Denver — In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition V. Eagle County, Colorado, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and Congressman Joe Neguse released the following statement:
“We are deeply disappointed by today’s Supreme Court decision that strikes a blow to efforts to block the dangerous Uinta Railway project, which threatens Colorado’s communities, watersheds, and forests. The risks of wildfire and train derailment at the headwaters of the Colorado River are simply unacceptable. We stand by Eagle County as they continue this fight in the D.C. Circuit.”
Bennet and Neguse have consistently raised concerns about the proposed Uinta Basin Railway and its risks to Colorado’s communities, water, land, air, and climate. In October 2024, Bennet and Neguse joined Colorado leaders to support Eagle County’s position before the U.S. Supreme Court in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado. In January 2024, Bennet and Neguse applauded the U.S. Forest Service’s withdrawal of their Record of Decision that would have authorized the issuance of a special use permit for the Uinta Basin Railway. In August 2023, the lawmakers welcomed the D.C. Circuit Court’s decision to overrule STB approval of the project, vacating their environmental review, and ordered a new review. Leading up to these decisions, Bennet and Neguse led several letters to federal agencies urging additional environmental review of the risks to Colorado from the proposed project–including to the Council on Environmental Quality in July 2022, and to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency in March 2023.