Catch is ... they're a California government agency so CEQA applies to their decisions unless they can pull an exemption out of their hat. If they didn't dot all the i's and cross all the t's Novato has an easy case. If it were a private railroad that didn't need to buy permits from somebody then, yes, Federal preemption might apply. I agree though - it's Marin NIMBYs doing what comes naturally. These days in Califonia you have to budget about as much for lawyers etc for the preliminary paperwork as you do for actual construction - or in this case to hire somebody to run a money-losing shortline (for a little while). These guys desperately need commuter service to make it, since once that's running it can take care of the maintenance and you're SUPPOSED to lose money on passengers.