The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT), City of Minot, and Minot Area Chamber Economic Development Corporation (Minot Area Chamber EDC) announced today the beginning of a 30-day comment period for the Logistics Park of North Dakota (LPND) Project Environmental Assessment (EA). The LPND Project EA was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and is available for public review and comment at https://minotchamberedc.com/doing-business/infrastructure-and-transportation/lpnd-environmental-assessment/. Hard copies are available upon request.
The EA comment period begins Friday, March 15, 2024, and goes through Monday, April 15, 2024. Comments may be emailed to the project team at rebecca.baker@hdrinc.com. In addition, comments can also be directly mailed to Rebecca Baker at HDR, 101 S. Philips Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD 57014. Commentor information, including name and email address, will become publicly available within the issued FONSI.
In June of 2019, NDDOT and its partners, Minot and the Minot Area Chamber EDC, were awarded a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program Grant, administered by FRA, to develop the preliminary design and environmental documentation in compliance with NEPA. The anticipated improvements include rail infrastructure, maintenance building, and roadway improvements.
The Project purpose is to provide North Dakota and the surrounding region access to an intermodal logistics facility with transloading capability between truck and rail that facilitates cost-competitive shipment of goods among domestic and international markets.
Needs can be categorized into three themes – demand; operations; and cost and linkage. They include:
1. Accommodate existing and future freight demand in North Dakota (Demand)
2. Provide operationally efficient transloading capabilities between truck and rail in North Dakota (Operations)
3. Provide a competitively priced intermodal container rail service facility that connects North Dakota to international markets and key regional centers (Cost & Linkage) In addition to hosting the EA document, the project webpage (Minot Area Chamber EDC Website | LPND Environmental Assessment) provides general project background including description and overview, location maps, and other relevant documents.
Following the public comment period, FRA will address any substantive comments and move toward issuing a final NEPA finding, likely in the Spring/Summer of 2024. The Minot Area Chamber EDC will then be able to finalize engineering, obtain permits and advance to construction.