by flex.202 | Mar 11, 2021 | Press Releases |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 11, 2021
RESPONSIBLE FRAMEWORK FOR HIGH-SPEED RAIL
Jewett, Texas – In the absence of a responsible framework to implement high-speed rail (HSR) in Texas, Representative Ben Leman filed legislation (HB 3633) that will provide the necessary structure to review aspects of any proposed HSR project prior to recommending the establishment of an HSR authority, if needed.
In the late ’80s to early ’90s, a Democrat-controlled legislature created a similar authority charged with oversight of a private entity’s efforts to build and operate HSR in Texas. The former Texas High-Speed Rail Authority (THSRA) was later abolished after it determined that HSR was infeasible and wrong for Texas. After the dust settled, the executive director of the THSRA released a detailed, cautionary report explaining why HSR oversight must be reserved to the State. Given the size and scope of HSR projects, State oversight is critical to ensuring the protection of the State and its taxpayers through appropriate safeguards. Representative Leman’s bill takes this history into account, heeds the wisdom of the THSRA executive director, and provides a remedy to the current lack of regulatory oversight for HSR projects, to protect the State, tax dollars, and property rights.
Kyle Workman, president and chairman of Texans Against HSR (TAHSR), said of Representative Leman’s bill, “Texas has looked at HSR before and the only company able to move toward being granted a franchise was never able to meet the financial milestones. The Legislature rightly repealed the High-Speed Rail Act and Texans were able to move on with their lives.”
“With the hindsight and recommendations of the now-defunct Texas High-Speed Rail Authority and as we’ve recently seen with the winter storm, Texans deserve for major infrastructure projects that impact life and livelihood to have safeguards in place so we don’t invite another disaster to our state.”
“If HSR is viable in Texas, any currently proposed HSR project, and all future proposals, should certainly and willingly be able to meet the parameters of this framework created by Representative Leman’s review process to prove public benefit and protection of private property rights.”
Additionally, six other HSR related bills have been filed this session by Representatives Bell (HB 1034), Ellzey (HB 3310, 3311), Harris (HB 3312), and Toth (HB 114). Workman said of these bills, “In a legislative session that has an important slate of priorities, these members are committed to keeping HSR in the conversation because Texans are being impacted every day by a project that is merely in the conceptual design phase and, with a new administration, HSR may be promoted in the future. We are pleased that these bills aim to protect state funds and private property now and into the future.”
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by flex.202 | Dec 11, 2020 | Uncategorized |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 11, 2020
Jewett, Texas – Yesterday, landowner Jim Miles, of Jewett, filed his Texas Supreme Court brief to fight for the protection of private property rights related to the proposed Dallas Houston HSR. In the trial court, Miles obtained a final judgment against Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure confirming that Texas Central is not a railroad and does not have eminent domain authority. The Texas Court of Appeals overturned that ruling earlier this year and Miles appealed to the Texas Supreme Court. After reading Miles’ petition, the Texas Supreme Court asked Jim to file a full brief on the merits. The full brief can be downloaded here.
Miles originally sued Texas Central in March 2016 to end the constant harassment of Texas Central representatives, who could not produce a shred of proof of eminent domain authority. More than a year after Miles filed suit, Texas Central created a shell company, ITL, in an attempt to fix all the legal problems Texas Central encountered in trying to prove eminent domain authority in court. ITL then sued Miles despite having never contacted him or his attorneys in any manner whatsoever.
Once the Court of Appeals overturned the trial court ruling, Jim and his wife Barbara were even more resolved to continue the fight to protect their property rights, and the rights of all those impacted by the proposed HSR. “We’re going to take this all the way. Texans take their private property rights seriously and we know the Texas Supreme Court does too. We cannot allow private companies to take our land through self-declared and self-regulated eminent domain authority.”
Miles’ Texas Supreme Court brief, prepared by Jeff Levinger and Carl Cecere of Levinger PC, Blake Beckham and Patrick McShan of The Beckham Group, Dylan Drummond of Gray Reed, and Jason Sodd and Jody McSpadden of Dawson Sodd, states, “the court of appeals authorized private companies with no railroad experience, no tracks, no trains, and only a fraction of the money needed to build a high-speed railway system, to trample with impunity on the property rights of thousands of Texans.”
