WASHINGTON – Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern will have to study the environmental impacts of their proposed merger, the Surface Transportation Board said today.
The railways will have to prepare an environmental impact statement partly due to projected increases in rail traffic on several line segments, most notably on CP’s former Milwaukee Road line from Sabula, Iowa, to Kansas City, Mo., the board said in its decision.
The board’s office of environmental analysis will host six online public scoping meetings from Nov. 30 to Dec. 9 to hear feedback from the public, communities, state and local agencies, and environmental groups regarding the potential impact of the merger.
A projected rise in rail traffic in CPKC lines was among the factors that triggered the need for an environmental review, the board said. The threshold for an environmental review is a 100% increase in gross ton miles over a particular line segment or an increase of at least eight trains per day.
CPKC main lines in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas would exceed the threshold, the STB noted.
The environmental review must be completed before the board issues a decision on the merger.
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