Tier 1 Draft Environmental Impact Statement Prepared by October 2018 This page intentionally left blank. This page intentionally left blank. Executive Summary The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) prepared this Tier 1 environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate improved Amtrak Cascades intercity passenger rail service alternatives for the Oregon Passenger Rail Project (OPR Project). The OPR Project examines an approximately 125-mile segment of the Federally designated Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor (PNWRC) from the Eugene-Springfield urban area to Portland. In addition to this EIS, ODOT is preparing a Service Development Plan (SDP) for the corridor to guide further development and capital investment in passenger rail improvements. The PNWRC has been the subject of intercity passenger rail planning, development and operation for more than 30 years. The PNWRC is one of 11 Federally designated high-speed rail corridors in the United States. FRA designated this passenger rail corridor on October 20, 1992, as one of five original corridors called for in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. The 466-mile PNWRC serves the most densely populated regions of British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. It links Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle, Washington, and Portland and Eugene, Oregon, with growing intermediate communities (including the capital cities of Salem, Oregon, and Olympia, Washington). Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway owns the existing PNWRC railroad infrastructure in Washington, in British Columbia, and in Oregon north of Portland’s Union Station. Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) owns the existing PNWRC railroad infrastructure in Oregon south of Portland’s Union Station. A mix of freight and passenger trains (operated by BNSF Railway, UPRR, Oregon Pacific, Portland Terminal Railroad, Willamette Valley Rail, Portland & Western Railroad, and Amtrak) currently utilize BNSF Railway and UPRR trackage that serves as the PNWRC. Intercity passenger rail service consists of three round trips per day between Eugene and Portland (two Amtrak Cascades trains plus one Amtrak Coast Starlight—a “2+1” passenger train schedule), and six round trips per day between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington (four Amtrak Cascades trains plus the Amtrak Coast Starlight and the Amtrak Empire Builder—a “4+2” schedule). The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has commitments to increase to a “6+2” intercity train schedule between Portland and Seattle, Washington (six Amtrak Cascades trains plus the Amtrak Coast Starlight and the Amtrak Empire Builder [Empire Builder runs only between Portland and Vancouver, Washington]). This EIS evaluates a reasonable range of alternatives and identifies a preferred alternative within the OPR Project EIS study area, which is the aforementioned area between Eugene-Springfield, Oregon, and the Washington state line at the Columbia River. A No Action Alternative, two build alternatives, and one build alternative option are evaluated. The build alternatives include infrastructure improvements in existing rail corridors and sections of new rail corridor. This EIS evaluates the potential environmental impacts for each of the alternatives, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Following the release of the DEIS, ODOT will gather feedback from stakeholders and interested parties and the public will have an opportunity to review and provide comments. The Final EIS will respond to substantive comments received on this Draft EIS and identify and describe the final preferred alternative which may or may not be the preferred alternative identified in this DEIS. FRA’s identification of a preferred alternative in an EIS is required by the CEQ regulations implementing NEPA but does not represent an approval or selection of the Project by FRA for any possible future funding opportunities that ODOT may pursue. Project Overview Because of the complexity of intermediate and long-range planning associated with passenger rail service development, extensive pre-construction preparation is required as part of the ODOT cooperative agreement with FRA for the OPR Project. The first phase of the process is the development of a Corridor Oregon Passenger Rail Project Tier 1 Draft Environmental Impact Statement ES-1 OCTOBER 2018 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Investment Plan (CIP). The process of completing a CIP consists of conducting an environmental review in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as documented in this EIS, and developing a SDP, which is a detailed definition of the service improvements, transportation network, and the operational and financial aspects for the alternative for passenger rail service that is selected through the NEPA process. The intent of the OPR Project CIP is to provide sufficient information to support future decision-making regarding investments in the Oregon segment of the PNWRC. For this project, ODOT and FRA are using a tiered environmental process, which is a phased environmental review used in the development of complex projects. FRA typically uses a “tiered” NEPA approach (as provided in 40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 1508.28) for complex projects of the size and scope of the OPR Project. The tiered NEPA decision-making process allows a broad-level programmatic decision with a first-tier EIS, followed by more specific decisions through one or more second-tier NEPA evaluations. For FRA, this tiered NEPA approach allows for incremental decision-making for large corridor projects that are unsuited for analysis in a traditional project-level EIS. FRA and ODOT formally initiated a Tier 1 EIS for the OPR Project on August 17, 2012, through publication of a Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register. This Tier 1 Draft EIS has been prepared in accordance with NEPA, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA implementing regulations, and FRA’s Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts (64 Fed. Reg. 28545 as updated in 78 Fed. Reg. 2713, January 14, 2013). The OPR Project Tier 1 EIS and the SDP address corridor-level improvements to Amtrak Cascades passenger rail service in the OPR Project study area, including the following: • Rail corridor – Reasonable and feasible rail alignment improvement alternatives from Eugene- Springfield, Oregon, to Vancouver, Washington • Service characteristics – Passenger rail operational elements, train speeds, travel time, train frequency and train technology • Potential stations – The general location of potential passenger rail stations If FRA selects a build alternative at the conclusion of this Tier 1 NEPA analysis, it is expected that ODOT would implement the OPR Project in phases. One or more of the components or operable segments of the selected alternative for the OPR Project could be developed as individual projects to advance into final design and construction. If ODOT advances the OPR Project into final design and construction, additional NEPA analysis may be required depending upon the source of funding. Purpose and Need In the next 20 years, the population of Oregon's Willamette Valley is projected to grow by approximately 27 percent to 3.6 million residents (Oregon DAS, 2015). As population and the economy grow, so does the demand for travel. With more people and more jobs each year, Oregon’s transportation infrastructure is facing significant pressures. In several areas of the state today, transportation infrastructure has inadequate capacity, and the system lacks the multimodal transportation options that Oregonians need. Also during the next 20 years, freight volume in the state is expected to grow by approximately 60 percent (ODOT, 2011). These increases in population and freight volume would result in transportation demand that exceeds the available freight and passenger rail capacity in the Willamette Valley, because both utilize the same facilities within the PNWRC. Purpose of Proposed Action The purpose of the OPR Project is to improve the frequency, convenience, speed and reliability of passenger rail service along the Oregon segment of the Federally designated PNWRC in a manner that will: • Provide riders with an efficient, safe, equitable and affordable alternative to highway, bus and air travel; ES-2 Oregon Passenger Rail Project Tier 1 Draft Environmental Impact Statement OCTOBER 2018 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • Be a cost-effective investment; • Protect freight-rail carrying capability; • Support the ongoing implementation of regional high-speed intercity passenger rail in the PNWRC between the Eugene-Springfield, Oregon metropolitan area and Vancouver, British Columbia; • Be compatible with the Washington state portion of the PNWRC; • Promote economic development; • Avoid or minimize community and environmental impacts; and • Integrate with existing and planned multimodal transportation networks. Need for Proposed Action The need for the OPR Project arises from multiple transportation, land use, socio-economic and environmental considerations, including the following: • Increasing intercity and regional travel demands; • Existing limited rail-system capacity and competing service needs; • Constrained state and local roadway funding; • Increasing economic vitality of the corridor; • Declining transportation system safety and security; and • Changing transportation demand resulting from demographic changes. Study Area ODOT and FRA established