NEC FUTURE: Shaping the Vision for the Northeast Corridor

Overview of NEC FUTURE

Over the past few years, the NEC's aging and deteriorating infrastructure has been the subject of multiple planning and visioning efforts. In 2010, Amtrak published the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure Master Plan and A Vision for High-Speed Rail in the Northeast Corridor, and most recently a 2012 update report, The Amtrak Vision for the Northeast Corridor. These efforts have clearly defined Amtrak's long-term vision for upgrading the NEC, including a world-class, next generation high-speed rail service on new, dedicated tracks. Other groups and institutions have contributed to this discussion as well, including the University of Pennsylvania, which have published three separate reports.

To study these options more thoroughly, the FRA launched the long-awaited environmental review process for the NEC in February 2012, now known as NEC FUTURE. The NEC was ineligible for previous rounds of federal high-speed rail funding because it did not have an up-to-date environmental impact statement. The commencement of the NEC FUTURE program is hence an urgent and critical step towards expanding the heavily-traveled, but capacity-bound transportation spine of the nation's most important economic powerhouse.

The purpose of the NEC FUTURE program is to prepare a Passenger Rail Corridor Investment Plan. This PRCIP will consist of two parts: 1) A service development plan that articulates the overall scope, alternatives, and approach for proposed improvements, and 2) a tier 1 environmental impact statement, which will evaluates and addresses the broad, corridor-wide environmental impacts due to the improvements. Technical teams, composed of consultants from the Parsons Brinckerhoff / AECOM Joint Venture, are responsible for preparing the SDP and tier 1 EIS; while technical working groups, composed of intercity rail and rail transit experts from the FRA, Volpe National Transportation System Center, Joint Venture team, and outside stakeholder groups, have been established to serve as advisers to the lead technical team. The TWGs will work to ensure the validity of data and technical analysis throughout the process. The Business Alliance for Northeast Mobility was chosen to be a member of one of these TWGs - the Alternatives Development TWG - which will assist in developing the rail improvement alternatives.

Preparation of the SDP and tier 1 EIS will proceed simultaneously. Throughout the entire process, stakeholders and the public will be engaged early and continually by the FRA and the technical teams to provide advice and comments in public meetings. Interested individuals and organizations can also raise their concerns online or mail them to the following address from today until September 14, 2012:

Rebecca Reyes-Alicea
U.S. DOT, Federal Railroad Administration
Office of Railroad Policy & Development
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20590

Environmental Impact Statements

The National Environmental Policy Act states that any project that receives federal funding must give proper consideration to environment impacts and involve the public in its decision-making process. In accordance with this law, all improvement projects to the Northeast Corridor must undergo an environmental review to study their impact on the region's natural resources. This includes evaluating and screening all of a project's reasonable alternatives by comparing their costs and benefits based on measurable criteria. Ultimately, the alternatives that do not merit further consideration are eliminated and a preferred alternative is selected by the organization conducting the study. In this case, the Federal Railroad Administration is the lead agency with support from the JV team.

Tiering

Given the scope, complexity, and number of stakeholders along the Northeast Corridor, a "tiered" approach to the environmental review process was chosen. Improvements to the corridor will actually be a program composed of individual projects, and each project will need to study its own environmental impacts separately. A tiered process first analyzes broad, programmatic impacts in a tier 1 EIS (or program-level EIS, or PEIS), so that those issues do not need to be studied again as individual projects in tier 2 (or project-level) EISs. Theoretically, tiering is intended to speed the process along.

The tier 1 EIS for the Northeast Corridor improvements will select a preferred alignment on a broad level. A tier 1 record of decision would then be issued approving the general area where actions would be implemented. Following this decision, tier 2 EISs will be prepared for each individual project. The NEC FUTURE program includes only the Tier I EIS review.

Study Area
The study area of the tier I EIS for the NEC, as shown in the map, includes eight Northeastern states plus the District of Columbia. It encompasses the region served by the Northeast Corridor, plus those areas that can be reached from it directly by train or via a single transfer to connecting corridors (e.g. the Empire Corridor in New York). The exact extent of this study area will be refined as the NEC FUTURE program progresses and alternatives are identified.

Tier I Environmental Impact Statement Process

The Tier I EIS for the Northeast Corridor formally started on June 22, 2012 when the FRA released a notice of intent, notifying agencies and the public that they intended to undertake and prepare a tier I EIS. This notice provides basic information about the project, such as the limits of the project, project purpose, and problems to be solved, and information on who to contact in the event that there are questions or clarifications needed.

Next, the FRA will initiate the scoping process, during which preliminary information on the project is provided to affected federal, state, and local agencies, and the public. All stakeholders are invited to provide comments on the proposed project through an open comment period and at scoping meetings. A Scoping Summary Report will be prepared at the conclusion of the process, which will outline how the comments received during the scoping process will be addressed in the next phase of the environmental review process.

After the scoping process, the FRA will begin to prepare the tier I draft EIS (or DEIS) that will consist of the following elements:

• Project purpose and need,
• Alternatives considered,
• Affected environment and environmental consequences, and
• Potential measures to minimize or mitigate impacts.

The tier I DEIS approved by the FRA will be circulated for agency and public comment, and subsequent public hearings throughout the study area will be held to provide the FRA with comments on the draft document. Based on the public input and the results of tier I analyses, the FRA will recommend a preferred alternative. A tier I final EIS (or FEIS) will then be prepared to respond to comments on the Tier 1 DEIS and present the preferred alternative. After the tier I FEIS is released, there will be a last round of public review of that document. Finally, the FRA will prepare a record of decision that documents the selection of the preferred alternative and lay out all of the agreed upon mitigation strategies and project commitments to be carried out during the tier 2 environmental reviews. The results of this process will provide the basis for the development of the final NEC FUTURE service development plan.

Tier I EIS Scoping Process

The purpose of the public scoping meetings is to inform the public about the NEC FUTURE program and the scope of the studies to be completed, and to hear the thoughts, concerns and interests of the public regarding improvements to the passenger rail service on the Northeast Corridor. Public scoping meetings will be held in informal open house-type formats, including display stations with presentation boards staffed by NEC FUTURE program team members to answer questions and obtain participants' input and a short presentation. Comments submitted by planning and regulatory agencies and the general public will be documented, and adjustments to the project scope will be made to reflect those comments. At the conclusion of the scoping process, a Scoping Summary Report will be prepared to summarize the comments from stakeholders, along with the adjustments to the scope to reflect those comments.

Public engagement is a critical part of the NEC FUTURE program and inputs from the public throughout the process will make substantial impacts on the betterment of the corridor's rail service. It is highly recommended that interested parties attend the scoping meetings and provide comments on the program. The scoping meetings are scheduled between August 13 and 22, all at different locations in the eight states served by NEC and District of Columbia. The exact time and location of these meetings are listed here.

Interested parties who cannot attend a meeting can also submit comments in writing by mail, email at info@necfuture.com, or by posting on the program's website. Comments on the tier I EIS scope will be accepted until September 14, 2012.