• Posts by Robert D. Thornton
    Partner

    Robert Thornton specializes in advising state and regional infrastructure authorities on environmental issues regarding large infrastructure projects. He has successfully defended more than $12 billion in regional ...

Posted in P3s
Navigating Environmental Compliance for Public-Private Partnership Projects

The enormous deficit in public transportation funding, coupled with appetite from  capital markets, have increasingly triggered the use of public-private partnerships (P3s) to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the largest and most expensive transportation projects. The use of P3 delivery methods brings with it new challenges for navigating complex federal environmental requirements that govern infrastructure project development.  Nossaman partners Robert Thornton and David Miller discuss innovative solutions to these challenges in a new paper published in ...

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Tags: NEPA

We report on the result of decisions by the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and the United States District Court for  the District of Hawaii that allow the construction of a 20-mile, $5 billion, rail transit project to proceed.  This project will transform the City of Honolulu, which now has some of the worst traffic  in the United States.  Nossaman was counsel to the City of Honolulu in the litigation.

These cases clarify important aspects of the alternative selection process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and section 4(f) of the Department of ...

In an important victory for the $5 billion Honolulu rail transit project, on December 27, 2012 the U.S. District Court in Hawaii issued a judgment allowing construction of the first three phases of the 20-mile Project to continue pending the completion of additional environmental analysis regarding the last construction phase the Project in downtown Honolulu.  The Court’s judgment keeps in effect in Federal Transit Administration’s approval of the Project and the $1.5 billion Full Funding Grant Agreement for the Project recently executed by the FTA and the City.  The Court’s ...

On December 19, 2012 the Federal Transit Administration executed a $1.5 billion Full Funding Grant Agreement for $ 5 billion, 20-mile, Honolulu rail transit project.  The Project will serve the heavily congested corridor between the west side of O'ahu and downtown Honolulu.  The Project will provide transit access to major employment centers, activity centers, and tourist destinations in Honolulu, including the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Aloha Stadium, the Honolulu International Airport, Chinatown, the downtown business center, the Civic Center, the Port of Honolulu, and the Ala ...

Posted in Legislation

MAP-21, a measure to reauthorize transportation funding through the end of 2014, is the product of a robust effort by transportation advocates to streamline the lengthy, complex, and cumbersome federal environmental process.

In a decision of importance to transportation projects throughout California, the California Court of Appeal rejected environmental challenges to the $1.5 billion extension of the Exposition Corridor light rail line in Los Angeles.  Neighbors for Smart Rail v. Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority (2012) __ Cal.App.4th __ (April 17, 2012, B232655).  The decision is cause for optimism, not only for transportation agencies, but for all Californians who stand to benefit from transportation projects designed to reduce air emissions and traffic congestion.  Nossaman ...

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has authorized the City and County of Honolulu to begin construction of a 20-mile, $5 billion rail transit project.  The FTA Letter of No Prejudice allows the City to begin up to $184.7 million in construction and other activities on the project, including the first sections of raised guideways from East Kopolei to Pearl Highlands.  The 20-mile rail project will extend from Kapolei to Ala Moana Center in downtown Honolulu and includes a station at the Honolulu International Airport. 

Hawaii state courts have rejected state law challenges to the ...

Nossaman’s 30-plus infrastructure attorneys offer clients, colleagues, strategic partners and industry media a wealth of practical experience, insider insight and thoughtful analysis here on Infra Insight. We blog about what we know best, from industry-leading procurements to local and national policy developments that affect the market and our clients.

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