Green Eagle Railroad-Construction and Operation Exemption-Line of Railroad in Maverick County, Texas, 22204-22206 [2024-06688]

Agencies

• Surface Transportation Board

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 62 (Friday, March 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22204-22206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06688]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. Docket No. FD 36652]


Green Eagle Railroad--Construction and Operation Exemption--Line 
of Railroad in Maverick County, Texas

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS); notice of initiation of the scoping process; request 
for comments on scope of EIS, and notice of public scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: On December 14, 2023, Green Eagle Railroad, LLC (GER), a 
subsidiary of Puerto Verde Holdings (PVH), filed a petition with the 
Surface Transportation Board (Board) for authority to construct and 
operate approximately 1.3 miles of new common carrier rail line (the 
Line) in Maverick County, Texas. The Line would extend from the United 
States/Mexico border to the existing Union Pacific Railroad (UP) 
connection at approximate UP milepost 31. The Line would be part of a 
larger project proposed by PVH, the Puerto Verde Global Trade Bridge 
(PVGTB Project), consisting of a new trade corridor for freight rail 
and commercial motor vehicles between Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, 
and Eagle Pass, Texas, United States. The Board's Office of 
Environmental Analysis (OEA) determined that the construction and 
operation of the Line has the potential to result in significant 
environmental

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impacts; therefore, the preparation of an EIS is appropriate pursuant 
to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In addition to the 
Line, the PVGTB Project in the United States includes an approximately 
1.3-mile roadway and other infrastructure as described below. Only the 
Line requires licensing authority from the Board. The Line and the 
roadway would cross the Rio Grande River via two new bridges. 
Separately from the Board's final decision on GER's petition, the 
proposed bridges would require permits from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) 
and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). USCG will participate as 
a Cooperating Agency in the EIS process.

DATES: Comments on the scope of the EIS are due by April 29, 2024. In 
addition to receiving written comments on the scope of the EIS, OEA 
will host three public scoping meetings: two in-person public meetings 
on April 16, 2024, and a virtual public meeting on April 23, 2024. See 
below for additional details.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are encouraged to file scoping comments 
electronically through the Board's website at www.stb.gov by clicking 
on the ``File an Environmental Comment'' link. Scoping comments 
submitted by mail should be addressed to: Andrea Poole, Surface 
Transportation Board, c/o VHB, Attention: Environmental Filing, Docket 
No. FD 36652, 1001 G Street NW, Suite 1125, Washington, DC 20001. 
Please refer to Docket No. FD 36652 in all correspondence, including E-
filings, addressed to the Board.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrea Poole, Office of Environmental 
Analysis, Surface Transportation Board, c/o VHB, 1001 G Street NW, 
Suite 1125, Washington, DC 20001; send an email to 
[email protected]; or call either (202) 493-0624 or (888) 
319-2337. If you require an accommodation under the Americans with 
Disabilities Act in order to submit a comment, please call (202) 245-
0245. For information about the environmental review process for the 
Line and the EIS, you may visit the Board-sponsored Project website at 
www.greeneaglerreis.com or the Board's website at www.stb.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

    Board authority is required for the construction and operation of a 
new common carrier railroad line such as this (49 U.S.C. 10901; 49 
U.S.C. 10502). The proposed federal action here is the Board's decision 
to authorize with appropriate conditions or to deny GER's request for 
authority to construct and operate the Line. The Line is not a federal 
government-proposed or sponsored project. Thus, the project's purpose 
and need should be informed by both the private applicant's goals and 
the Board's enabling statute--the Interstate Commerce Act as amended by 
the ICC Termination Act, Public Law 104-188, 109 Stat. 803 (1996).
    GER's purpose for constructing and operating the Line is to develop 
an economically viable solution to meet the need for border 
infrastructure improvements at Eagle Pass that increases safety and 
facilitates binational trade between the United States and Mexico. 
According to GER, the Line would resolve rail and truck congestion, 
reduce cross border wait times and route rail traffic around the urban 
center of Eagle Pass.

Proposed Action

    The Line would be a secure, double-tracked rail corridor with no 
roadway/rail at-grade crossings extending from the interchange point 
with UP at approximate UP milepost 31 on the Eagle Pass Subdivision 
near UP's Clark's Park yard for approximately 1.3 miles southwest to 
the United States/Mexico border. The Line would cross the Rio Grande 
River on a newly constructed bridge. The Line would be fully fenced, 
monitored, and patrolled by security personnel. In addition to the 
Line, which requires Board authority, the PVGTB Project would include a 
new commercial motor vehicle roadway that would cross the Rio Grande on 
a new bridge; a control tower; and inspection facilities for both the 
Line and the roadway. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would 
operate the inspection facilities. PVH would either lease the 
facilities to CBP; transfer ownership of the facilities to the General 
Services Administration (GSA); or operate the inspection facilities as 
a privately owned Central Examination Station as outlined in 19 CFR 
part 118. A variety of commodities would move to and from Mexico over 
the Line and roadway. Trains operating on the Line would consist of 
approximately 150 cars with two locomotives on the front end and one on 
the rear end, for an approximate train length of 9,300 feet. Parts of 
the PVGTB Project other than the Line are outside the jurisdiction of 
the Board but will be considered as appropriate when evaluating 
environmental impacts of the Line in the EIS.

