Tos II Case Progresses
Plaintiffs filed a Second Amended Petition on May 25, in response. After the announcement of the Federal Transit Administration grant to Caltrain for its Electrification Project in May, 2017, the Director of the Department of Finance issued a letter authorizing CHSRA to obligate $713 million in bond funds for Caltrain.
Disappointment in ARB Case
In oral argument, TRANSDEF’s attorney, Stuart Flashman, proposed a new way to look at CEQA GHG impacts--one that we have not heard being used before: Because of the global climate change tipping point being close to the present, he distinguished near-term GHG emissions as being far more significant an impact than emissions occurring after the tipping point has been passed. While a very strong argument, the Court ruled that TRANSDEF’s comments had not made that point, so that we were barred from litigating it. We suggest this issue be raised in future cases.
Change in Plans: Big Fireworks in Court April 18 & 19
The hearing scheduled for Tuesday, April 18, at 9:00 in Department 54 in Sacramento Superior Court (in the Hall of Justice on 6th St., which is separate from the court complex), and the hearing scheduled for April 19 at 11:00 in the same courtroom have both been postponed.
They have both been rescheduled to April 26 at 11:00 am.
The court will hear argument then on the Authority’s Demurrer and Motion to Strike Allegations, which seek to terminate the Tos litigation. It will simultaneously consider the motion for a Preliminary Injunction to block the use of funds for construction.
Under court rules, a tentative decision may be posted on the court’s website at 2:00 the day before the hearing. Enter the hearing date and Department 54.
ARB Scoping Plan Comments Filed
Oral Argument Scheduled
Hearing in ARB Case March 17
TRANSDEF has submitted numerous comments to ARB on its 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan, which is scheduled for approval in April 2017.
Briefing Continues in ARB case
Allies Challenge AB 1899's Constitutionality
The Third District Court of Appeal had previously ruled that Prop. 1A, the 2008 $9.9 billion high-speed rail bond measure, created a "financial straitjacket" restricting the use of the bond funds. Plaintiffs allege in their suit that the Legislature's passage of AB 1889 created a tool that attempts to evade the bond measure's restrictions.
However, because AB 1889 fundamentally alters that voter-approved measure, plaintiffs allege it is unconstitutional, as are the funding plans that rely on it. Newly added as a plaintiff is retired judge and former CHSRA Chair Quentin Kopp, who helped write Prop. 1A and has joined the case to defend that measure as the voters approved it. Read More...
Multiple Groups File Opposition to AB 1899
In an attempt to evade the requirements of Proposition 1A, the HSR Bond Act, Caltrain has sponsored AB 1889. The bill would give CHSRA full discretion to declare that a rail corridor or segment is HSR-ready. This is a big deal for Caltrain, because its electrification project cannot qualify for $700+ million in bond funding under the current law. It wants the money now. Read More...
Caltrain Electrification Suit Fully Briefed
CEQA Preemption Appeal Fully Briefed
Press Coverage of HSR Hearing
High-Speed Rail Dragged Back to Court
Opening Brief Filed in STB Appeal
Taxpayer Challenge to High-Speed Rail Files Devastating Brief
The legal team challenging the California High-Speed Rail Authority's compliance with the 2008 Proposition 1A High-Speed Rail Bond Measure filed a supplemental brief today. It explains the legal significance of a secret document recently uncovered by the Los Angeles Times. The Authority had resisted releasing it. Pressure from the State Assembly Republican Caucus and several Republican congressmen eventually forced the Authority to make it public. After the Authority capitulated, the court allowed the plaintiffs to file a supplemental brief.
Plaintiff Aaron Fukuda said "We hope this brief puts a stake in the heart of this boondoggle. The Authority's goal line defense to keep this document secret tells you just how damaging they knew it was."
Attorney Stuart Flashman said, "It’s understandable why the Authority wanted this evidence kept hidden. It directly contradicts the cost estimates in the Final 2014 Business Plan. The Business Plan’s deceptively lowered costs successfully pulled the wool over legislators’ eyes. Two months later, they gave the Authority billions of dollars in a multi-year gift of climate change mitigation funds. It’s hard to believe that would have happened had they known what a bottomless money pit the project had become."
A verdict for the plaintiffs would not only prevent HSR bond funds from being used for construction, it would shut off federal grants and state climate change funds as well. Read More...
