(The Associated Press circulated the following article on February 9.)
HURON, S.D. — Although the Federal Railroad Administration has received the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad’s application for a $2.5 billion loan, the 90-day period during which the agency must decide whether to grant the loan hasn’t started yet, DM&E President Kevin Schieffer said.
“The analysis is under way on it in terms of all the financial things those guys look at,” Schieffer said. “They have it, and they are working on it.”
The Sioux Falls-based railroad wants to add track to Wyoming’s Powder River Basin so it can haul coal east to power plants. The DM&E also wants to rebuild its existing track across South Dakota and southern Minnesota.
The 90-day time frame won’t start until the project gets final regulatory approval from the federal Surface Transportation Board. The STB has approved the final environmental report, but it’s not effective yet. When it is, a permit to build can be issued.
“Frankly, I am expecting that, hoping for that, sometime this month,” Schieffer said.
Another 30-day waiting period follows that action before it is effective. The FRA then will begin its deliberations on the loan.
Construction could start by June, he told the Plainsman of Huron.
“The goal is to start something this year,” Schieffer said. “It certainly can happen.”
Financing issues probably will be settled by the middle of the year, according to Schieffer.
An operations center for the revamped railroad would be built at Huron and would mean 300-500 new railroad jobs, based on traffic loads. The overall project would create 3,000 to 5,000 construction jobs over three years in Wyoming, South Dakota and Minnesota, supporters of the project have said.