The next phase of the Baltimore-Washington Maglev Project will be directed by environmental studies that are required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). As part of that process, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) will conduct a public involvement program that will incorporate stakeholder comment into the public record and facilitate interaction with area communities. As required by NEPA, the public will be invited and encouraged to make comments, provide input, analyze data and provide suggestions for alternative courses of action throughout the entire NEPA process. As the directing body of the Maglev Deployment Program, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will review all environmental and other studies for the Baltimore-Washington project, and ultimately select the corridor which is best suited for Maglev technology.

The goal of the NEPA process is to conduct a thorough examination of all potential environmental impacts by the project as set forth in the study's original project description. The MTA will prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, or DEIS, as set forth by a 1969 law requiring all federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts of proposed actions before selecting among alternative approaches.

To meet NEPA requirements, the MTA and its team of consultants will examine a number of environmental issues and variables, such as land use, wildlife and noise, as well as the project's potential impacts on neighborhoods, parks or historic features. The MTA will then prepare a DEIS and Preliminary Engineering (PE) reports. The DEIS will:

• Analyze alternative courses of action, including the no-build option
  
• Show and analyze the effects of the project which cannot be avoided

The EIS process can be broken down into six major areas:
Please see an organizational chart of the EIS process.

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