CHSRA Releases Blockbuster Document
Editorials in the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune called it out as a red flag for the HSR project. See the Taxpayer Lawsuit for further details on how this affects the challenge to CHSRA.
No One Wants To Invest in CA HSR!
Because an operating subsidy is prohibited by Proposition 1A, that means that the proposed HSR system cannot be built. It also means the project should not be in construction now, because there is no way enough sections can be funded for there to be a viable system. For a discussion of the issue of adequate capital to construct the project, see What’s Wrong? Read More...
TRANSDEF Files STB Challenge
On October 9, 2014 the CHSRA petitioned the STB to block California courts from issuing injunctions that could stop construction of the HSR project. In an ugly turn of events, the STB issued a ruling on December 12, 2014 that blocked not only injunctions but all application of CEQA to the HSR project. Read More...
TRANSDEF Files Caltrain Electrification Lawsuit
For thirty years, Caltrain has wanted to electrify, but never had the money. TRANSDEF believes that this longstanding desire blinded it to the agency’s best interests. We see this as tragically similar to the Biblical tale of Esau selling his birthright to his brother Jacob because he was hungry one night.
TRANSDEF filed extensive comments on the DEIR and the FEIR. See the Caltrain Electrification page for he background. Read More...
Supreme Court Turns Us Down
Read More...
CHSRA Declares Independence from CEQA
By running to the feds for protection, CHSRA has told the world it cannot and will not play by California rules.
In an earlier move seeking to protect its claim to federal preemption of environmental laws, CHSRA asked the Supreme Court to depublish the appellate decision in Town of Atherton II. See bottom of this page.
Supreme Court Hears from Far and Wide
TRAC Ideas Exposed in the Bee
CHSRA Blocked by Mountains
CHSRA Tries to Ditch CEQA
Wall Street Journal Editorial on HSR Case
TRAC Opposes Palmdale Focus
HSR Opponents Seek Supreme Court Review
The Court also held that no evidence was needed to show that it was “necessary or desirable” to issue bonds, reversing the trial court ruling that had prevented the sale of bonds and effectively erasing that provision from the ballot measure.
Michael Brady, representing John Tos, Aaron Fukuda and Kings County, said "The Authority is now on life support; it has been granted a stay of execution by the Court of Appeal. Today's filing seeks to lift that stay." Stuart Flashman, co-counsel added, "The Court of Appeal ruling overturns long-standing precedents in the interpretation of bond measures. If these decisions stand, voters will lose trust in future bond measures."
The documents and related case materials are all available at the bottom of this page. Read More...
Opponents of HSR Strike Back
Court of Appeal Hits HSR Critics Hard
COURT OF APPEAL ALLOWS HIGH-SPEED RAIL TO VIOLATE BOND MEASURE
The Third District Court of Appeal late yesterday overturned two trial rulings that had hamstrung California’s still-embattled High-Speed Rail project. The Court ruled that "The Legislature appropriated the bond proceeds based on the preliminary funding plan, however deficient, and there is no present duty to redo the plan."
Plaintiff's lead counsel, Michael Brady, was disappointed with the ruling. He said "The voters approved Proposition 1A only because it included stringent requirements to protect the state from financial risk. The Court ruled that although the project did not meet the requirements, taxpayers have no remedy now. They can only sue after many more tens of millions of dollars are spent on design and analysis.”
Stuart Flashman, co-counsel added, "The court has essentially allowed the Authority to ignore promises it, and the legislature, made to California’s voters. It bodes ill for voters’ willingness to trust such promises in the future. Supreme Court review appears warranted.” Read More...
Suit Challenges HSR Funding: Says It Worsens Climate Change
TRANSDEF’s attorney, Stuart Flashman, commented: “As a former scientist, I was disappointed that ARB ignored the scientific evidence. The huge spike in cement production needed to build all the viaducts and trackways for the Governor’s high-speed rail line will result in greenhouse gas emissions far outstripping any potential benefit from the line. Including high-speed rail in the Scoping Plan runs directly counter to the legislature’s intent in AB 32 and violates the direct mandate of the law." Read More...
Will Sen. De León Take HSR in New Direction?
Six Challenges to Fresno-Bakersfield FEIR
MTC Wants to Bury Dumbarton Rail
Appeals to be heard in May
Caltrain Electrification--Has Caltrain Lost its Way?