In his brief, Miles argues that only the Texas Supreme Court “can prevent the irreparable harm likely to result if [Texas Central and ITL]’s unlawful exercise of eminent domain power is allowed to play out to its inevitable failure. All are looking to this Court to prevent that result. It is essential that the Court do so because the court of appeals’ opinion upends the critical legislative and judicial protections against the unrestrained exercise of eminent domain authority by undercapitalized and inexperienced private actors like [Texas Central and ITL].”
Kyle Workman, president and chairman of Texans Against HSR and the TAHSR Land Defense Fund, said about the brief, “Jim Miles is absolutely on the right side of this. Texans deserve and demand for their property rights to be protected. We are confident the Texas Supreme Court will see the truth of how Texas Central is attempting to circumvent the law. This cannot be allowed in Texas.”
Texans Against High-Speed Rail, a group of landowners attempting to protect the property rights of all Texans, works to hold Texas Central to their claims while uncovering information vital to public review to prevent irreversible property value loss, irreparable environmental damage, and eminent domain abuse.
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by flex.202 | Sep 21, 2020 | Press Releases |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 21, 2020
Federal Railway Administration Issues Record of Decision and Regulatory Carve Out for “Conceptual Design” of Dallas Houston HSR
Jewett, TX – The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has released a pre-publication of its final Rule of Particular Applicability (RPA) and Record of Decision (ROD) today, Monday, September 21, 2020. However, the final RPA and ROD have not been published in the Federal Register. The final RPA and ROD, one of many remaining milestones within the overall regulatory process––including the NEPA process––does not “permit construction or operations,” despite Texas Central Railway’s best efforts to describe the proposed HSR as “shovel ready.” Rather, the final RPA and ROD simply enable FRA to reach a decision that is informed by a cursory understanding of the potential environmental impacts and safety requirements Texas Central Railway (TCR) will be mandated to operate by.
“FRA does not grant any kind of construction approval or permit. Neither does this final rule, by itself, grant any permission or authority for TCRR [Texas Central] to operate.”
– excerpt from FRA’s pre-published final RPA and ROD, page 15
When considering the overall impact of the final RPA and ROD to the timeline of the project, it is worth noting that FRA concluded the project was in a “conceptual design” stage and does not grant any kind of construction approval or permit. Rendering this decision less than conclusory, FRA expressly states that “neither does this final rule, by itself, grant any permission or authority for TCR to operate.” It is the Surface Transportation Board (STB) that is the only agency that can grant TCR permits to operate and construct since taking jurisdiction over the project on July 16, 2020. And considering the STB via that decision is requiring TCR to submit a full application to the Board, which includes a detailed look at project financials, design, construction plans, and ridership numbers, TCR is years away from construction and operation. This point is highlighted within FRA’s final RPA and ROD, where FRA denied TCR’s waiver to substitute non-compliant Japanese rolling stock, mandated compliance with crash readiness standards along with full Positive Train Control (PTC) compliance; thus meaning, TCR must do a complete redesign of their rolling stock in order to be compliant with this final RPA before they are even able to submit final designs for an STB application for construction and operational permits, which could potentially cost TCR tens of millions of dollars in additional costs.
Kyle Workman, Chairman and President of Texans Against HSR, said of the FRA ROD, “Texas Central will likely trumpet this decision as major progress for its project, but they are simply arranging deckchairs on the Titanic…Texans and federal taxpayers need to know this Record of Decision doesn’t change the fact that Texas Central has put up Texas land as collateral to the Japanese government when the project fails, while at the same time asking for billions in federal dollars to prop up its so-called ‘private project’ that is already failing in its ‘conceptual design’ stage.”
While Texas Central Railway continues to claim it will begin construction next year, the company has recently laid off the majority of its staff, admitted the cost estimate for the project has ballooned to $30B, expressed its intent to seek federal funds for a project they have called “private” and “not needing any public funds,” and has yet to file the required full application for construction approval to the federal-level Surface Transportation Board.
In short, the final RPA and ROD establish the minimum safety requirements with which TCR must comply while signifying the completion of the NEPA process. The publication of this final RPA and ROD is the beginning, not the end, of TCR’s regulatory journey. In addition, these final agency actions clear the way for legal challenges regarding, among other NEPA violations, the FRA’s failure to take the requisite “hard look” at the project’s environmental impacts, reasonable alternatives, and financial feasibility.
