Panel Three - CEQA Application (or Not)? The Future of California’s High Speed Rail California’s High-Speed Rail program is perhaps the largest and most expensive capital project in the State’s history. This panel will discuss the potential environmental impacts and CEQA’s role in environmental review. Recently, the federal Surface Transportation Board determined that federal law preempts CEQA—however, the California Supreme Court has yet to rule on this issue. Further complicating the issue is language from Proposition 1A that provides state bond funding for high-speed rail, but may also require CEQA compliance. These specific topics will lead to broader discussion on the implications of possible federal preemption of state environmental laws—an issue that reaches well beyond high-speed rail as well as California’s borders. Stuart Flashman, Law Offices of Stuart M. Flashman Doug Carstens, Chatten-Brown & Carstens Kate White, Deputy Secretary, Environmental Policy and Housing Coordination at California State Transportation Agency Moderator: Rick Frank, Director, California Environmental Law & Policy Center