A Flurry of Amicus Briefs Hit Court
Cap and Trade for HSR: Scientifically Worthless
Court of Appeals to CHSRA: No Way
Authority Appeals Yet Another Decision
The Court of Appeal will decide in the near future whether to call for further briefing or dismiss the petition.
The same Court of Appeal has ordered oral argument in the Atherton II appeal for May 20, 2014. It is possible the oral argument for the two Extraordinary Writ Petitions will be held then as well, as the cases are related.
Court Rules Against Authority, Again
TRAC Issues Plan B
New HSR Writings
Three Cases Await Decisions
The Sacramento Superior Court, Department 31, will hold a hearing on Friday, February 14 on the Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. (See bottom of page for filings.)
The Court of Appeal has a Petition for Extraordinary Writ (initially filed with the Supreme Court) before it. A Preliminary Opposition was filed by the Tos Plaintiffs and Kern County. The Court of Appeal will decide in the near future whether to call for further briefing or dismiss the petition.
And finally, the Court of Appeal is also considering the issue of federal preemption of CEQA raised by the HSR Authority. Oral argument will be held, either prior to or consolidated with its hearing on the appeal of Atherton II.
Flash Bulletin
Dan Walters: the Beginning of the End
Desperate Governor Petitions Supreme Court
Interestingly, both the Governor and the Chair of the Authority discounted the significance of the Superior Court ruling when it first came out, and continue to do so. Meanwhile behind the scenes, deputies in the Attorney General’s office were busily working away at a 50+ page brief: “The trial court’s approach to these issues cripples government’s ability to function. The rulings thwart the intent of the voters and the Legislature to finance the construction of high-speed rail...” (p. 2)
The petition is notable for its whining “the world is coming to an end” tone.
See the legal papers here.
Authority Pleads for End to Beating
Judge's decision also endangers $3.3 billion in federal funds
Judge's decision also endangers $3.3 billion in federal funds
California high-speed rail plans stopped in tracks
High-speed rail financing struck down by judge, project in jeopardy
Bullet train snag could affect Transbay Terminal
Sacramento judge's ruling throws bullet train's future in doubt
Locals Participated in High-Speed Rail Court Case
EDITORIAL: Pump the brakes on ‘bullet’ train
Dan Walters: High-Speed Rail 'blended system' may help derail it: “It’s time for a backspace-delete. Brown should acknowledge that the project as now planned is doomed and either kill it or go back to the voters with a revision that includes realistic routes and costs and lays out how it will be financed.
“If it's worth doing -- a debatable point -- it's worth doing right and not with legal sleight-of-hand and pie-in-the-sky financing.”
Famous Last Words Department:
High speed rail chief says lawsuits won't stop project: “Jeff Morales, Californiaʼs high speed rail chief, says heʼs confident lawsuits filed by South Valley local officials will not stop the project.”
Best British Understatement Department:
The Economist: “California’s high-speed rail authority emphasised what the judge did not do, telling reporters it was "important to stress" that Mr Kenny did not cancel the project altogether. But if that is a victory, it is not clear how many more wins California high-speed rail can handle.”
TRAC Proposes Plan B for HSR
1. The Train Riders Association of California (TRAC) strongly supports a modern High-Speed Rail (HSR) system for California. HSR will be critical in providing interregional mobility to a growing population at a lower environmental impact than widening highways and adding runways. Successful HSR should greatly benefit the economy.
2. Even if the currently proposed $6 billion Merced-Bakersfield project were successfully completed, no funding is available to build the rest of the HSR system. This would leave this very expensive track unused and unusable, except perhaps by Amtrak to save a few minutes on the San Joaquins.
3. Funding is a problem because the California High Speed Rail Authority's plans are not attractive to private investors. The Authority hopes that $26 billion of federal grants will lead to private investment, but the Sacramento Superior Court ruling found that “there is, in reality, no reasonably anticipated time of receipt for any of the potential new federal funds."
4. TRAC is grateful for the Sacramento Superior Court's ruling that the Authority's project does not meet the taxpayer protection requirements of the 2008 voter-approved HSR bond measure, Proposition 1A. Preventing the current project from spending bond funds illegally will preserve the potential for successful HSR in California.
Read More...
