Embankment Coalition Notice

The Surface Transportation Board is holding an online public meeting on Conrail’s Proposed Abandonment of the Harsimus Branch in Jersey City, NJ, Docket No. AB-167 (Sub-No. 1189X) on Thursday, September 28, from 5-9 pm.
The agency is on a path to remove the Harsimus Branch & Embankment from federal jurisdiction with NO historic preservation conditions, opening it up to all the pressures of development in Jersey City.

Pre-Register HERE to attend and comment!

Online Public Meeting on National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106
Thursday, September 28, 2023, 5-9 pm
A confirmation and link to the meeting will be sent to you.
Hosted by the Surface Transportation Board Office of Environmental Analysis
To be called upon early in the meeting to give your comment,* also contact [email protected] 202-245-0304

*All other attendees will be called upon as time allows if they raise a zoom hand during the meeting.

TALKING POINTS

  • Don’t reward rail companies by turning a blind eye to unlawful sales of regulated railroads.
  • Don’t check off bureaucratic boxes indicating consultation and public engagement have been conducted meaningfully
  • Don’t ignore demolition and development realities on the ground in favor of abstract scenarios
  • Don’t create tombstones and eulogies for a historic corridor you presume dead
  • Don’t assume “No Action” adverse effects are comparable to adverse effects from development
  • Do hold Conrail accountable for its unlawful sale
  • Do engage consulting parties and the public in considering ways to avoid, minimize and mitigate adverse effects to historic resources
  • Do use Section 106 to consider Master Plans, Redevelopment Plans, development issues, and the STB’s own powers to mitigate adverse effects
  • Do facilitate efforts to protect a historic industrial infrastructure critical to 21st-century public needs
  • Do recognize that STB will actively contribute to resource destruction if it permits abandonment without preservation conditions

Need more info and/or assistance in crafting a comment supporting historic preservation? Contact: [email protected]

Download this information HERE