On April 10, 2012, representatives from the Yellowstone Valley Citizens Council (YVCC) came before the Yellowstone County Board of Planning requesting Yellowstone County be included in the Environmental Impact Statement scoping hearings for the Cherry Point Terminal in Whatcom County, Washington.  YVCC is concerned over an increase in coal train traffic and the impact to Billings.  After much discussion, the Planning Board did not agree to participate in the EIS process but did recognize that the impacts to Billings from increasing train traffic in general, needed to be studied and mitigated.  At its May 8th meeting, the Planning Board approved a draft letter to the members of the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC); Billings City Council, Yellowstone County Commissioners, and Montana Department of Transportation.  The letter urges the City Council to support a rail study that provides current, balanced information for planning purposes.  The action by City Council will be taken to the PCC for its vote on June 12, 2012.

The City Council may choose to approve a motion supporting the Planning Board's request for a rail traffic impacts planning study and recommend to the Mayor to vote in favor of such a motion at the June 12, 2012 PCC meeting.  If the Council chooses to not recommend approval, then the Mayor would carry a vote against a rail traffic impacts planning study.  The Council may also choose to lay the motion on the table, thus indefinitely delaying action on the item.

It is anticipated that the Transportation Planning grant funds may be available to prepare a rail traffic impacts planning study.  There may be a match requirement for this grant and it is unknown who would contribute the matching funds.  If the PCC approves this study, staff will provide more detailed information on the scope and cost to the PCC members for further consideration and action.

The Yellowstone County Board of Planning recommends the City Council recommends to the Mayor, as the City representative to the Policy Coordinating Committee, a vote in favor of a motion to support a rail traffic impacts planning study for the rail corridor through Billings.