CHSRA was dealt another severe blow today by the USDOT. The DOT effectively told California that the segment just south of Fresno is required comply with a full EIR?EIS process and cannot be considered an "exempt" project.

The segment from Fresno to Bakersfield is not certified in a complete EIS/EIR, as yet, and was originally supposed to cover this smaller segment of about 5 miles out of Fresno.

CA asked for this additional 5 mile HSR segment to be declared environmentally "exempt" under NEPA by the Feds (seemingly openly undermining the State's long held position on complete and co-equal "local processes" in all other areas of environmental review??/),and the Feds refused to exempt it.

The problem is further compounded by already having negotiated a contract for the 5 mile segment in the Merced to Fresno (train to nowhere) segment contract, just let with Tudor. Now, they need to renegotiate with Tudor for the already "inked" contract. Additional time-cost-delay is thus added to a ticking clock with regard to the Federal ARRA funds that may potentially lapse, when the clock runs out.

The court last week issued an opinion to the CA Treasurer that he was unable to issue the bonds legally, based on the other finding with regard to the legally "incomplete" situation of the current CHSRA processes and planning. Thus, no CHSRA voter approved bond monies can be currently spent to match the Federal funds(a requirement of the Fed funds?). So things are going to be very interesting in the new year at CHSRA.?

Will the legislature bail them out with another match source? Will the Feds cave to political pressure? Will the other legal cases still pending prevail and bring new heart ache and woe? Could the funds be extended or could these funds even be reprogrammed? It's going to be a fun year coming up.

Don't get me wrong, I do support a significant component of HSR improvements in CA, but this CHSRA mess has been, and still is, the most ill conceived, poorly planned, wastefully designed, and financially unsustainable public works project, since the French tried to build the Panama Canal?

And, as a result, I wish all of the transportation planning community a happy and, in cases like this, quite a potentially prosperous New Year sorting some of this mess out.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all more Thomas propaganda for the grand kids......

BOB2