DEIR affirms benefits of proposed BNSF rail facility in Southern California

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Port of Los Angeles

The updated Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) released by the Port of Los Angeles affirms that BNSF's proposed Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) facility will result in an overall improvement in air quality, health risk and traffic in both the immediate neighborhoods around the site and throughout the region.

Additionally, the project would create thousands of jobs and generate millions in state and local tax revenue. BNSF has also recently agreed to contribute up to $3 million to the joint Port of Los Angeles-Port of Long Beach Technology Advancement Program to further the development of zero-emission goods-movement technologies.

The updated report, which was reissued to reflect updated analysis, confirms that proceeding with the project results in significant air quality and health risk improvements for residents, students, teachers and workers in the area, as compared to continuing the existing uses at the site. In fact, SCIG far surpasses the Port of Los Angeles’ health risk goal for new projects and will help provide the cleaner growth the region needs.

SCIG will eliminate more than 1.5 million truck trips from I-710 each year, providing local and regional air quality improvements and congestion relief.

“This report validates that building SCIG is the right choice for green growth in Los Angeles,” said Matthew Rose, chairman and chief executive officer of BNSF. “I’m proud of the hard work we’ve done over the past seven years to design the greenest intermodal rail facility in the country.”

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