Mercury News Editorial Pronounces Death of HSR Project
Mercury News editorial: High-Speed Rail ruling is right on
A Superior Court judge Monday slowed the California bullet train boondoggle to a crawl.
It's about time. For more than two years, Gov. Jerry Brown and his puppet leading the California High-Speed Rail Authority board, Dan Richard, have overstepped their legal authority and disregarded the will of the voters by pushing ahead full-throttle.
Judge Michael Kenny had ruled in August that the authority "abused its discretion" by failing to secure funds and complete environmental reviews before authorizing expenditures.
This week, he sent the project back to the start by blocking the authority from implementing its 2011 spending plan and refusing to provide necessary legal blessing to the misguided issuance of $8.6 billion of construction bonds.
By any reasonable interpretation, this should put an end to Brown and Richard's bait-and-switch. But, when it comes to high-speed rail, those two aren't reasonable.
In a statement issued after the ruling, Richard tried to deceptively spin what the judge had said. True, as Richard notes, the judge did not stop the project. Rather he left it with no funding plan and the inability to borrow money. Read More...
Court Delivers Dual Body-Blows to High-Speed Rail Project
In addition, the judge declined today to validate the issuance of High-Speed Rail bonds. The Authority had sought validation, a legal maneuver to protect bond investors from lawsuits challenging the issuance of bonds. Without validation, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer will not allow bonds to be issued, putting the future of the project even more in doubt. With today's ruling on non-compliance with 1A, it is questionable whether the requirements to authorize selling bonds can be met.
The Authority had assured the Court that it would be spending only federal funds to start construction, and that no state bond funds would be used on the project. However, because the federal funds must be matched with state funds, today's rulings mean that state bond funds will not be available to provide that match. That could cause the federal government to rethink whether to put its funds at risk. If the federal government withholds its funds, the project will never break ground. Read More...
New HSR Briefs Filed
The Authority asserted at the very last moment in the Atherton appeal that the Surface Transportation Board’s assertion of jurisdiction over the HSR project has resulted in the federal preemption of CEQA. The Authority is asking that the appeal be dismissed, because it claims that CEQA cannot be enforced. These claims have led to the filing of amicus briefs by prominent environmental organizations. Briefs in the Atherton appeal are available here.
Taxpayer Lawsuit
A series of briefs were filed in the Tos case which dealt with proposed remedies for the violation of the requirements of Proposition 1A. Plaintiffs have asked that funds for the HSR project be shut off by the Court. Amicus briefs supported that proposal. The Authority’s Opposition Brief in effect claimed that no remedy was needed or even possible, as the construction contracts under way would be fully paid for using federal funds. Plaintiffs filed a devastating Reply Brief which proved that most of the federal funds could not even be used for the two contracts. It must have been extremely embarrassing for the HSR Authority. Read More...
Hoisted on their own petard
The bottom line result of all this may be that the CHSRA badly miscalculated in trying to get around an ongoing CEQA appeal, and threw away the entire project. With three interrelated cases simultaneously before the bar, HSR’s legal status is complicated. Please contact us if you feel further explanation is needed.
Validation: It's a Funny Concept
An especially fascinating aspect to this validation suit is that the defendants are identified as “All Persons Interested in the Matter of the Validity of the Authorization and Issuance of General Obligation Bonds to be Issued Pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, and Certain Proceedings and Matters Related Thereto.”
Interestingly, the Authority asserts that a validation ruling will not affect the ability of a taxpayers’ suit to challenge the expenditure of bond funds.
Click here to see the major papers filed in the case.
Killer Ruling on HSR Compliance
Court Rules
High-Speed Rail Not Compliant with Bond
Measure
Sacramento Superior Court Judge
Michael Kenny issued a ruling Friday that the Funding
Plan for the $8 billion High-Speed Rail project in
the Central Valley is legally defective because it
fails to meet the requirements of Proposition 1A, the
High-Speed Rail Bond measure. The landmark
case, Tos v.
California High-Speed Rail
Authority,
was filed by a farmer, a rural homeowner and Kings
County.
The Court agreed that the Authority’s Funding Plan
failed to validly certify that for the Merced to San
Fernando Valley segment of the project, all
environmental clearances had been completed and that
sufficient funding sources to complete the segment
had been identified. Further briefing was ordered to
determine the appropriate
remedy.
