Environmental Assessment & Finding of No Significant Impact

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) recently completed the New York-Vermont Bi-State Intercity Passenger Rail Study, which proposed various track, crossing, and bridge improvements and new station construction along portions of Vermont Railway, Pan Am Railway, and CSX active rail lines.

If implemented, the project would allow for a new intercity passenger rail service between Rutland, VT and Albany, NY via Mechanicville, NY, North Bennington, VT, and Manchester, VT.

The purpose of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) funded study was to identify an efficient intercity passenger rail-based transportation link that would benefit unserved and underserved communities in southwestern Vermont and eastern central New York.

The Tier 1 Study was completed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and FRA’s NEPA procedures.

A Tier I Service Level Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared pursuant to NEPA to evaluate the potential impacts on the human environment. If work advances to the design and implementation stages in the future, additional Tier II project-level analysis may be required by NEPA and other environmental requirements.

On December 29, 2014, based on the information presented in the Tier I Service Level EA, the FRA Administrator signed a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). As a result, all Federal environmental requirements have been satisfied for this project.