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12/16/2021
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) yesterday granted final approval for an exemption sought by the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition in Utah to construct and operate the Uinta Basin Railway (UBRY), a new rail line in the state.
The decision grants final approval for a construction and operation exemption for the Whitmore Park Alternative, subject to final environmental mitigation measures recommended by the STB's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) in its final environmental impact statement with minor changes, STB officials said in a press release.
On May 29, 2020, the coalition filed a petition to construct and operate an 85-mile rail line connecting two termini in the Uinta Basin near South Myton Bench and Leland Bench, Utah, to the national rail network at Kyune, Utah.
The STB on Jan. 5 issued a decision assessing the transportation merits of the transaction and preliminarily concluded, subject to completion of the ongoing environmental and historic review, that the proposed transaction meets the statutory standards for exemption.
On Aug. 6, the board’s OEA — in cooperation with stakeholders, tribes and federal, state and local agencies — completed an environmental impact statement that identified the Whitmore Park Alternative as the preferred alternative because it would avoid or minimize major environmental impacts.
The STB’s decision is effective Jan. 14, 2022.
UBRY will enable efficient, environmentally sound rail transportation service to northeastern Utah’s industries and businesses, and the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, coalition officials said in a press release.
Uinta Basin Railway LLC will finance, construct and operate the railway.
"We appreciate all of the hard work that has already gone into the railway and look forward to the continued hard work that will bring this project to completion," said Mike McKee, executive director of the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, in a press release.