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by flex.202 | Sep 15, 2020 | Press Releases |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2020
Contact: Desi Porter
Email: info@TexansAgainstHSR.com
Texas Central Railway Deeds Texas Property To The Japanese Government
Jewett, Texas – Despite its claim to be a Texas company building a Texas project to benefit the people of Texas, public documents show Texas Central Railway has deeded property from Texas landowners to the Japanese government through an offshore entity set up in the Cayman Islands.
Based on a series of recently recorded real property transactions in counties along the affected route, it appears the Japanese government required Texas Central to put up the land as collateral for the sizeable loan owed to them. In each county (Leon, Waller, Madison, Harris, Grimes, Dallas, Ellis, etc.), Texas Central filed a “Deed of Trust, Assignment of Leases and Rents, Security Agreement and Fixture Filing” relating to property owned by Texas Central in that county. The beneficiary of these Deeds of Trust is an offshore entity named “Japan Texas High-Speed Railway Cayman GP.” Texas Central did not disclose the existence of this offshore beneficiary to any of the landowners it convinced to sign an option contract. Nor did it disclose its plans to use the property purchased through the option contracts to secure a loan from the Japanese government.
Adding to the serious concern of several elected officials from the local to federal levels, Texans Against HSR chair and president, Kyle Workman, explained that this latest deceptive action is one in a long string that landowners need to be made aware of. “Texas Central has long touted itself as a Texas company and a Texas project. Yet, some of the first Texas property it acquired was immediately deeded to an offshore shell company created by the Japanese government.”
Workman continued, “If Texas Central had disclosed their intent to deed this property to the government of Japan, lawmakers and landowners most likely would have considered these real estate transactions differently. There are still landowners with pending option contracts with Texas Central…these Texans must be notified immediately that the property Texas Central has acquired is being used as collateral to secure a loan from a foreign government. We ask that the Governor support measures to protect Texas land from being deceptively acquired and transferred into the shadows of offshore ownership, beyond the regulatory protections of US and Texas law.”
While Texas Central Railway continues to claim it will begin construction next year, the company has recently laid off the majority of its staff, admitted the cost estimate for the project has ballooned to $30B, expressed its intent to seek federal funds for a project they have called “private” and “not needing any public funds,” and is now being required by the federal-level Surface Transportation Board to file a full application including financial and ridership information, which the company has refused to make public thus far.
Additionally, the Federal Railroad Administration is set to publish its Record of Decision (ROD) related to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for this HSR project on Friday. This ROD does not give the company the needed permission to construct; however, it is considered a final federal action for the project, allowing lawsuits regarding FEIS NEPA violations to begin.
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by flex.202 | May 29, 2020 | Press Releases |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 29, 2020
Contact: Desi Porter
Email: desi@TexansAgainstHSR.com
FRA Final Environmental Impact Statement Published
This morning, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Dallas Houston HSR. While this represents a milestone in the project timeline, this is not a permit to construct or operate the project. Per FRA, it is simply a blueprint for what the company must do if it were to build an HSR.
Kyle Workman said about the FEIS publication, “This is not a done deal. There are still many obstacles the project must overcome; namely, the Texas Supreme Court appeal of the Miles case regarding the company’s eminent domain status, raising $30B for a project that is embattled with legal and land acquisition issues, and the Surface Transportation Board’s lack of jurisdiction that would provide the otherwise absent regulatory framework needed to make this project possible, just to name a few.”
In the coming days, Texans Against HSR’s legal teams, landowners, and experts will be reviewing the 10,000-page document to identify all the errors, omissions, and areas of concern to be submitted to the FRA.
Workman added, “During this unprecedented time of COVID-19 restrictions, the Federal Railroad Administration has proactively excluded Texas landowners, especially those Texans most impacted by this project, from providing legally required feedback on their work. This project is not shovel-ready, not financially vetted, and not worthy of federal taxpayer dollars, no matter if it’s in the form of grants, loans, or stimulus funds. The State of Texas has made it clear, no State funds for “private” high-speed rail; the federal government should follow suit.”
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