.9 - Geology, Soils, Seismicity, and Paleontological Resources 6,018 KB
Chapter 3.10 - Hazardous Materials and Wastes 6,850  KB
Chapter 3.11 - Safety and Security 1,541 KB
Chapter 3.12 - Socioeconomics and Communities 3,951 KB
Chapter 3.13 - Station Planning, Land Use, and Development 1,973 KB
Chapter 3.14 - Agricultural Land 2,520 KB
Chapter 3.15 - Parks, Recreation, and Open Space 1,144 KB
Chapter 3.16 - Aesthetics and Visual Resources 20,671 KB
Chapter 3.17 - Cultural Resources 7,211 KB
Chapter  3.18 - Regional Growth 420 KB
Chapter  3.19 - Cumulative Impacts 1,049 KB
Chapter 4 - Section 4(F) / 6(F) Evaluation 8,121 KB
Chapter 5 - Environmental Justice 5,081 KB
Chapter 6 - Project Costs and Operations 224 KB
Chapter 7 - Other CEQA / NEPA Considerations 148 KB
Chapter  8 - Comparison of Alternatives and Identification of the Preferred Alternative 720 KB
Chapter 9 - Public and Agency Involvement 548 KB
Chapter 10 - EIR-EIS Distribution 392 KB
Chapter 11 - List of Preparers 283 KB
Chapter 12 - References and Sources Used in Document Preparation 810 KB
Chapter 13 - Glossary of Terms 345 KB
Chapter  14 - Index 393 KB
Chapter 15 - Acronyms and Abbreviations 198 KB

 

Volume II: Technical Appendices

 
Document Size
Cover 187 KB
Title Page 37 KB
Appendix 1-A - Business Plans 248 KB
Appendix 1-B - Benefits 437 KB
Appendix 2-A - Road Crossings 396 KB
Appendix 2-B - Railroad Crossings 438 KB
Appendix 2-C - Operations and Service Plan Summaries 247 KB
Appendix 2-D - Applicable Design Standards 292 KB
Appendix 2-E - Summary of Requirements for Operations and Maintenance Facilities 293 KB
Appendix 2-F - Interim Use 291 KB
Appendix 2-G - May 2014 Project Mitigation Monitoring and Enforcement Plan and Amendments 4,303 KB
Appendix 2-H - Functions of Impact Avoidance and Minimization Measures 591 KB
Appendix 3.1-A - Parcels within HSR Footprint 18,181 KB
Appendix 3.3-A - Potential Impact from Induced Wind 315 KB
Appendix 3.3-B - Draft Federal General Conformity Determination 293 KB
Appendix 3.4-A - Noise and Vibration 293 KB
Appendix 3.4-B - Noise and Vibration Measurements 1,648 KB
Appendix 3.4-C - Noise and Vibration Mitigation Guidelines 432 KB
Appendix 3.5-A - Technical Study: Pre-Construction Electromagnetic Measurement Survey 295 KB
Appendix 3.6-A - Existing Plus Project Conditions Energy Analysis 294 KB
Appendix 3.6-B - Water Usage Analysis Technical Memorandum 296 KB
Appendix 3.6-C - Energy Analysis Memorandum 293 KB
Appendix 3.7-A – Special-Status Species and Observed Habitats 293 KB
Appendix 3.7-B - Comparison of Impacts on Biological Resources by Alternative 437 KB
Appendix 3.7-C - Watershed Evaluation Report Parts 1 through 4 296 KB
Appendix 3.8-A - Water Bodies Crossed by Project Alternatives 351 KB
Appendix 3.8-B - Summary of Hydraulic Modeling 294 KB
Appendix 3.11-A - Safety and Security Data 293 KB
Appendix 3.11-B - Airport Obstructions 292 KB
Appendix 3.12-A – Residential, Business, and Mobile Home Relocation Assistance Brochures 294 KB
Appendix 3.12-B - Effects on School District Funding and Transportation Bus Routes 747 KB
Appendix 3.12-C - Effects on Children’s Health and Safety 582 KB
Appendix 3.13-A - Land Use Plans, Goals, and Policies 537 KB
Appendix 3.14-A - Results and Findings of Land Evaluation and Site Assessment Pursuant to the Farmland Protection Policy Act 1,522 KB
Appendix 3.14-B - Remnant Parcel Analysis 3,198 KB
Appendix 3.14-C - High Speed Train Noise Disturbance on Grazing Lands 296 KB
Appendix 3.17-A - Programmatic Agreement 292 KB
Appendix 3.19-A - Planned and Potential Projects 834 KB
Appendix 3.19-B - Planned Transportation Projects 686 KB
Appendix 5-A - Operating Cost Memorandum 294 KB
Appendix 8-A - Analysis of the Comparable Section (May 2014 Project) 15,984 KB

 

Volume III: Alignment Plans

 
Document Size
Section A - Alignment Plans 24,683 KB
Section B - Composite Utility Plans 26,973 KB
Section C - HSR Elevated Structures Plans 20,936 KB
Section D - Maintenance of Infrastructure Facility Plans, Profiles and Cross Sections 7,854 KB
Section E - Roadway and Roadway Structure Plans 34,528 KB
Section F - Station Drawings 4,049 KB
Section G - Systems Schematic, Traction Power, Train Control and Communications Site and Access Roadway Plans 44,872 KB
Last updated: Tuesday, March 10, 2020