[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 215 (Tuesday, November 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65169-65170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-18730]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Creation of an Electronic Docket for a Pending Environmental 
Impact Review on the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's Powder 
River Basin Expansion Project Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement 
Financing Program Loan Application

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of the Creation of an Electronic Docket for the Comments 
Received on the FRA's Adoption of the Environmental Impact Statements 
Issued by the Surface Transportation Board and FRA's Draft Section 
4(f)/303 Statement and Participation as a Concurring Party to a Section 
106 Programmatic Agreement.

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SUMMARY: FRA is announcing the creation of an electronic docket 
containing comments submitted to the agency in connection with the 
agency's environmental and historic preservation review of the Dakota, 
Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's application for loan to carry out its 
Powder River Basin Expansion Project.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Valenstein, Environmental 
Program Manager, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., Mail Stop 20, Washington, DC 
20590; Phone (202) 493-6368.



[[Page 65170]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    In an August 18, 2006 Federal Register notice, FRA announced that 
it had received an application from the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern 
Railroad Corporation (DM&E) for a $2.3 billion loan under the Railroad 
Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program to fund the 
railroad's Powder River Basin Expansion Project (Project) to construct 
approximately 280 miles of new rail line to reach the coal mines of 
Wyoming's Powder River Basin and to reconstruct another approximately 
600 miles of DM&E's existing rail line to allow operation of unit coal 
trains along the reconstructed route to and from the new line. DM&E had 
received permission to undertake the Project from the Surface 
Transportation Board (STB) in a February 15, 2006 decision (see Finance 
Docket 33407). The STB had prepared a detailed environmental review of 
the Project pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. As 
authorized by Council on Environmental Quality (CEC) Regulations, FRA 
decided to adopt the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) issued by the STB 
for Project. Consistent with the CEQ regulations, FRA recirculated the 
STB's EIS and SEIS. EPA's publication in the Federal Register of the 
notice of availability also occurred on August 18, 2006. FRA also 
announced the availability of a draft section 4(f)/303 Statement 
prepared for the Project by the FRA pursuant to section 4(f) of the 
Department of Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. 303(c)) and that the FRA 
was seeking to participate as a concurring party in the existing 
section 106 Programmatic Agreement. FRA further indicated in the 
Federal Register notice that it would accept public comment on its 
announced actions through October 10, 2006.
    FRA is now announcing that in light of the substantial volume of 
comments received it is creating an electronic docket containing the 
comments that were submitted. The electronic docket is available 
through the DOT Docket Management System (DMS) and is found at http://dms.dot.gov/. The docket number for this environmental review is FRA 
2006-26099. For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to PL-401 on 
the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays. The electronic docket will facilitate public access 
to the comments and enhance FRA's ability to evaluate and address the 
comments. While creation of an electronic docket is not the agency's 
normal practice for environmental reviews, the special circumstances 
present in this proceeding made this an attractive option for the 
agency. The DMS staff will add the submitted comments as expeditiously 
as possible and comments will be available as they are added to the 
system.
    Note that comments received will be posted without change to http://dms.dot.gov including any personal information. All commenters should 
be aware that anyone is potentially able to search the electronic form 
of comments received into any agency docket depending on how the 
comments are entered into the docket system. You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; pages 19477-78) or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov. If anyone does not want their submitted comment to 
be included in the Docket because they would not have submitted the 
comment had they been aware that it would be included in an electronic 
docket, please contact the DMS office at: http://dms.dot.gov/Support/ 
or 1-800-647-5527.

    Issued in Washington, DC on October 31, 2006.
Joseph H. Boardman,
Federal Railroad Administrator.
[FR Doc. E6-18730 Filed 11-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P