[7] In late December 2011, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the STB to conduct a new environmental impact statement for the Tongue River line, as well as review construction permits for two parts of the route.
[8] The ruling came after a coalition made up of the Northern Plains Resource Council, the city of Forsyth, Montana, the United Transportation Union, and private individual Mark Fix challenged the STB's earlier approval of the route.
[10] The STB's latest environmental impact study was originally expected to be completed in 2013, but was delayed until April 2015,[11] when the board released the draft EIS for public comment before it issues a final decision.
[12] In November 2015, Tongue River Railroad "submitted a request [to the STB] to suspend the permitting process," according to a BNSF spokesperson, who cited delays in state approval of constructing a coal mine in the Otter Creek tracts.
[13] Originally expected to begin production in 2017, the Otter Creek mine was denied a permit in March 2015 by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, which said that Arch Coal's application at the time contained hundreds of flaws.