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The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has denied the state of Nevada's request to reject the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) application to obtain the authority to construct and operate a 300-mile rail line in the state.

The proposed Caliente Line would connect an existing Union Pacific Railroad line near Caliente, Nev., to a proposed geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in the state's Nye County. The DOE would use the line to transport spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste for disposal at the repository and to provide common-carrier rail service to communities along the route.

The STB's decision permits the state to amend its filing, but does not extend a previously established procedural schedule, the board said. Comments on the DOE's application are due to the STB by July 15 and the DOE's reply is due Aug. 29.