To "Joe Public" and the rest of the gutless opposition who can't reveal their real names for fear of being exposed for WHO they really are......I have no problem with NCRA complying with CEQA or with the EIR. Lets get something straight....The NWP operator under STB has the right to develop as much business as he wishes, which makes perfect sense since there is no reason to run the railroad unless there is enough business to support it. Some of you folks defy logic by saying there is not enough business for the railroad to make a profit so it should NOT run. Others say, like Novato and Misty "eyes" there is too MUCH business and we have to stop it. The problem is that CEQA nor the EIR process have anything that LEGALLY says X number of trains is too many or not enough. Not even the STB has jurisdiction nor would they rule on that. The potential rock business from Island Mtn. or garbage from Sonoma County or even "unknown" containers from Port of Eureka and number of trainsthrough NOVATO are NOT a determent to the environment, if it was, then any community, city or hamlet in America could file suit to stop Interstate Commerce on the grounds it harms the environment. AND that has not happened yet. Same for Highways with truck traffic which have a much bigger carbon foot print then railroads. Which brings me to the argument that NCRA has to file a EIR for the entire railroad from Lombard to Eureka even though they are only going to run a handful of trains on the first segment to Windsor. When CALTRANS, a State Agency using taxpayer monies (same for NCRA with repairs to the railroad) doesn't have to file an EIR from Novato to Eureka when CALTRANS upgrades or repair a segment between those two points. Thats why I believe that once the STB has this issue, Novato loses. Finally, SMART will lose the November Election because they made such a stink about the proposed Freight Traffic instead of working with the NCRA/NWP. Remember, the NWP has never been abandoned and has run freight through Marin and Sonoma County since 1878. Finally, UP runs freight trains on the Peninsula on tracks owned and payed for by State and Federal funds. UP like NCRA hs a freight easement. Freights run day and night. NOT a single community has filed suit to stop the trains. Go figure! Maybe Novato should file a CLASS ACTION SUIT on behalf of all those who suffer Real Estate losses, noise, and traffic congestion across the US because of freight trains. Anyway,
I await the usual replies from the usual suspects who continue to justify the Novato Court Action in this forum. Yes, you found a loophole and sympathetic judge to get a TRO against the railroad but it only delays the inevitable.