The New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT) was selected to receive funding under the FY 2022-23 Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program for the Northeast Corridor (FSP-NEC) for construction activities for the Delco Lead Project (Project) in the City of New Brunswick and North Brunswick Township, Middlesex County, NJ.  

The Project consists of two components:

• construction of a service and inspection facility (S&I Facility), including two indoor storage tracks for 288 train cars, and
• improvements to the Delco Lead, an outdoor facility track for emergency rail car storage for up to 156 rail vehicles. The Delco Lead improvements include removal of an existing freight track and construction of two new tracks for storage of NJ TRANSIT equipment during severe weather events. 

The purpose of the Project is to provide NJ TRANSIT with an S&I Facility and emergency rail car storage at an inland location that is not susceptible to flooding or tree fall, at an elevation that minimizes flood hazard risk. The new S&I Facility will enable the rapid return to service of trains after a storm by allowing FRA-mandated inspections to occur in the same location as the emergency train storage.  

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact  

In 2015, U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Project to evaluate potential impacts to the human and natural environment, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). FTA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Project’s EA on February 17, 2016. The EA and FTA’s FONSI are available on NJ TRANSIT's project website.

Because FRA is providing grant funding to NJ TRANSIT for the Project, FRA adopted FTA’s EA, performed a NEPA re-evaluation to confirm the Project scope had not changed and there were not changes in the environmental setting or impacts, and approved its own FONSI for the Project on December 9, 2024. 

• Delco Lead Project FONSI

FRA Point of Contact

Environmental Review Process Contact:
Monica L. Zabroski
Environmental Protection Specialist
Federal Railroad Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Monica.Zabroski@dot.gov                           

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