HSRA seeks federal protection from lawsuits
This brief involved a massive amount of gall, seeing as the High-Speed Rail Authority had not applied to the STB for permission to construct its project until very recently, long after all the briefing in this case had been filed. All materials related to the appeal are available here.
Historic Court Hearing on May 31
Two out of ten claims asserted by the plaintiffs will be argued on Friday, with the balance to be considered after a decision is issued. Plaintiffs assert the Authority’s Funding Plan failed to validly certify that for the Merced to San Fernando Valley segment of the project, all environmental clearances had been completed and that sufficient funding sources to complete the segment had been identified.
Proposition 1A included an elaborate set of requirements to protect taxpayers from having to pay for a money-losing unfinished project. By ignoring the statutory requirements, the Authority has set in motion a project likely to become incomplete and stranded.
The case carries great consequence for the High-Speed Rail project. If the Court rules the Authority did not comply with the Proposition, the next step would be to invalidate the Funding Plan and the appropriation. That would block the expenditure of high-speed rail bond funds and bring the $8 billion project currently being pursued by the Authority to an abrupt halt.
Click here for access to all the briefs filed in the case.
A ruling is expected within 90 days.
Atherton Appeal Now Submitted
The next step will be Oral Argument at the Court of Appeal.
This case is significant, in that a victory for Appellants could invalidate the ridership model, which is the foundation of all the EIRs the CHSRA will rely on for its Central Valley project. It could also force a whole new EIR, which would review the alternative of an Altamont Corridor in a less-biased manner.
TRANSDEF Presents at Annual TRAC Meeting
Our Legal Team Has Been Busy
On October 15, 2012, petitioners in the Atherton I and Atherton II cases filed their Appellants Opening Brief, challenging several elements of a largely favorable court ruling back in February. For the brief, and details, see the bottom of this page.
Round 3
Two days later, our team filed an Objection to the Authority’s Return on the Writ. This is a procedure in which the High-Speed Rail Authority, represented by the Attorney General’s office, is seeking to demonstrate that it has completed a series of actions ordered by the Court, back in February. The Authority claims that its April 2012 Partially Revised Final Program EIR complies with CEQA. Our Objection claims that the EIR violates CEQA because it refuses to analyze as an EIR alternative the Blended System described in the Revised 2012 Business Plan. For details, see this page. Read More...
SNCF Presentation Revealed!
With all the slurs flying around now, it is important to note that SNCF was not asking CHSRA to turn the project over to them. They were instead asking that CHSRA establish a Request for Qualifications process, leading to an open Request for Proposals process, which would result in the selection of an operator. They were totally aware that the winning proposer could be another firm.
Note that, despite all the recent talk about the merits and demerits of an I-5 route, the SNCF proposal was not premised on a specific route. It was solely a process to bring in private capital and an experienced operator.
The Authority’s rejection of this seemingly commonsense proposal to reduce the risk to the State of California raises disturbing questions of where CHSRA’s loyalties lay. CHSRA’s 2012 Business Plan insists untruthfully that no private firms would invest in the project until after (1) the State had spent $6 billion on 130 miles of Central Valley track, (2) somehow found $27 billion to connect it to Los Angeles, and then (3) showed an operating profit. By contrast, the SNCF proposal would have brought in the expertise needed for critical design decisions along with private capital willing to assume ridership risk, thereby greatly reducing the State’s exposure.
By rejecting the proposal, keeping it secret, and then mounting an all-hands-on-deck damage control effort to snuff out the story, CHSRA is clearly telling the world that its commitment to its army of consultants outstrips its commitment to the people of California.
The Empire Strkes Back
In response to the stunning levels of vitriol and bad faith, TRANSDEF posted these comments:
After first responding to the SNCF story with a deer-in-the-headlights "No comment," CHSRA is now in full damage control mode. The sheer number of slurs and easily disprovable allegations in Richard's letter indicates panic over this story. As second fiddle in CHSRA's attack machine, Robert resorts to making stuff up, too.
The vehemence of the combined response says we've struck a nerve. That's a tacit admission that SNCF made a proposal that somehow threatened the status quo.
Consider this one point: If the proposal was even a quarter as bad as alleged here, why would the Authority have clamped such a tight lid of secrecy on it? It just doesn't wash...
Readers of this blog are invited to check out the other side of the story on our website: transdef.org (Robert could even add it to his blog roll!)
