[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 223 (Monday, November 19, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58005-58006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-28843]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33407]


Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation Construction 
Into the Powder River Basin

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability of final environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation (DM&E) 
filed an application in 1998 with the Surface Transportation Board 
(Board) for authority to construct and operate new rail line facilities 
in east-central Wyoming, southwest South Dakota, and south-central 
Minnesota. This project, known as the Powder River Basin (PRB) 
Expansion Project, would involve construction of approximately 280 
miles of new rail line to extend DM&E's existing rail line from Wall, 
South Dakota west to coal mines in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. 
Reconstruction of another approximately 600 miles of DM&E's existing 
rail would allow operation of unit coal trains along the new and 
reconstructed route.
    In addition to the Board's authorization, the project would require 
actions by five other Federal agencies: the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture Forest Service; the U.S. Department of Interior Bureaus of 
Land Management and Reclamation; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and 
the U.S. Coast Guard. In conducting the necessary environmental review, 
the Board's Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA), in cooperation 
with these five Federal agencies, published a Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (Draft EIS) on September 27, 2001. This was followed 
by a 152-day comment period and 12 public meetings, which produced more 
than 8,600 comments on the Draft EIS. As required by the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), SEA has reviewed and evaluated all 
comments, prepared responses, and undertaken additional research and 
analysis, as appropriate.
    The Final EIS reflects SEA's independent analysis and incorporates 
input from agencies, elected officials, Tribes, communities, 
organizations, businesses, and members of the public. In addition to 
presenting the results of SEA's additional analysis, and responses to 
Draft EIS comments, the Final EIS includes SEA's final recommendations 
to the Board for mitigating, to the extent possible, the potentially 
significant adverse environmental impacts associated with the proposed 
project, if the Board decides to give final approval to DM&E's 
proposal. The Final EIS recommends far-reaching and extensive 
environmental mitigation--147 conditions in all. The Final EIS also 
contains information on the anticipated cost of SEA's recommended 
environmental mitigation and the mitigation that may be required by the 
five cooperating agencies.
    On December 10, 1998, the Board issued a decision finding that 
DM&E's application satisfies the transportation-related requirements of 
49 U.S.C. 10901. The Board made it clear that it would issue a 
subsequent decision on the entire proposed project after completion of 
the environmental review process required by NEPA.
    Issuance of this Final EIS terminates the Board's environmental 
review process. SEA has determined that neither a supplement to the 
Draft EIS nor an additional comment period on this Final EIS is 
warranted. The Board will now issue a final decision, based on the 
entire environmental record, including public comments, the Draft EIS, 
the Final EIS, and SEA's recommended environmental mitigation. In its 
final decision, the Board will grant, deny, or grant with conditions 
the proposed PRB Expansion Project. The cooperating agencies will also 
issue decisions under their own governing statutes, based on the EIS 
and various applications submitted by DM&E.
    DM&E cannot begin construction of its new rail line until the Board 
issues a final decision approving DM&E's application and the decision 
has become effective. Under the regulations of the President's Council 
on Environmental Quality implementing NEPA, no decision of the Board or 
cooperating agency on DM&E's proposal may be made until 30 days after 
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publishes a Notice of 
Availability of the Final EIS in the Federal Register (anticipated on 
November 30, 2001).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Rutson, Environmental Project 
Director, Section of Environmental Analysis, Surface Transportation 
Board, Powder River Basin Expansion Project, 1-877-404-3044; U.S. 
Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Wendy Schmitzer, (307) 358-
4690; U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management: Bill 
Carson, (307) 746-6607; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Chandler Peter, 
(307) 772-2300 (Omaha District) and Timothy Fell, (651) 290-5360 (St. 
Paul District); U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation: 
Kenneth Parr, (605) 394-9757; U.S. Coast Guard: Bruce McLaren, (314) 
539-3724. [TDD/TDY for hearing impaired: 1-800-877-8339.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public Availability: The entire Final EIS 
has been mailed to key reviewing agencies, Governors, elected 
officials, and appropriate county officers, as well as the parties of 
record. It is also available to all interested persons for review at 
over 80 public libraries. For information on where to view a copy of 
the Final EIS, please call SEA's toll-free Environmental Hotline at 1-
877-404-3044. The entire document is also available on the Board's Web 
site 
(http://www.stb.dot.gov), under ``Decisions & Notices,'' listed as 
``Environmental Review'' by Service

[[Page 58006]]

Date (November 19, 2001), Docket Number (FD 33407), or Docket Prefix 
(FD). Finally, a printed copy of the Final EIS may be obtained for a 
fee by contacting Da-2-Da Legal, Room 405, 1925 K Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20006, telephone (202) 293-7776 or via http://
[email protected].

    By the Board, Victoria J. Rutson, Chief, Section of 
Environmental Analysis.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-28843 Filed 11-16-01; 8:45 am]
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