Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), the highest-ranking Northeastern Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, lauded the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ or Port Authority) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for the release of a new, Draft Tier I Environment Impact Statement (EIS) for the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project (CHFP), a major milestone in the project’s history. And along with a coalition of key elected officials, business and labor leaders, and transportation and environmental advocates, he again hailed the Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel as critical to solving the region’s serious and growing problem with inefficient goods movement.

“Today’s release of this Draft Cross Harbor Tier I EIS paves the way for addressing a very serious problem about which there is overwhelming consensus – that the New York region moves goods extremely inefficiently, largely by road-clogging trucks, and to terrible effect. I applaud the Port Authority and the Federal Highway Administration, and the whole EIS team for their hard and thoughtful work in getting to this important milestone," said Congressman Nadler. "The Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel project, which I have supported for more than 30 years alongside a large and growing coalition of governmental, business, labor, transportation, and environmental leaders, would finally connect Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester and Southern Connecticut to the national freight rail grid, profoundly improving the movement of goods throughout our region. It will remove thousands of trucks from our clogged roadways, and that will reduce pollution, reduce the cost of goods and the cost of doing business, grow jobs, and make us all safer by both ensuring easier movement of emergency vehicles and securing an additional route by which we can get vital goods into the region, should our primary route be compromised.”

The Draft Tier I EIS reflects a comprehensive, objective, and data-driven process. The CHFP study was conducted in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and other relevant legislation for projects receiving federal funds. The EIS process is a comprehensive, full-disclosure process in which the proposed project’s impacts on the social, economic and environmental conditions of the study area are assessed and any measures needed to alleviate those impacts are also evaluated. The CHFP Draft Tier I EIS discloses the potential benefits and effects associated with eleven possible short- and long-term alternatives, including a variety of waterborne and rail and tunnel options. The CHFP received $100 million in Federal funds in the 2005 Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill, entitled the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) at the direction of Congressman Nadler, Senator Charles Schumer and former Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

New York City is the only major city in the world that is not connected to its country’s national freight rail network. Without this key rail link, more than $1 trillion worth of freight per year – everything from food to furniture – enters New York City almost entirely by trucks coming over the George Washington Bridge. Trucks transport about 90 percent of the freight, while rail handles less than 6 percent – a figure that is two-and-a-half times smaller than the national average. It costs as much to move goods from New Jersey to Manhattan – less than two miles – as it does to move them 500 miles or more in some other areas of the United States. In the next 20 years, freight to, from, and through this region is expected to increase by 37 percent.

This Draft Tier One EIS echoes previously published studies by finding that a Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel would fundamentally help to reduce congestion on roads and bridges, improve air quality and reduce asthma, as well as allow better movement of emergency vehicles and buses. It would greatly decrease the cost of goods and of doing business, and would promote considerable economic development. It would also create a necessary redundancy in this critical transportation system, thereby fortifying a national security vulnerability. According to the EIS, the Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel (the so-called “Seamless Tunnel”) would achieve these key benefits by removing about 1800 trucks from New York Harbor crossings per day, or about half a million trucks per year. That also translates into an annual reduction of 10 million Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMTs) from New York City roads, and of 70 million VMTs from roads throughout the region.

In fact, the Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel project’s benefits were always deemed essential to the well-being of the New York region – so much so that it was the chief reason the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was created in the first place. The PA’s first chairman, Eugenius H. Outerbridge, said that the Tunnel was the “keystone in the arch of the Master Plan” the bi-state document that was the precursor to the creation of the Port Authority.

Congressman Nadler has been a leading advocate for the construction of a rail freight tunnel since he was a member of the New York State Assembly. The project has also long been supported by a broad coalition of elected officials at the Federal, State and City levels, as well as business and labor groups, as well as transportation and environmental advocates. Today, many of New York’s top leaders again voiced their support for the new, Draft Tier I Environment Impact Statement and for the Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel specifically.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio: “Our ability to grow and compete depends on making smart investments in our infrastructure. We have to be creative about accelerating and expanding our capacity to do big things, and move vital projects like the Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel forward. We strongly support Congressman Nadler’s drive to make the tunnel a reality. It can significantly reduce truck traffic, improve neighborhoods and make our city more sustainable.”

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (NY): “Assessing the big picture infrastructure options like a cross harbor freight tunnel is just what the Port Authority should be doing to plan for the future economic growth of the whole region. This study presents critical options for developing underutilized water and rail tunnel alternatives and outlines how to create a freight movement network that works better for the region, without unduly burdening any community. Done right, a cross harbor tunnel can spur economic growth, reduce traffic, increase road safety and longevity, and reduce air pollution.”

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY): “The Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel project is critical for keeping the region economically competitive, reducing harmful emissions, freeing up our roads and highways so that emergency vehicles can move more freely, and opening up an additional route to move goods into the City in the event of another disaster. Jerry Nadler has been an absolute champion in getting us to this point and I applaud the Port Authority for releasing the new draft study. I will continue to push to move this project forward and work for its funding in Congress.”

Kathryn Wylde, President & CEO of the Partnership for New York City: “The Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel is one of the critical infrastructure projects for our region and will contribute in important ways to future economic growth. The tunnel would reduce over-reliance on trucks and provide relief from congestion and air pollution, while helping to reduce the cost of doing business in our region.”

Mario Cilento, President of the New York State AFL-CIO: “We are now one very large step closer to the development of the Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel, and it can’t happen soon enough. There is quite simply a crisis in the movement of freight, which is only growing worse with each passing year. This project has the potential to revolutionize the transportation of goods throughout our region, and must be a priority if we are to grow jobs and our economy.”

James T. B. Tripp, Senior Counsel for Environmental Defense: “The highways in our region are badly congested. It is doubtful that we can accommodate increasing freight volume through highway expansion. This region has to make major investments in alternative ways of moving freight, including construction of a freight rail tunnel that will connect the east of Hudson areas to the national rail system."

Veronica Vanterpool, Executive Director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign: "Our region's overreliance on truck freight exacerbates traffic congestion, poor air and water quality and the deteriorating conditions of our roads and bridges. There is also a significant social cost as trucks contribute to safety and quality of life concerns in residential communities. The Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel would be a quadruple win to reduce the economic, environmental, transportation, and societal costs of our truck dependent freight system.”

Mitchell H. Pally, Chief Executive Officer of the Long Island Builders Institute and the Suffolk County representative to the MTA Board: “I applaud the Port Authority for beginning to tackle the complex problem of inefficient goods movement in our region, with the release of this important draft study. Building the Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel would reduce congestion on Long Island caused by truck traffic on our region’s roads and bridges, improve air quality, and improve the region's capacity for economic growth.”

Kevin Law, President & CEO of the Long Island Association: “The transport of freight across the region is inefficient and damaging to the New York City-Long Island economy and thus the business community supports the Port Authority’s initiative to establish the Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel that would reduce congestion on our region’s roads and bridges, improve air quality and spur economic growth.”

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