Comment period begins for environmental report on Brightline West Cajon Pass project

FRA concludes 49-mile route would not have significant environmental impact

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WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has scheduled two online meetings as part of the public comment period for its environment assessment of the proposed Brightline West high speed rail line over Cajon Pass, released in late October.

The meetings, to be held via Zoom on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 10 a.m. to noon PST and Tuesday, Nov. 15, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. PST, are part of the month-long public comment period that began with the report's release on Oct. 28. It runs through Monday, Nov. 28.

Details on the Zoom meetings, as well as a copy of the report, are available at this page on the FRA website. Comments can also be made to the project page at the Regulations.gov website.

The 49-mile Cajon Pass project between Victor Valley and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., would mostly follow the right-of-way of Interstate 15. The report notes some mitigation measures will be necessary for temporary impacts on noise and wetlands, and temporary and permanent impacts on some threatened or endangered species; visual impacts on views in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains; and traffic impacts around stations in Hesperia and Rancho Cucamonga. Still, the report concludes that the project "will not result in a significant impact on the environment" or have "disproportionately high and adverse impacts" on low-income or minority populations.