Notice2024-06688
Green Eagle Railroad-Construction and Operation Exemption-Line of Railroad in Maverick County, Texas
Primary source
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Published
March 29, 2024
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Abstract
On December 14, 2023, Green Eagle Railroad, LLC (GER), a subsidiary of Puerto Verde Holdings (PVH), filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board (Board) for authority to construct and operate approximately 1.3 miles of new common carrier rail line (the Line) in Maverick County, Texas. The Line would extend from the United States/Mexico border to the existing Union Pacific Railroad (UP) connection at approximate UP milepost 31. The Line would be part of a larger project proposed by PVH, the Puerto Verde Global Trade Bridge (PVGTB Project), consisting of a new trade corridor for freight rail and commercial motor vehicles between Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, and Eagle Pass, Texas, United States. The Board's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) determined that the construction and operation of the Line has the potential to result in significant environmental impacts; therefore, the preparation of an EIS is appropriate pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In addition to the Line, the PVGTB Project in the United States includes an approximately 1.3-mile roadway and other infrastructure as described below. Only the Line requires licensing authority from the Board. The Line and the roadway would cross the Rio Grande River via two new bridges. Separately from the Board's final decision on GER's petition, the proposed bridges would require permits from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). USCG will participate as a Cooperating Agency in the EIS process.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22204-22206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06688]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. Docket No. FD 36652]
Green Eagle Railroad--Construction and Operation Exemption--Line
of Railroad in Maverick County, Texas
AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.
ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS); notice of initiation of the scoping process; request
for comments on scope of EIS, and notice of public scoping meetings.
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SUMMARY: On December 14, 2023, Green Eagle Railroad, LLC (GER), a
subsidiary of Puerto Verde Holdings (PVH), filed a petition with the
Surface Transportation Board (Board) for authority to construct and
operate approximately 1.3 miles of new common carrier rail line (the
Line) in Maverick County, Texas. The Line would extend from the United
States/Mexico border to the existing Union Pacific Railroad (UP)
connection at approximate UP milepost 31. The Line would be part of a
larger project proposed by PVH, the Puerto Verde Global Trade Bridge
(PVGTB Project), consisting of a new trade corridor for freight rail
and commercial motor vehicles between Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico,
and Eagle Pass, Texas, United States. The Board's Office of
Environmental Analysis (OEA) determined that the construction and
operation of the Line has the potential to result in significant
environmental
[[Page 22205]]
impacts; therefore, the preparation of an EIS is appropriate pursuant
to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In addition to the
Line, the PVGTB Project in the United States includes an approximately
1.3-mile roadway and other infrastructure as described below. Only the
Line requires licensing authority from the Board. The Line and the
roadway would cross the Rio Grande River via two new bridges.
Separately from the Board's final decision on GER's petition, the
proposed bridges would require permits from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)
and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). USCG will participate as
a Cooperating Agency in the EIS process.
DATES: Comments on the scope of the EIS are due by April 29, 2024. In
addition to receiving written comments on the scope of the EIS, OEA
will host three public scoping meetings: two in-person public meetings
on April 16, 2024, and a virtual public meeting on April 23, 2024. See
below for additional details.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties are encouraged to file scoping comments
electronically through the Board's website at <a href="http://www.stb.gov">www.stb.gov</a> by clicking
on the ``File an Environmental Comment'' link. Scoping comments
submitted by mail should be addressed to: Andrea Poole, Surface
Transportation Board, c/o VHB, Attention: Environmental Filing, Docket
No. FD 36652, 1001 G Street NW, Suite 1125, Washington, DC 20001.
