Coast Rail Coordinating Council
The Policy Committee met on April 7 and discussed:
- Legislative issues, including SB 477 (Cannella), see below, and SB 1 (Beall), which increases transportation funding generally and allocates funding to rail services directly while also increasing funding in the competitive Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP).
- The California State Rail Plan (see other item on this meeting agenda)
- The schedule of meetings, including a joint meeting with other intercity rail providers on April 18 and a trip to visit the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) line, possibly on August 11. The next Policy Committee meeting will be on June 23.
Senate Bill 477 (Cannella)
Senator Cannella agreed to again carry a bill permitting intercity rail corridors to extend beyond their legislatively designated boundaries. The first hearing on the bill is on April 25. Staff will report back on the status of the bill at the meeting. The bill is a web attachment.
Federal Environmental Review
The federal environmental review of the 68-mile Salinas-San Jose segment of the coast mainline rail corridor supports the increase in passenger rail on the coast line, including the next phases of work on the extension of passenger rail service from San Jose to Salinas (future stations at Pajaro/Watsonville and Castroville). TAMC has requested partner agency feedback on the third administrative draft Environmental Assessment (EA). Assuming the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is able to review the document and release it for public review by August, TAMC expects a 30-day public review in August and September, including public meetings on the document. The goal is to then incorporate any public comment into the document and deliver a final EA and Finding of No Significant Impact to the FRA for consideration by the end of 2018. Allowing for a few months of review of the final draft documents by all agencies, the timeline shows adoption of the final document in Spring 2018.