BTW, note that 'the significant controversy over SNCF's role in the Holocaust' arose only after SNCF made its proposal, potentially disrupting the CHSRA's happy family of consultants. Did Bob Blumenfeld suddenly wake up one day, outraged by the injustice? Or was this a commercial counterattack, disguised as the voice of conscience?
Freelance Journalist Picks Up Secret HSR Story
What I learned today about SNCF and California HSR
By Stephen Smith, on July 10th, 2012
If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’ll know that I spent this afternoon on the phone with folks in California, looking into the recent SNCF-CHSRA bombshell. To summarize: SNCF, the highly experienced French national high-speed rail operator, apparently had a plan for California’s HSR network, but was turned off by the highly politicized routing. Namely, they wanted to make a straight shot from LA to San Francisco by running along the flat, government-owned I-5 corridor with spurs out to the eastern Central Valley, whereas the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and state politicians wanted the main line to go through every little town in the Central Valley, directly. Now, all of this wouldn’t be a scandal, except for the fact that nobody at SNCF ever mentioned it to the public or the media.
That’s what the LA Times reported, but David Schonbrunn, a pro-HSR, anti-CHSRA activist, says there’s more to the story – SNCF not only advocated I-5, but they actually had private investors lined up! Here’s his letter to the LAT:
Read More...Your otherwise excellent story “High-speed rail officials rebuffed proposal from French railway” was far too kind to California High-Speed Rail Authority officials. At the time of its proposal, SNCF had the investment backing to actually build the LA-SF line, in a deal that sheltered the State from the risk of subsidizing an unprofitable project.
The Authority’s 2012 Business Plan covered up this offer, instead insisting that no private capital would be willing to invest until the first high-speed line showed a profit. The $6 billion Central Valley project approved last week by the Legislature thus exposes the State to unlimited operating losses. Worse yet, before that line can be completed, it will need an additional $27 billion from the federal government–quite unlikely in today’s political climate.
I’d sure like to understand the thinking behind the rejection of the French offer.
It’s unfortunate the story didn’t run earlier. It would have informed the Legislature’s debate.
CHSRA-Apologist Website Dumps on LA Times
Robert’s take-down of the messenger (LAT) misses the point entirely. SNCF presented a proposal in conjunction with a U.S. investment bank that was willing to finance the entire LA-SF line. This was a project that made enough business sense to them–it minimized costs while optimally serving the primary market–that they were willing to accept full ridership risk.
Had the Authority been seriously committed to building its project, it would have conducted a bidding process, hired an international consortium, and would now be using the ARRA funds to build an I-5 alignment.
For reasons that appear contrary to the public interest, The Authority covered up this offer in its 2012 Business Plan, instead insisting that no private capital would be willing to invest until the first high-speed line showed a profit. In other words, the entire plan is based on a lie. It calls for the State to take on the full cost of building a line to LA, without any private money and without a prayer of any additional federal support.
The $6 billion Central Valley project approved last week by the Legislature exposes the State to unlimited operating losses, and worse yet, no way forward to a statewide system. That’s just what a take-the-money-and-run scam would look like.
Go ahead and rant all you want. I can’t see how you can call yourself an HSR advocate if you'd rather have 130 miles of unconnected track in the Central Valley than a working HSR system.
LA Times Uncovers Secret HSR Story
Had the HSRA been operating in the public interest, it would now be under contract with an international HSR operator selected through an open bidding process, and be proceeding towards a fully funded LA-SF buildout (which, incidentally, would probably not have been challenged by the current litigants). Instead, if the project proceeds as planned, Californians will end up with a $6 billion track that can’t be used for HSR, and have no prospects of ever receiving a statewide system.
LA Times Story: High-speed rail officials rebuffed proposal from French railway
In response to today's article, TRANSDEF sent a letter to the Editor. Read More...
TRANSDEF Comments on HSR Passage
Senate Bill Doles out Goodies to Legislative Districts
CA Legislature: Know-Nothings Approve HSR Funding
Senator Simitian of Palo Alto gave the speech of his life.
Although a long-time supporter of the concept of High-Speed Rail for California, Simitian’s conclusion was: "This is the wrong plan, in the wrong place, and at the wrong time." He was also concerned that voters would react to this vote by turning down the Governor's tax extension measures in November, with devastating consequences to education and social service programs.
