The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today released for public review and comment, a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS) for the Fresno to Bakersfield Project Section of the California High-Speed Rail System.

This document supplements the 2014 Final EIR/EIS for the Fresno to Bakersfield Project Section and is focused on the southern portion of the alignment between Poplar Avenue in Shafter and a station location in Bakersfield.

The 2014 Final EIR/EIS evaluated alignments that generally followed the existing BNSF tracks from Shafter into Bakersfield. Since then, a new alignment was developed, known as the Locally Generated Alternative, extending from Shafter east towards State Route 99 and the existing Union Pacific tracks, then southward into
Bakersfield.

The Draft Supplemental EIR/EIS provides a detailed analysis of the Locally Generated Alternative and compares that alignment to the Preferred Alternative identified in the 2014 Final EIR/EIS for the same geographic area between Shafter and Bakersfield.

Recognizing that the comment period includes the holiday season, the Authority has lengthened the public comment period to 60 days from the required minimum of 45 days. The official comment period begins Thursday, November 9, 2017 and ends Tuesday, January 16, 2018.

(Source: CHSRA)