EIS issued for proposed Corman line in Pennsylvania

Written by jrood

The Surface Transportation Board's Office of Environmental Analysis has issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the R.J. Corman Railroad Company/Pennsylvania Lines Inc. proposed construction, operation and reactivation of a 20-mile railroad line between Wallaceton and Gorton, in Clearfield and Centre Counties, Pa.

The FEIS reflects OEA’s evaluation of six alternatives during the environmental review of RJCP’s proposal: the Proposed Action, an alternative to the Proposed Action, three “no-build” alternatives and a “no-action”alternative. Based on consultation with federal, state and local agencies, public input and its own independent environmental analysis, OEA found that the Modified Proposed Action would be the environmentally preferable alternative and recommends that, should the board authorize the project, it should authorize the Modified Proposed Action, subject to OEA’s final recommended environmental mitigation.

The FEIS was prepared to address public and agency comments received in response to two prior documents, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement issued on July 23, 2010 and the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement issued on March 4, 2011.

Issuance of the FEIS completes the environmental review process. The board now will decide whether or not to grant final approval to the proposal. In reaching a final decision, the board will take into consideration the DEIS, SDEIS, FEIS and OEA’s final recommendations on environmental mitigation.

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