The East Bay Regional Park District proposes to construct a section of the San Francisco Bay Trail in Pinole between Pinole Shores and Bayfront Park, a distance of approximately 0.5 mile. The proposed project would extend an existing Class I non-motorized, paved trail from a hillside bluff across from Hazel Lane in Pinole Shores east over the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) tracks to connect to an existing path in Bayfront Park.

The proposed project includes federal funding. Federal regulations allow Caltrans to assume the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other federal environmental laws. Thus for NEPA documentation Caltrans is the federal lead agency for the proposed project.

According to the federal guidance, Section 4(f) applies to publicly owned parks, recreation areas or wildlife and waterfowl refuges and any land from an historic site of national, state or local significance. The proposed project will affect publicly owned lands under Section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act of 1966. Impacts to those that meet the definition of Section 4(f) resources can represent a de minimis impact, a determination that certain uses of 4(f) land will have no adverse effect on the protected resource.

To get more information, visit San Francisco Bay Trail: Pinole Shores to Bayfront Park Draft EIR on the East Bay Regional Parks website.