The Utah Department of Transportation wants to take over the Federal Railroad Administration’s and Federal Transit Administration’s environmental review duties for rail and transit projects in the state. The two agencies found UDOT’s application complete, drafted a memorandum of understanding and published it for comment Oct. 20. Comments are due Nov. 19.
UDOT already does this for highways. Its NEPA assignment agreement with the Federal Highway Administration took effect Jan. 17, 2017, and was renewed May 26, 2022. The notice says the state has been through four audits, seven self-assessments and one monitoring event under that program, and that FHWA has consistently found it meets the requirements. The new request applies the same model to the other two surface modes.
What Utah’s NEPA assignment request covers
The program runs under 23 U.S.C. 327. Under the draft MOU, UDOT would assume FRA’s and FTA’s NEPA responsibilities for three classes of work: rail projects in Utah funded by FRA or needing an FRA approval, transit projects funded by FTA or needing an FTA approval, and projects paid for by other federal agencies, or with no federal money at all, that still need an FRA or FTA sign-off.
There’s a condition. UDOT takes the role where it’s the direct recipient and is responsible for design (FTA) or final design (FRA) and construction, or where a project agreement names it sponsor or co-sponsor. Locally administered projects could come in only by mutual agreement with the federal agency.
The list of other laws UDOT would handle in the agencies’ place is long. It includes Endangered Species Act consultation, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 4(f), Clean Water Act Sections 401 and 404 and the 23 U.S.C. 139 environmental review process.
Which environmental review duties stay federal
Some pieces don’t move. Projects that cross a state line, or that sit next to an international border and need a Presidential Permit, are excluded. FRA and FTA keep government-to-government consultation with tribes, though UDOT would handle routine tribal consultation. The state wouldn’t take on Clean Air Act conformity determinations or the metropolitan and statewide planning duties under 23 U.S.C. 134 and 135 and 49 U.S.C. 5303 and 5304.
The request also covers only FRA’s and FTA’s own NEPA role. If the Army Corps or another agency has a permit on the same job, it still runs its own review.
What changes for rail and transit project teams
For consultants and contractors, assignment changes who signs the decision document and who answers for it in court. A state that assumes the role under Section 327 consents to federal-court jurisdiction over its decisions. That’s the trade: Utah gets control of the review calendar, and it carries the litigation exposure that used to sit with Washington.
UDOT ran its own 30-day public notice on the draft starting July 29, with comments due Aug. 28, and formally submitted the package Sept. 3. The application and draft MOU are in docket FRA-2026-2740 on regulations.gov. The timing lands while the rules around federal review are moving on several fronts, including a Supreme Court case on when NEPA applies to a permit application and FERC’s proposed blanket permit path for LNG plant work.
The notice doesn’t name a single project, and that’s the gap to watch. Highway reviews are UDOT’s home turf. Rail and transit jobs often have a different sponsor, and the state’s role depends on whether it’s that sponsor. Nothing in the docket yet says how many reviews would actually shift to Salt Lake City on day one. If FRA and FTA sign, the answer will show up in who’s writing the next record of decision for a Utah rail job.