The Interstate 15 corridor between Southern California and Las Vegas is among the nation’s most congested freeways, especially during peak weekend travel when traffic often slows to a crawl. To provide a modern alternative, Brightline West is proposing a privately funded, high-speed rail line spanning approximately 200 miles along an exclusive track from Victorville to Las Vegas—the first of its kind in the United States.
Circlepoint served as the lead contractor for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process, reporting directly to the Federal Railroad Authority (FRA). We played a pivotal role in facilitating an efficient, thorough, and legally defensible environmental review. Circlepoint implemented innovative approaches to:
- Assessing biological and cultural resources ahead of detailed engineering
- Peer-reviewing ridership projections
- Conducting economic impact analyses
The Draft EIS, released in March 2009, was completed in record time and well below the budget of any comparable EIS. The Final EIS, announced in March 2011 by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, culminated in the FRA issuing its Record of Decision (ROD) in July 2011. Shortly thereafter, RODs were issued by cooperating NEPA agencies, including the Surface Transportation Board, Federal Highway Administration, and Bureau of Land Management. Additionally, Circlepoint collaborated with the California State Clearinghouse to ensure the EIS could be deemed CEQA-compliant with minimal modifications if state permits were required.
Since project approval in 2011, Brightline West has refined the project design, necessitating NEPA re-evaluations. Circlepoint has led these efforts, successfully completing two re-evaluations under FRA’s guidance to date.
Throughout the project, Circlepoint worked closely with permitting agencies and stakeholders, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), State Historic Preservation Officers, and tribal representatives in Nevada and California. We managed fieldwork, environmental analysis, and biological permitting to meet the project’s needs, setting a benchmark for collaborative and effective project execution.