Please refer to Docket No. FD 36652 in all correspondence, including E-
filings, addressed to the Board.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrea Poole, Office of Environmental
Analysis, Surface Transportation Board, c/o VHB, 1001 G Street NW,
Suite 1125, Washington, DC 20001; send an email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#84e7ebeaf0e5e7f0c4e3f6e1e1eae1e5e3e8e1f6f6e1edf7aae7ebe9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="adcec2c3d9ccced9edcadfc8c8c3c8cccac1c8dfdfc8c4de83cec2c0">[email protected]</span></a>; or call either (202) 493-0624 or (888)
319-2337. If you require an accommodation under the Americans with
Disabilities Act in order to submit a comment, please call (202) 245-
0245. For information about the environmental review process for the
Line and the EIS, you may visit the Board-sponsored Project website at
<a href="http://www.greeneaglerreis.com">www.greeneaglerreis.com</a> or the Board's website at <a href="http://www.stb.gov">www.stb.gov</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action
Board authority is required for the construction and operation of a
new common carrier railroad line such as this (49 U.S.C. 10901; 49
U.S.C. 10502). The proposed federal action here is the Board's decision
to authorize with appropriate conditions or to deny GER's request for
authority to construct and operate the Line. The Line is not a federal
government-proposed or sponsored project. Thus, the project's purpose
and need should be informed by both the private applicant's goals and
the Board's enabling statute--the Interstate Commerce Act as amended by
the ICC Termination Act, Public Law 104-188, 109 Stat. 803 (1996).
GER's purpose for constructing and operating the Line is to develop
an economically viable solution to meet the need for border
infrastructure improvements at Eagle Pass that increases safety and
facilitates binational trade between the United States and Mexico.
According to GER, the Line would resolve rail and truck congestion,
reduce cross border wait times and route rail traffic around the urban
center of Eagle Pass.
Proposed Action
The Line would be a secure, double-tracked rail corridor with no
roadway/rail at-grade crossings extending from the interchange point
with UP at approximate UP milepost 31 on the Eagle Pass Subdivision
near UP's Clark's Park yard for approximately 1.3 miles southwest to
the United States/Mexico border. The Line would cross the Rio Grande
River on a newly constructed bridge. The Line would be fully fenced,
monitored, and patrolled by security personnel. In addition to the
Line, which requires Board authority, the PVGTB Project would include a
new commercial motor vehicle roadway that would cross the Rio Grande on
a new bridge; a control tower; and inspection facilities for both the
Line and the roadway. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would
operate the inspection facilities. PVH would either lease the
facilities to CBP; transfer ownership of the facilities to the General
Services Administration (GSA); or operate the inspection facilities as
a privately owned Central Examination Station as outlined in 19 CFR
part 118. A variety of commodities would move to and from Mexico over
the Line and roadway. Trains operating on the Line would consist of
approximately 150 cars with two locomotives on the front end and one on
the rear end, for an approximate train length of 9,300 feet. Parts of
the PVGTB Project other than the Line are outside the jurisdiction of
the Board but will be considered as appropriate when evaluating
environmental impacts of the Line in the EIS.
Alternatives
The preliminary alternatives being considered by OEA include
authorizing the Line (Proposed Action) and the No-Action alternative.
OEA reviewed alternative routes for the Line that GER had evaluated.
Compared to the Proposed Action, these routes appear to raise
substantial operational feasibility issues and would have greater
environmental impacts than the Proposed Action, including a greater
number of residences and structures displaced, more stream crossings,
potential for several roadway/rail at-grade road crossings, and impacts
to a park. Therefore, OEA intends to analyze only the Proposed Action
and the No-Action alternative in the EIS. OEA welcomes oral and written
comments on alternatives during scoping.
EIS and Board Process
The first stage of the EIS process is scoping. Scoping is an open
process for determining the range of issues that should be examined and
assessed in the EIS. Following scoping, OEA will prepare a Draft EIS
that analyzes the construction and operation of the Line, including
those issues raised during the scoping period, as appropriate. The
Draft EIS will identify and analyze reasonable alternatives and set
forth OEA's preliminary recommendations for environmental mitigation
measures. The Draft EIS will be made available for public and agency
review and comment for 45 days. OEA will then prepare and issue a Final
EIS that addresses the substantive comments on the Draft EIS and sets
forth OEA's final recommended environmental mitigation. The Board will
consider the Draft EIS, the Final EIS, public comments, and any final
environmental mitigation proposed by OEA, as well as the transportation
merits, in reaching its decision on GER's request for authority to
construct and operate the Line.
