INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper issued an order on Wednesday afternoon saying no to Indian River County’s request to stop the U.S. Department of Transportation from issuing $1.75 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the All Aboard Florida high-speed rail project.
In a 21-page opinion, Cooper addressed both Indian River and Martin counties’ claim of standing to sue to stop the bonds.
The counties claimed that the construction of the All Aboard Florida project would cause irreparable harm to residents, and that without the quick and less-expensive financing of the project via DOT private activity bonds (PABs), the project would likely not proceed as planned.
To that, the judge said, “After careful review of the law and the evidence put forward by the parties, the Court concludes that the counties have stumbled at the threshold of standing. They have not, in the Court’s view, met their burden at this stage of the case to establish that enjoining DOT’s authorization of the PABs would significantly increase the likelihood that AAF would abandon the project.”
Another part of the argument made by the counties was that the Federal Rail Administration (FRA) has not finalized the required Environmental Impact Study (EIS) on the project, and that the bonds should not be issued until that study is closed out.
All Aboard Florida says it plans to run 32 trains per day up and down Florida’s east coast from Miami to Cocoa and then west to Orlando, and back to Miami. The trains are expected to run at speeds of up to 110 miles per hour and would run on the same system of tracks as the existing freight traffic.
The draft EIS, which downplayed the negative impact of the All Aboard Florida project, came out last fall and tens of thousands of comments were sent in by individuals, groups and governments opposing All Aboard Florida for a variety of reasons.
Cooper said the counties have not shown “that the bond issuance would tilt the FRA’s ongoing environmental analysis towards AAF’s preferred routing of the railway. The Court will therefore deny the counties’ motions for a preliminary injunction.”
County Attorney Dylan Reingold commented Wednesday evening by email, “At this time, Indian River County is reviewing the order and analyzing our options.”
The Board of County Commissioners has earmarked up to $2.8 million over the next three fiscal years to mount a legal challenge to the All Aboard Florida project, which was set to be operational by 2016, but which has experienced various technical, financial and legal delays.