Senators DeSaulnier and Lowenthal, Chair and former Chair of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, who have held countless hearings on High-Speed Rail, spoke out strongly against the measure. These three and Senator Pavley were the only Democrats voting against the funding measure.
According to press reports, a 2010 promise by the President to secure the vote of Representative Jim Costa on health care reform resulted in the federal insistence that its HSR funding go entirely to Costa's Central Valley district.
The three Senators were convinced that spending $6 billion in that area would put the State at great risk of being left with a very expensive piece of useless track.
They produced an alternative plan that would have spent most of the money on immediately useful track improvements in Los Angeles and San Francisco, including a $2 billion extension of Caltrain to the Transbay Transit Center. Read More...
Taxpayer Lawsuit Against HSRA Files New Complaint
After the Court sustained the Demurrer with leave to amend on June 22, Attorney Brady filed a Second Amended Complaint on July 6. Because the State Senate was debating a funding measure for High-Speed Rail that afternoon, he brought with him one version that included a reference to the Senate passing the measure, and a second one that did not. With the Clerk’s Office at the Court closing at 4:00 pm, and the Senate vote occurring at 3:59 pm, Attorney Brady filed the latter version. He will likely supplement the Complaint after the Governor signs the bill into law.
The Amended Complaint includes allegations that funds are currently being expended in support of construction, in violation of Proposition 1A and that adoption of the Funding Plan also violated Prop 1A. Now that the Legislature has actually appropriated bond funds, the Authority will have a hard time arguing that the suit is premature.
All the associated documents are available on this page.
HSRA Approves Pacheco Yet Again
After that action, the Board certified a Partially Revised Final Program EIR and adopted the Pacheco route. While the result was the same as its 2010 action, this time was different. Authority Board members went to great lengths to appear to seriously consider the Altamont route. This was a striking change from the arrogance of past Boards. Nonetheless, the outcome was the same: nothing has changed.
The Board heard strong testimony from environmentalists as to the merits of the Altamont route. The Board heard strong testimony from environmentalists as to the merits of the Altamont route. TRANSDEF provided this testimony, which criticized the EIR and called out the EIR preparers’ underhanded tricks: Read More...
Senate Holds Fiery HSR Hearing
Another Day, Another HSR Business Plan: First Impressions
A nastier joke is the commitment to using blended systems--sharing tracks with commuter railroads in the Los Angeles area and the Bay Area. This is commonsense policy--one which TRANSDEF fully supports, once the Authority has demonstrated that a train can travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco within the statutory 2 hours 40 minutes with a blended system. Perhaps this is a formality, but the validity of the Business Plan rests on it.
The major problem with the blended approach is that the ridership estimate assumes 9 trains per peak hour (p. ES-13) or the internally inconsistent 6 trains per peak hour (p. 5-12). The 9 trains/hour greatly exceeds the HSR capacity of Caltrain in blended mode and may be a typo, while Metrolink’s HSR capacity in blended mode is unknown. In other words, ridership and revenue, which are the foundation of a viable Business Plan, may be overstated, casting doubt on the claim that all ridership scenarios result in a positive cash flow (p. 7-5), so that no ridership subsidy is needed. Compare this to the analysis by financial professionals associated with CC-HSR. Read More...
LA Times Covers HSR
Other HSR articles in the LA Times:
A detailed look into whether the blended system would comply with Proposition 1A.
Peter Calthorpe’s Vision California vs. right-wing defenders of the status quo.
TRANSDEF talks HSR on KPFA
Reflections Following the Senate Hearing
So far, the Authority has been allowed to frame the consideration of its plan, which makes it seem reasonable. Here's why it is necessary to pull back and look at the bigger picture:
The strictures of AB 3034 prohibit the very kind of incremental improvements that would be most sensible (and which are standard practice everywhere else in the world): building a HSR-compatible but unelectrified connection between Bakersfield and LA and improving the bookends to enable shared use. Doing all this would demonstrate the ridership potential of decent train service, which would allow an entirely different kind of discussion--a grounded one, rather than a theoretical one--of a statewide HSR system. Read More...
