STB releases environmental document for proposed Utah rail line

The Surface Transportation Board's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) has issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed construction and operation of a 43-mile rail line between Levan and Salina, Utah, the agency announced late last week.

The Six County Association of Governments, an association of central Utah local governments, is seeking approval to construct and operate the line, which would run from a proposed coal transfer facility in Salina to a connection with a Union Pacific Railroad mainline near Levan. The rail line would allow allow coal currently being shipped by truck to be transported by rail.

OEA worked with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prepare the FEIS, according to an OEA press release.

The line would provide rail access to local industries, primarily the Southern Utah Fuel Company coal mine owned by Bowie Resources, OEA officials said in the FEIS.

The agency identified Alternative B3/B2 as the environmentally preferable alternative for the proposed rail line because it would have the least impact on water resources, including wetlands and associated biological resources, the statement said.

The FEIS major conclusions can be read here. The project's draft EIS was issued in 2007 and a supplemental draft in 2014.