A major environmental lawsuit against the High Speed Rail Authority brought by Central Valley farmers and other parties was settled on April 18, clearing the way for initial construction to begin on the 30 mile corridor between Madera and Fresno.
KQED printed the press release also available as a PDF on the rail authority's webpage.
This settlement agreement brings to an end the final California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit challenging the Merced to Fresno project section Environmental Impact Report. The agreement provides for the preservation of important farmland and mitigation of effects of high-speed rail construction on agricultural operations.
Julliet Williams of The Associated Press also wrote of the settlement. Her piece was widely covered in the media including The Huffington Post. She included an additional development - a setback for the rail authority. The Surface Transportation Board, a division of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, ruled that it has jurisdiction over the $68 billion, 800-mile California project, meaning potential setbacks for the authority as it has additional regulations. The authority had applied for an exemption.
[Note: See Huffington Post Video: Update on President Obama's high speed rail stimulus Investments - that appears at the bottom of the article].
Sharon Bernstein of Reuters writes, "With the lawsuits settled, the state is now free to begin purchasing land for the first leg, said Lisa Marie Alley, a spokeswoman for the High Speed Rail Authority."
With the settlement, construction is set to begin this summer for the southern part of the initial, 60-mile Merced-to-Fresno segment.
This is the second development in this court case. The farming parties had asked last October for an injunction to halt all work in the corridor until the April hearing, but the judge denied the request.
The authority won a crucial victory in March in another contested corridor - the San Francisco Peninsula, when it rejected a 2008 lawsuit brought by Atherton, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto that had forced the Authority to redo their environmental impact report.
They are not out of the legal woods yet though. Robert Cruickshank writes in the California High Speed Rail Blog of a remaining suit brought by "Kings County, farmer John Tos and Hanford resident Aaron Fukuda (who) charge that the rail authority’s plans are illegal under Proposition 1A, the $9.9 billion high-speed rail bond measure approved by California voters in 2008. That suit, which hopes to block the sale of bonds, will be heard in Sacramento in late May."
Stay tuned. While the rail authority is batting really well, the game isn't over.
Read the full story: California Bullet Train Lawsuit Dropped
The California High-Speed Rail Authority's Board Took a 'Momentous' Step on Tuesday
The California High-Speed Rail Authority voted on December 13 to approve two plans that would spend $3.2 billion in high-speed rail bond funds for continuing construction in the Central Valley and help pay for Caltrain commuter rail electrification.
California High Speed Rail Breaks Ground Today in Fresno
The long-beleaguered California High Speed Rail project will have a historic moment today, January 6. The media's coverage of the event indicates the yet-to-be-determined future of the project.
California High Speed Rail Authority Denied Request to Overturn Lawsuit
Seems like it's nothing but bad news for the rail authority since a judge ruled in November that the project was not in compliance with the proposition that the voters approved in 2008. This appeals court ruling means that a trial will move forward.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Nation's most wind-powered state turns to coal as data centers increase energy demand
For the first time in decades, Iowa has increased its generation of coal power.
Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.
How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello