Irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources refer to possible short- and-long-term effects on a variety of resources. Of particular concern would be those resources that may be considered scarce or rare - such as high-quality wetlands/habitats, historic resources, or something that may be considered irreplaceable - and those effects that could not be reduced or mitigated. This Tier 1 Final Environmental Impact Statement (Tier 1 Final EIS) evaluates a variety of resources at a broad level of detail, consistent with what was done for the Tier 1 Draft EIS (see Volume 2, Chapter 2). As such, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) qualitatively evaluated the types of impacts that would result in irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources.
No changes were made to the qualitative discussion of this chapter between the publishing of the Tier 1 Draft and Final EISs. (Please refer to Volume 2, Chapter 7.21, for the qualitative discussion of irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources.) In summary, similar to the analysis presented for the Action Alternatives in the Tier 1 Draft EIS, implementation of the Preferred Alternative would result in effects on resources that are considered scarce and rare, and once used, are irretrievable. Resources potentially affected include energy, natural resources and cultural resources. Construction of the Preferred Alternative would result in the commitment of resources through the use of fossil fuel, labor, and construction materials.
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