August 22, 2022 Regulatory

Report: STB Approval of Uinta Basin Railway Challenged

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor



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.

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 construction and operation of the Uinta Basin Railway, which is slated to link oil and gas resources in Utah and Colorado to the national rail network; STB Chairman Martin Oberman was the sole dissenter.

In August 2021, STB’s Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project, identifying the 88-mile Whitmore Park Alternative as the environmentally preferred route, one of three analyzed. It would extend from two terminus points in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah near Myton and Leland Bench to a connection with the existing Union Pacific Provo Subdivision near Kyune (see map below). The route includes five tunnels, totaling 5.7 miles. The estimated construction cost is approximately $1.35 billion.



The OEA recommended the Whitmore Park Alternative in the Final EIS.

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