The PA Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) is an environmental analysis of noise, air quality, electromagnetic fields, public input, cultural and natural resources, ridership assessments and revenue estimates, among other study aspects. Based on the results of the evaluation of alternative alignments and public and agency input, the project team - Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), and MSM Group, the team’s consultant, in cooperation with FRA - identified the environmentally preferred build alternative for the PA Project as A5 South, B4 West and C6.

Prior to identifying the environmentally preferred build alternative, several different alternative alignments within the corridor were studied using criteria that examined each alignment's potential social, economic, environmental and transportation impacts as well as federal requirements for high-speed maglev technology. The environmentally preferred build alternative was also compared with a no-build alternative, which took into account the region’s adopted long-range transportation plan without a high-speed maglev system.