Alternatives

    The preliminary alternatives being considered by OEA include 
authorizing the Line (Proposed Action) and the No-Action alternative. 
OEA reviewed alternative routes for the Line that GER had evaluated. 
Compared to the Proposed Action, these routes appear to raise 
substantial operational feasibility issues and would have greater 
environmental impacts than the Proposed Action, including a greater 
number of residences and structures displaced, more stream crossings, 
potential for several roadway/rail at-grade road crossings, and impacts 
to a park. Therefore, OEA intends to analyze only the Proposed Action 
and the No-Action alternative in the EIS. OEA welcomes oral and written 
comments on alternatives during scoping.

EIS and Board Process

    The first stage of the EIS process is scoping. Scoping is an open 
process for determining the range of issues that should be examined and 
assessed in the EIS. Following scoping, OEA will prepare a Draft EIS 
that analyzes the construction and operation of the Line, including 
those issues raised during the scoping period, as appropriate. The 
Draft EIS will identify and analyze reasonable alternatives and set 
forth OEA's preliminary recommendations for environmental mitigation 
measures. The Draft EIS will be made available for public and agency 
review and comment for 45 days. OEA will then prepare and issue a Final 
EIS that addresses the substantive comments on the Draft EIS and sets 
forth OEA's final recommended environmental mitigation. The Board will 
consider the Draft EIS, the Final EIS, public comments, and any final 
environmental mitigation proposed by OEA, as well as the transportation 
merits, in reaching its decision on GER's request for authority to 
construct and operate the Line.
    The scope of the issues that will be analyzed in the Draft EIS may 
include potential impacts related to:
     Transportation
     Air quality and climate change
     Noise and vibration
     Biological resources
     Water resources
     Visual resources
     Cultural resources
     Land use
     Geology and soils
     Energy resources
     Socioeconomics
     Environmental justice
     Cumulative impacts
     Transboundary impacts, as appropriate

[[Page 22206]]

Anticipated Permits and Other Authorizations

    Based on information provided by GER and PVH and through OEA's 
ongoing discussions with federal and state agencies, OEA anticipates 
the following permits and authorizations would be required to construct 
and operate the Line and the PVGTB Project:
     Clean Water Action section 401 certification and section 
402 and 404 permits
     Rivers and Harbors Act section 9 and 10 permits
     Endangered Species Act section 7 compliance
     National Historic Preservation Act section 106 compliance
     International Boundary and Water Commission authorization 
for work in the bed and bank of the international stretch of the Rio 
Grande
     Presidential Permit
     Texas General Land Office (GLO) easement authorization for 
the bed of the Rio Grande to the international boundary line
     Maverick County development permits, including a 
floodplain development permit

Schedule for the Decision-Making Process

    Following issuance of the NOI, OEA will coordinate with USCG to 
develop the Draft EIS. Formal consultation under the Endangered Species 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544), if required, and compliance with Section 106 
of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108), may 
affect some of the anticipated timeframes. A preliminary schedule for 
this proceeding is set forth below:
     Scoping: Second Quarter 2024
     Draft EIS and Public and Agency Comment Period: Second 
Quarter 2025
     Final EIS: Fourth Quarter 2025
     Board's final decision and all required permits from other 
agencies: Prior to construction

Request for Comments

    In addition to announcing that the Board will prepare an EIS for 
this proposed action, through this NOI, OEA is soliciting written 
comments on the scope of the EIS, identification of potential 
alternatives, and information and analyses relevant to the EIS. As part 
of the scoping process, OEA will hold public meetings to gather input 
from the public (see dates and locations below). After the close of the 
scoping comment period on April 29, 2024, OEA will review and address 
all comments as part of the environmental review process.
    Scoping Meeting Dates: OEA will hold three public scoping meetings 
on the following dates (times in Central Standard Time).
     Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in person 
at the Eagle Pass International Center for Trade, 3295 Bob Rogers 
Drive, Eagle Pass, TX 78852
     Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 6 to 8 p.m. in person at the same 
location
     Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 6 to 8 p.m. online (for 
information on how to access the online meeting, visit 
www.greeneaglerreis.com).
    The public meetings will consist of an open house session followed 
by a public comment session. At the public comment session, OEA will 
give a brief presentation and then members of the public will have the 
opportunity to speak. Each participant will be given three minutes in 
which to provide comments. Oral comments will be recorded. Persons 
wishing to make an oral comment are encouraged, but not required, to 
pre-register. To pre-register or for more information on how to attend 
the public scoping meetings, please visit the public involvement page 
on the Board-sponsored Project website (www.greeneaglerreis.com). OEA 
will consider all comments equally regardless of how the comments are 
received. It is not necessary to attend a public scoping meeting to 
provide scoping comments. OEA will be accepting comments through the 
scoping comment period, which ends on April 29, 2024.
    Submitting Comments: Interested parties are encouraged to file 
their scoping comments electronically through the Board's website at 
www.stb.gov by clicking on the ``File an Environmental Comment'' link. 
Please refer to Docket No. FD 36652 in all correspondence, including E-
filings, addressed to the Board. Scoping comments may also be submitted 
by mail to: Andrea Poole, Surface Transportation Board, c/o VHB, 
Attention: Environmental Filing, Docket No. FD 36652, 1001 G Street NW, 
Suite 1125, Washington, DC 20001. All comments received will become 
part of the public record and will be available on the Board's website.

    By the Board, Danielle Gosselin, Director, Office of 
Environmental Analysis.
Eden Besera,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2024-06688 Filed 3-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P