TRANSDEF's Testimony at Senate HSR Hearing
Yet Another HSR DEIR
These comments propose an entirely new Altamont route, based on the Altamont Corridor Rail Project Preliminary Alternatives Analysis Report. (See an earlier Newsletter for an overview of this exciting project.) By avoiding the environmental impacts identified in earlier DEIRs, this alternative poses a challenge to the Authority’s stubborn insistence on the Pacheco route: An unbiased evaluation would determine the new Altamont alternative to be environmentally superior to Pacheco.
The comment letters and attachments are posted at the bottom of the Altamont page.
TRANSDEF Debates US HSR Association Head
Here is the introductory paragraph on the Voice of Russia website:
In California, a project President Obama promised would transform US transportation may never be completed. The state’s futuristic high-speed rail network faces eroding political and public support, increasing cost estimates and criticism from some groups who call the project a “train to nowhere.” But supporters says a national high-speed rail network would not only support tens of thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs, but it would save travelers from being stuck in traffic for hours. Andy Kunz, president of the US High Speed Rail Association, and David Schonbrunn, president of Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund, discuss the present status and the future of this train.
Court Rules Again Against HSRA
The court found that the project’s Revised Environmental Impact Report had failed to discuss significant impacts, failed to consider information from the Authority’s parallel project-level studies, and failed to recirculate the document for public comments.
For the second time, the Court ordered the Authority to rescind its approvals selecting the Pacheco Pass alignment and its certification of the associated Revised Final Environmental Impact Report.
Gary Patton, co-counsel, stated that "The court's decision tells the California High-Speed Rail Authority that it can't keep ignoring the public's right to participate. The court's decision in the Atherton II case says that the Authority failed in its duty to recirculate the CEQA document to get public comments, and this was a violation of the law.”
Richard Tolmach, President of the California Rail Foundation, declared that “Twice in a row, the Authority ignored the requirements of environmental law. The Judge found they still have not done a proper study.”
Stuart Flashman, lead counsel, stated that “In rejecting the EIR, the Court has upheld the principle that significant project impacts cannot be swept under the rug for later consideration, after the key decisions have already been made.”
Because the EIR challenge was divided procedurally into two parts, there are two decisions: Atherton I and Atherton II. Read More...
Reply Briefs Filed in HSR Round 2
Briefs filed in HSR Challenge
Atherton I
Atherton I (Declaration of Elizabeth Alexis)
Atherton II
Atherton II (CC-HSR)
Read More...
Round 2 in HSR Litigation
The cities of Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Atherton joined the California Rail Foundation, the Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund and the Planning and Conservation League. Palo Alto had not been a party in the previous challenge, although it filed a supportive brief. Also joining are two citizens’ groups centered in the San Francisco Peninsula: The Community Coalition on High-Speed Rail and Mid-Peninsula Residents for Civic Sanity. The Rail Authority’s chosen alignment would run through the Peninsula along the Caltrain/Union Pacific rail corridor.
Click here to see all the documents Read More...
Lots of activity on High-Speed Rail
The comment period closed April 26 on the Revised Draft EIR intended to replace the EIR thrown out by the Court as the result of our litigation. We filed extensive comments in conjunction with our allies the Planning and Conservation League and the California Rail Foundation. Our comments were oriented towards placing extensive evidence into the official record of the feasibility of an Altamont route. On the previous EIR, the Authority had asserted that the Altamont route was infeasible.
We provided a report by the French High-Speed Rail route designers Setec Ferroviaire that establishes an innovative Altamont route as not only feasible but superior to the Pacheco route. We held a press conference on May 4 to introduce the report. The Mayors of Burlingame and Palo Alto and the former Mayor of Atherton spoke at the press conference, asking the California High-Speed Rail Authority to study the route as a possible means of reducing impacts on their communities.
Press:
KGO Channel 7
San Jose Mercury News
San Mateo Daily Journal
Finally, we held a press conference on May 6 to announce the filing of a petition, asking the Court to reopen the judgment in our EIR case so as to order the High-Speed Rail Authority to respond to our comments (included in our comments on the Revised Draft EIR) challenging the validity of the Ridership and Revenue model. After extensive investigation by Elizabeth Alexis and CARRD, the High-Speed Rail Authority released data indicating that its ridership projections were produced not by its peer-reviewed and documented Revenue and Ridership model, but by a model that had been changed significantly and kept hidden from the public.
Press:
KGO Channel 7
San Jose Mercury News
Palo Alto Weekly