The scope of the issues that will be analyzed in the Draft EIS may
include potential impacts related to:
<bullet> Transportation
<bullet> Air quality and climate change
<bullet> Noise and vibration
<bullet> Biological resources
<bullet> Water resources
<bullet> Visual resources
<bullet> Cultural resources
<bullet> Land use
<bullet> Geology and soils
<bullet> Energy resources
<bullet> Socioeconomics
<bullet> Environmental justice
<bullet> Cumulative impacts
<bullet> Transboundary impacts, as appropriate
[[Page 22206]]
Anticipated Permits and Other Authorizations
Based on information provided by GER and PVH and through OEA's
ongoing discussions with federal and state agencies, OEA anticipates
the following permits and authorizations would be required to construct
and operate the Line and the PVGTB Project:
<bullet> Clean Water Action section 401 certification and section
402 and 404 permits
<bullet> Rivers and Harbors Act section 9 and 10 permits
<bullet> Endangered Species Act section 7 compliance
<bullet> National Historic Preservation Act section 106 compliance
<bullet> International Boundary and Water Commission authorization
for work in the bed and bank of the international stretch of the Rio
Grande
<bullet> Presidential Permit
<bullet> Texas General Land Office (GLO) easement authorization for
the bed of the Rio Grande to the international boundary line
<bullet> Maverick County development permits, including a
floodplain development permit
Schedule for the Decision-Making Process
Following issuance of the NOI, OEA will coordinate with USCG to
develop the Draft EIS. Formal consultation under the Endangered Species
Act (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544), if required, and compliance with Section 106
of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108), may
affect some of the anticipated timeframes. A preliminary schedule for
this proceeding is set forth below:
<bullet> Scoping: Second Quarter 2024
<bullet> Draft EIS and Public and Agency Comment Period: Second
Quarter 2025
<bullet> Final EIS: Fourth Quarter 2025
<bullet> Board's final decision and all required permits from other
agencies: Prior to construction
Request for Comments
In addition to announcing that the Board will prepare an EIS for
this proposed action, through this NOI, OEA is soliciting written
comments on the scope of the EIS, identification of potential
alternatives, and information and analyses relevant to the EIS. As part
of the scoping process, OEA will hold public meetings to gather input
from the public (see dates and locations below). After the close of the
scoping comment period on April 29, 2024, OEA will review and address
all comments as part of the environmental review process.
Scoping Meeting Dates: OEA will hold three public scoping meetings
on the following dates (times in Central Standard Time).
<bullet> Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in person
at the Eagle Pass International Center for Trade, 3295 Bob Rogers
Drive, Eagle Pass, TX 78852
<bullet> Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 6 to 8 p.m. in person at the same
location
<bullet> Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 6 to 8 p.m. online (for
information on how to access the online meeting, visit
<a href="http://www.greeneaglerreis.com">www.greeneaglerreis.com</a>).
The public meetings will consist of an open house session followed
by a public comment session. At the public comment session, OEA will
give a brief presentation and then members of the public will have the
opportunity to speak. Each participant will be given three minutes in
which to provide comments. Oral comments will be recorded. Persons
wishing to make an oral comment are encouraged, but not required, to
pre-register. To pre-register or for more information on how to attend
the public scoping meetings, please visit the public involvement page
on the Board-sponsored Project website (<a href="http://www.greeneaglerreis.com">www.greeneaglerreis.com</a>). OEA
will consider all comments equally regardless of how the comments are
received. It is not necessary to attend a public scoping meeting to
provide scoping comments. OEA will be accepting comments through the
scoping comment period, which ends on April 29, 2024.
Submitting Comments: Interested parties are encouraged to file
their scoping comments electronically through the Board's website at
<a href="http://www.stb.gov">www.stb.gov</a> by clicking on the ``File an Environmental Comment'' link.
Please refer to Docket No. FD 36652 in all correspondence, including E-
filings, addressed to the Board. Scoping comments may also be submitted
by mail to: Andrea Poole, Surface Transportation Board, c/o VHB,
Attention: Environmental Filing, Docket No. FD 36652, 1001 G Street NW,
Suite 1125, Washington, DC 20001. All comments received will become
part of the public record and will be available on the Board's website.
By the Board, Danielle Gosselin, Director, Office of
Environmental Analysis.
Eden Besera,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2024-06688 Filed 3-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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