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DesertXpress - Las Vegas to Victorville

The FRA is the lead federal agency for the environmental review of the DesertXpress High-Speed Passenger Train project. The DesertXpress project is proposed by DesertXpress Enterprises, LLC to provide reliable and safe passenger rail transportation along an approximate 200-mile corridor between Southern California (Victorville) and Las Vegas, Nevada, as an alternative to automobile or air travel.

The project would use proven high-speed rail technology and be constructed as a grade-separated, dedicated double track, passenger-only railroad predominantly in the median of or immediately alongside Interstate 15 (I-15), adding transportation capacity to the freeway corridor.

FRA, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Surface Transportation Board (STB), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the National Park Service (NPS), with the added participation of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT), prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in March 2009, Supplemental DEIS in August 2010, and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) in March 2011.

The FRA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on the DesertXpress High-Speed Passenger Train project on July 8, 2011. The ROD summarizes the environmental review process FRA conducted in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and FRA’s Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts. The ROD identifies the alternatives considered by FRA, addresses comments received during the NEPA process, and identifies the Selected Alternative. The ROD also includes a list of all measures to avoid and minimize environmental harm, including a monitoring and enforcement program to ensure adherence to these measures. Finally, the ROD presents the FRA decision, determinations, and findings regarding the Project, and identifies the factors that FRA considered in making its decision.

FRA Record of Decision

Appendix A: Mitigation and Commitments

Appendix B: Husing Review

Appendix C: Final EIS Comments and Responses

Appendix D: Biological Opinion

The ROD is also available at public libraries identified below

Victorville City Library	Barstow Library	Las Vegas Library	Clark County Library
15011 Circle Drive Victorville, CA 92395	304 East Buena Vista Barstow, CA 92311	833 Las Vegas Blvd. N. Las Vegas, NV 89101	1401 Flamingo Road Las Vegas, NV 89119

Final Environmental Impact Statement

The FEIS addresses any changes to the DesertXpress project DEIS and Supplemental DEIS as a result of public or agency comments. This FEIS also provides an evaluation of the environmental effects of the “Preferred Alternative,” which was selected by the Lead and Cooperating Agencies from the range of Action Alternatives presented in the DEIS and Supplemental DEIS. The “Preferred Alternative” is the option/alternative that the Lead and Cooperating Agencies believe would best fulfill each agency’s statutory mission and responsibilities, in consideration with economic, environmental, and technical factors.

The Preferred Alternative rail alignment would be almost entirely located within the existing I-15 corridor, with tracks running alongside freeway travel lanes. The Preferred Alternative also specifies station and maintenance facility sites and identifies Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) as the locomotive technology. The Final EIS compares the environmental effects of the Preferred Alternative to the other Action Alternatives and the No Build Alternative. Mitigation measures for the Preferred Alternative are included to reduce or eliminate adverse environmental effects of the Preferred Alternative.

View the Final Environmental Impact Statement:

FEIS TOC and Executive Summary

Volume II (Appendices)

Appendix F-A Summary Reports for the Draft EIS and Supplemental Draft EIS Public Hearings

Appendix F-B Highway Interface Manual

Appendix F-C Plan and Profile Drawings of the Preferred Alternative

Appendix F-D Ridership Forecast Review

Appendix F-E Barstow Study – Economic Impact of DesertXpress

Appendix F-F Predicted Employment and Economic Impact Analysis

Appendix F-G Traffic Impact Analysis for the DesertXpress Project and Supplemental Traffic Impact Analysis for Victorville Station Site 3 (VV3)

Appendix F-H Programmatic Agreement under Section 106

Appendix F-I Jurisdictional Delineation Reports

Appendix F-J Preliminary Geotechnical Evaluation

Appendix F-K Properties of Hazardous Materials Concern

Appendix F-L Regional Emission Calculation Worksheets

Appendix F-M Biological Assessment

Appendix F-N Special-Status Plant Survey Report for the Proposed Segment 4C Alignment

Appendix F-O Mojave Ground Squirrel Habitat Assessment

Appendix F-P Vegetation Mapping Surveys

Appendix F-Q Special-Status Plant and Wildlife Species

Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Following the publication of the DEIS for the Project, the Applicant proposed several Project modifications and additions to address substantive comments received during public and agency review of the DEIS and to reduce or avoid significant environmental effects. The Supplemental DEIS and Draft 4(f) Evaluation identifies and analyzes the potential environmental impacts (both beneficial and adverse) that could occur to a range of environmental resources as a result of the proposed Project modifications and additions. The DEIS comment period closed on October 18, 2010. The DEIS was made available to the public in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act including two public hearings.

View the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement:

SDEIS Volume I Complete

SDEIS TOC and Executive Summary

Volume II (Appendices)

Appendix S-A-1 Segment 2C Side Running and Median Options

Appendix S-A-2 Segment 4C

Appendix S-A-3 Relocated Sloan MSF Site

Appendix S-A-4 Wigwam Avenue MSF Modification

Appendix S-B VV3 Supplemental TIA

Appendix S-C Supplemental Hazardous Materials Reports for Frias Substation

Appendix S-D Noise and Vibration Analysis

Draft Environmental Impact Statement

The DEIS identifies and analyzes the potential environmental impacts (both beneficial and adverse) that could occur to a range of environmental resources as a result of the construction and operation of the project alternatives. At this time, the federal agencies have not identified a preferred alternative.

The DEIS comment period closed on May 22, 2009. The DEIS was made available to the public in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act including three public hearings. DEIS web files have a lower resolution graphics for easier download and the maps with greatest detail are in Appendix A.

View the Draft Environmental Impact Statement:

DEIS Volume I Complete (27.6 mb .pdf)

DEIS TOC and Executive Summary (1.3 mb .pdf)

DEIS Chapter 1 (669 kb .pdf)

DEIS Chapter 2 (10.1 mb .pdf)

DEIS Chapter 3 (14.5 mb .pdf)

DEIS Chapter 4 (45 kb.pdf)

DEIS Chapter 5 (118 kb .pdf)