Uinta Basin Railway

Federal lawmakers and environmental groups are urging the DOT to reject the use of tax-exempt "private equity bonds" to fund the Uinta Basin Railway.

Lawmakers, Environmental Groups Urge DOT to Reject Use of Bonds to Fund Uinta Basin Railway

U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), along with more than 150 environmental groups, some from as far away as New Jersey, have sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urging the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to reject the use of tax-exempt “private activity bonds” for the Uinta Basin Railway, stating that the project would “undermine President Biden’s priority of addressing the climate crisis, and harm communities through which these oil trains will travel and where this oil will be refined.”

STB on Dec. 15, 2021 approved the Uinta Basin Railway. Its Office of Environmental Analysis last summer issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the project, identifying the 88-mile Whitmore Park Alternative as the environmentally preferred route, one of three analyzed.

Report: STB Approval of Uinta Basin Railway Challenged

The Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) “inadequate” assessments of the Uinta Basin Railway project’s climate, public health and safety impacts undermine its approval of the project under the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, according to a Colorado County and environmental groups, Law360 reports.

STB on Dec. 15, 2021 approved the Uinta Basin Railway. Its Office of Environmental Analysis last summer issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the project, identifying the 88-mile Whitmore Park Alternative as the environmentally preferred route, one of three analyzed.

Builders Selected for Uinta Basin Railway

AECOM, Skanska-Clyde Joint Venture and Obayashi Corporation have landed the final engineering and construction contracts for Uinta Basin Railway, slated to serve the mineral, energy, agricultural, construction and manufacturing industries in northeastern Utah.

Commentary

Taking Measure of STB’s Oberman

What’s the consequence of appointing as chairperson of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) a veteran of rough-and-tumble Chicago politics? Contentment and consternation, it seems.

Commentary

STB Nominee Still Mired in Limbo (UPDATED OCTOBER 6)

OCT. 6, 2021 UPDATE: If Democrat Karen J. Hedlund is to become a member of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and succeed Republican Ann D. Begeman, she is still waiting, even though the Senate returned from its August recess on Sept. 13. Utah Republican Mike Lee has once again blocked her confirmation. His probable cause is explained below.

Uinta Basin Railway Green-Lighted

Drexel Hamilton Infrastructure Partners, LP (DHIP) and the State of Utah’s Seven County Infrastructure Coalition (Coalition) on Sept 8 executed an agreement to advance the Uinta Basin Railway, a new railroad to be constructed and operated by Fort Worth-Tex.-based Rio Grande Pacific Corp. to serve the mineral, agricultural, and construction industries of northeastern Utah’s Uinta Basin.

Hemphill Heading Uinta Basin Railway Project

Rio Grande Pacific Corp. has named rail industry veteran Mark Hemphill to lead development and construction of the Uinta Basin Railway project, a $1.5 billion new-build that, when completed in late 2022 or early 2023, will serve northeastern Utah’s energy, mineral and agriculture industries. The new railroad is being built through a DBFOM (design-build-finance operate-maintain P3 (public-private partnership) comprised of Rio Grande Pacific, Drexel Hamilton Infrastructure Partners and the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition