Citizens Against the SCMagLev (CATS) and the Maryland Coalition for Responsible Transit
(MCRT) assembled a team of experts from various fields and disciplines to review the SCMagLev
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). We have found the DEIS significantly deficient in
many critical areas, including in addressing Environmental Impact Issues.
To read the entire MCRT-CATS submission, go to: www.mcrt-action.org, click on the SCMaglev
Opposition tab, and select MCRT SCMagLev DEIS Comments.
Findings
The first of its kind “taking” of protected and preserved public land by a private company to
build and operate a for-profit business opens the door for business and industrial
development on all public protected lands.
The DEIS understates and omits environmental impacts in key areas of drinking water,
water quality, ground water, wetlands, watersheds, climate change, air quality, parkland,
historic sites, light pollution, noise pollution, and endangered and threatened species,
among others.
The DEIS fails to adequately address the greenhouse gas impacts from the tremendous
energy use required for the Project.
The DEIS fails to adequately analyze the Project’s impacts on meeting the Chesapeake Bay
clean-up goals.
The DEIS fails to include the Project sponsor’s Joint Permit Application, making it difficult to
provide meaningful comments for permits needed to authorize those impacts.
The DEIS does not adequately analyze the Project’s serious impacts on federal and state
listed rare, threatened, and endangered species, and on one of the largest dinosaur fossil
discovery sites in the world.
The DEIS underestimates the disruption, fragmentation, and complete destruction of
protected lands, as well as the disruptive impacts to Department of Agriculture and
National Aeronautics and Space Administration research and operations.
The DEIS fails to explain how contaminated site soils will be removed, treated, and disposed
of in an environmentally safe manner.
Conclusions
A comprehensive and independent expert assessment identifying the serious and
irrecoverable environmental and ecological damage and destruction that building the
SCMagLev will bring to one of the last preserved research spaces on the East Coast so that
the full cost to our state, counties, communities, and residents will be known is needed.
A comprehensive and independent expert assessment of the potential danger to human
and wildlife health from emissions and pollution that building and operating the SCMagLev
will bring so these impacts are known and quantified is needed.
Recommendations
Given
The many legal requirements the DEIS must, yet failed, to address;
The disruption, destruction, and fragmentation of hundreds of acres of protected and
fragile environment areas; and
The industrial levels of pollution released into our watershed and communities.
The recommendations are the following:
(1) Best Option: The Federal Railroad Administration Should Select the No Build Option.
Over $28 million of taxpayer dollars have already been spent studying the cost and benefit
of building the SCMagLev. The costs far outweigh any benefit. Stop the Project now and
invest the saved tax dollars into fixing and upgrading existing transportation infrastructure
(roads, bridges, tunnels), including Amtrak and regional rail systems such as MARC and VRE.
(2) Alternative Option (1 of 2): Establish Rules of Particular Applicability.
If the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) decides to continue its consideration of building
the SCMagLev, U.S. Safety Standards (Rules of Particular Applicability [RPA]) must be
established. The RPA MUST INDEPENDENTLY assess, evaluate, and test support structures
and support and operating systems, especially cybersecurity strength and the
crashworthiness and survivability of the train, and provide these analysis and findings to the
public—with a 180-day review and comment period—BEFORE deliberating on a decision to
begin construction of the SCMagLev is even considered.
(3) Alternative Option (2 of 2): Prepare a Supplemental DEIS.
A supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) should be assembled to
address the comments, concerns, and questions identified and provided to the Federal
Railroad Administration. The supplemental DEIS would address the deficiencies, missing and
obfuscated information, and missing analyses and data identified during the review and
analysis of the SCMagLev DEIS by numerous teams of experts, including those affiliated with
local city and county governments, community, civic, and environmental organizations. This
supplemental DEIS needs to be provided to the—with a 180-day review and comment
period—BEFORE deliberating on a decision to begin construction of the SCMagLev is even
considered.
The Maryland Coalition for Responsible Transit (MCRT) a nonprofit organization formed in 2020. MCRT’s mission is to evaluate transit projects for social equity, environmental justice, economic viability, and community accessibility. See MCRT’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MCRTaction and our website at www.mcrt-action.org. Contact the MCRT at mcrtaction@gmail.com.
Citizens Against the SCMagLev (CATS) is an organization formed in 2016 when the initial Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail (BWRR) and Northeast Maglev proposal to build the first phase of Japan’s SCMagLev train between Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. As many questions were raised and not answered by the BWRR, community concerns arose. Residents came together to represent the interests of their communities and form CATS. CATS has evolved into a confederation of scientists, engineers, experts, community organizations, and citizens in support of transportation infrastructure improvements that benefit our communities, state, and nation. CATS has written numerous articles and provided testimony on legislation in Annapolis and has met with elected officials in Washington, D.C.,
CATS has identified better high-speed rail and commuter rail alternatives. See our CATS Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/citizensagainstscmaglev and our website at www.stopthistrain.org.