CHSRA Issues 2022 Sustainability Report

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) on Oct. 18 released a report detailing its sustainability efforts from 2021 through the first part of 2022.

California high-speed rail is currently under construction along 119 miles in the Central Valley at 35 active job sites. The 500-mile Phase 1 system is slated to extend from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim; 422 miles have already been environmentally cleared (see map below).

The 2022 report covers:

• CHSRA’s approach to designing, constructing and operating the high-speed rail system in a sustainable manner.
• How CHSRA is meeting its commitment “to upholding environmental justice principles” and how adverse effects on minority and low-income populations are being addressed.
• CHSRA’s efforts to protect important wildlife habitat and preserve agricultural lands.
• Results of the materiality assessment process performed in 2022 to quantify the significance of different environmental, social and governance issues to stakeholders.
• CHSRA’s progress in assessing climate-change impacts to the high-speed rail system and developing a formal climate change policy.
• CHSRA’s progress in its station-planning efforts and the focus on regional transit integration.

CHSRA also highlighted the following milestones:

• Restoring of more than 2,972 acres of habitat and protecting more than 3,190 acres of agricultural land.
• Planting more than 7,100 trees.
• Avoiding or sequestering 420,245 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of removing one natural gas-fired power plant from the grid for a year, according to CHSRA.
• Increasing small business participation to more than 700 entities.
• Generating between $12.7 billion and 13.7 billion in total economic activity in the state, with 56% investment in disadvantaged communities.

“Sustainability is a core focus as we build the most technologically advanced, electrified and equitable transportation system to support the world’s fifth largest economy,” CHSRA Director of Sustainability and Planning Margaret Cederoth said. “In pursuing carbon neutral objectives, the Authority has meaningful targets toward which we aim our work. Our goal is to accelerate the delivery of the system’s value for communities, be it through small business participation or the delivery of public spaces in stations designed to revitalize California’s great cities. We’re also dedicated to restorative practices, such as preserving natural resources and valuable habitat.”