STB issues draft EIS on proposed rail line in Eagle Pass

The Surface Transportation Board's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) has issued a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for Green Eagle Railroad’s proposed construction and operation of a 1.3-mile rail line in Eagle Pass and Maverick County, Texas.

The proposed line is part of the larger Puerto Verde Global Trade Bridge project that includes a new commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crossing between Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, and Eagle Pass, Texas, STB officials said in a press release.

The DEIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts of both the proposed rail line, which requires licensing authority from the STB, and the CMV crossing because they would be built as a single port of entry for freight rail and CMV traffic between Mexico and the United States.

Comments on all aspects of the DEIS are due May 5. OEA will hold three public meetings — two in-person and one virtual — during the comment period to hear oral comments.