The Matanuska-Susitna Borough and the Alaska Railroad Corporation propose to build and operate a rail line connecting the Borough’s Port MacKenzie to the existing ARRC rail system. The proposed rail line would provide freight services between the Port and Interior Alaska.

What’s Happening Now?

On Feb. 12, 2008, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which kicked off the formal environmental review process required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). ICF International, has been retained as the third-party contractor to prepare the EIS for the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension Project.

Prior to the NOI, the MSB and the ARRC submitted the Preliminary Environmental and Alternatives Report (PEAR) in mid-January 2008 to the STB. The PEAR is a compilation of nearly a half year of public involvement activities and focused environmental and engineering analysis conducted under the guidance of the Borough and ARRC project team. The efforts of, and input from, community members and numerous stakeholders were a valuable addition to the report.

With the kick-off of the STB’s formal environmental review process, the MSB and ARRC project team will be taking on a background role, providing information as requested by the STB. During this process we encourage you to participate and stay informed via the STB’s Port MacKenzie Rail Extension EIS Web site, www.stbportmacraileis.com, where you’ll find current project information, contact information, schedules and ways to comment during the formal environmental review process.

Submit Comments to STB

During this formal environmental review process, please direct your comments to the STB: www.stbportmacraileis.com. The contact and comment features on our site (info@portmacrail.com, “Submit a Comment,” and “Join the Mailing List”) are now inactive.

I Already Made Comments About This Project. Why Should I Comment Again?

Your input was important to the preliminary analysis and the resulting PEAR document that we submitted to the STB in January 2008. Maybe your comments haven’t changed, or maybe you have new concerns. The STB needs to hear from you now during the formal environmental review process so that project and alternative impacts and benefits are fully developed and understood. Your comments during Scoping help define the scope of study for the EIS. Your comments on the Draft EIS help the STB refine the alternatives and impacts before the document is finalized. And your comments on the Final EIS help shape the Record of Decision.

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