Merced County Inland Port at the Castle Rail Commerce Center
6 Documents in Project
Summary
SCH Number
2007011123
Lead Agency
Merced County
Document Title
Merced County Inland Port at the Castle Rail Commerce Center
Document Type
NOD - Notice of Determination
Received
Posted
6/4/2026
Document Description
The Modified Project includes two phases of development on the project site, which consist of:
1. Developing 70 acres within the Castle Rail District plan area to support pre-shipment processing and cross-docking for Central Valley growers, producers, and processors (agricultural goods), including the addition of four processing and storage (warehouse) buildings and 5,500 additional track feet of new rail operated by Patriot Rail.
2. Completing a rail expansion project (13,551 track feet of rail) and a new freight staging and laydown area at the site of the Alert Area to support container off-loading, container storage and cross-docking. Once converted to a laydown yard, this area will support the off-loading of incoming and staging of outgoing cargo, including the development of a windmill decommissioning facility.
The exact location and size of the proposed warehouse buildings is not known at this time; however, the four new warehouse buildings are anticipated to have a combined size of approximately 702,000 square feet, and each building would include refrigerated areas.
Overall, compared to the Original Project, the Modified Project would result in the construction of 19,051 linear feet of new rail track, and 5,300 new linear feet of internal roadways. The internal roadways would provide circulation for truck traffic to access the proposed warehouse buildings. The new rail track would not require the installation of new at-grade rail crossings.
Contact Information
Name
Mark Mimms
Agency Name
County of Merced
Job Title
Director
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency / Project Applicant / Parties Undertaking Project
Address
Phone
Location
Coordinates
Cities
Atwater
Counties
Merced
Regions
Southern California, Unincorporated
Cross Streets
Industrial Road and Sports Drive
Parcel #
Listed in "Other Location Info"
State Highways
99
Railways
BNSF, UPRR
Airports
Merced-Castle Airport
Schools
Atwater City Schools
Waterways
Canal Creek, Livingston Canal
Other Location Info
APNs 005-070-035, -042, -044, -045, and -058; 051-060-001; 052-220-032; and 005-090-002, -024, and -025
Notice of Determination
Approving Agency
County of Merced
Approving Agency Role
Lead Agency
Approved On
County Clerk
Merced
Final Environmental Document Available at
https://www.countyofmerced.com/414/Environmental-Documents
Determinations
(1) The project will have a significant impact on the environment
No
(2a) An Environmental Impact Report was prepared for this project pursuant to the provisions of CEQA
Yes
(2b) A Mitigated or a Negative Declaration was prepared for this project pursuant to the provisions of CEQA
No
(2c) An other document type was prepared for this project pursuant to the provisions of CEQA
Yes (Addendum to the 1996 EIR, 2007 SEIR, and 2011 IS)
(3) Mitigated measures were made a condition of the approval of the project
Yes
(4) A mitigation reporting or monitoring plan was adopted for this project
Yes
(5) A Statement of Overriding Considerations was adopted for this project
Yes
(6) Findings were made pursuant to the provisions of CEQA
Yes
Attachments
Notice of Determination
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