Category: High-Speed Rail

Briefs filed in HSR Challenge

Briefs filed in HSR Challenge 04/25/11 Filed in: High-Speed Rail Briefing has commenced in the challenge to the EIR for the High-Speed Rail connection between the Bay Area and the Central Valley. Plaintiffs filed their Opening Briefs today. The case has been divided into two parts: Atherton I is a continuation of the challenge to the 2008 EIR by the Town of Atherton, the City of Menlo Park, the Planning and Conservation League, the California Rail Foundation, and the Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund (TRANSDEF). Atherton II is a new lawsuit challenging the legality of the revised EIR by…

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Round 2 in HSR Litigation

Round 2 in HSR Litigation 10/04/10 Filed in: High-Speed Rail A coalition of three cities, three environmental organizations, two citizens’ groups and a taxpayer today filed suit challenging the Environmental Impact Report for the high-speed rail connection between the Central Valley and the Bay Area.  The report was issued by the California High-Speed Rail Authority, which is responsible for planning a  statewide high-speed rail system. Five of the parties had challenged the previous version of the report, resulting in the court throwing it out and ordering it rewritten. 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…

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Lots of activity on High-Speed Rail

Lots of activity on High-Speed Rail 05/09/10 Filed in: High-Speed Rail A tremendous amount is going on at the California High-Speed Rail Authority. With the ascension of Curt Pringle to the Chair,Quentin Kopp and Rod Diridon have been marginalized (finally!). The Authority hired its new CEO, the first person with actual competence in High-Speed Rail in the agency. 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…

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Kopp and Diridon Eat Crow

Kopp and Diridon Eat Crow 12/05/09 Filed in: High-Speed Rail On December 3rd, the California High-Speed Rail Authority unanimously voted to rescind their certification of the Final EIR for the Bay Area to Central Valley HSR Project, along with the selection of the Pacheco Pass alignment. The CAHSRA was ordered to take these actions by the Sacramento Superior Court, which had found the EIR to be legally inadequate. This is the same case Quentin Kopp had disparaged in the press as “frivolous.” Our allies, the CA Rail Foundation, issued this press release. The San Jose Business Journal published the key…

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