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                Logistics Park of North Dakota
    

    
    
    
      The North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT), the City of Minot (Minot), and the Minot Area Chamber Economic Development Corporation (Minot Chamber EDC) are proposing to expand the Logistics Park of North Dakota (LPND) to accommodate rail freight volumes within the region and industrial park (the Project).

In June of 2019, NDDOT and its partners, Minot and the Minot Chamber EDC, were selected to receive Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Grant Program funding, administered by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), to develop the preliminary design and environmental documentation in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Project includes rail infrastructure to create an intermodal facility on the LPND site.

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:

Accommodate existing and future freight demand in North Dakota (Demand)
	Provide operationally efficient transloading capabilities between truck and rail in North Dakota (Operations)
	Provide a competitively priced intermodal container rail service facility that connects North Dakota to international markets and key regional centers (Cost & Linkage)Environmental Assessment

FRA has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) to assess and disclose environmental impacts of the Project, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 1500–1508, 23 CFR part 771) and other applicable environmental laws.

The Project Area is identified as the LPND, an approximately 800-acre site in Minot, North Dakota. The existing facility is located south of Ward County Route 12 (CR 12). The area for the proposed expansion would be north of CR 12 and framed on the west side by Ward County Route 19 (CR 19) and east side by 55th Street NE.

FRA signed the EA on March 11, 2024 . As outlined in the EA, FRA has found potential for minor effects of the Build Alternative on air quality, water quality, wetlands, and hazardous materials. Comments may be submitted to the project team at rebecca.baker@hdrinc.com or mailed directly to Rebecca Baker at HDR, 101 S. Philips Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD 57104. Public comments will be accepted until April 15, 2024.  Please note commenter information, including name and email address, may become publicly available within the eventual NEPA decision document.

LPND EA
	Appendix A - Fright Rail Basis of Design
	Appendix B - Field Aquatic Resource Delineation and OHWM Report
	Appendix C - Noise Analysis Report
	Appendix D - Agency and Tribal Coordination
	Appendix E - Dakota Skipper 2022 Occupancy SurveysThe EA is also available on the Minot Chamber EDC webpage.

**FRA NEPA Contact:**
Brandon Bratcher, Environmental Protection Specialist 
Environment and Project Engineering Division
Federal Railroad Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
West Building, Mail Stop 20
Washington, DC 20590brandon.bratcher@dot.gov

Permitting Dashboard

The U.S. Permitting Dashboard is an online tool for Federal agencies, project sponsors, and interested members of the public to track the Federal government’s environmental review and authorization processes for large or complex infrastructure projects. The Dashboard is part of a government-wide effort to improve coordination, transparency, and accountability. A link to this project’s page on the Dashboard is below.

Permitting Dashboard Link

      
       
      

    
          Last updated: Thursday, March 14, 2024 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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WASHINGTON, DC 20590

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