Fresno-Bakersfield FEIR
Challenges
The Fresno-Bakersfield HSR plan
bears interesting
resemblances to an earlier Fresno Rail Relocation
Plan.
The following comment letters, filed prior to the adoption
of the Final EIR, may be of interest:
The BNSF Comment letter
The TRANSDEF Comment
letter
The following petitions were filed challenging the
certification of the FEIR:
Kings County
Kern County
City of Bakersfield
Dignity Health
Coffee-Brimhall LLC
First Free Will Baptist Church of
Bakersfield
Federal
Preemption
On October 9, 2014, the California High-Speed Rail
Authority filed a petition with the federal Surface
Transportation Board for a declaratory order that would
prevent any California court hearing the
Fresno-Bakersfield EIR challenge from issuing an
injunction to stop the construction of the project.
CHSRA wants to hide behind federal preemption. STB went
far beyond the Authority’s request, and issued a
ruling that CEQA was entirely preempted on
projects subject to STB jurisdiction.
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, which was denied. See bottom of
this page.
Cases were on
Hold
These CEQA EIR challenges were stayed (on hold) until a
final decision was reached by the California Supreme Court
in its review of two conflicting appellate decisions on the
federal preemption of CEQA, Atherton and Friends of the Eel River. Atherton
parties filed an amicus brief in the latter case. Curiously, the
Attorney General filed separate amicus briefs for
CHSRA and the State environmental
agencies,
making different points. The Supreme Court
ruling supported the Atherton decision, leading to the reinstatement
of the CEQA cases. They are proceeding in 2018.
A request to the STB for a rehearing was not successful.
This then led to the filing of an appeal in the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals.