Veto means no legislative approval necessary

Gov. Gary Locke signed on the dotted line, and it means all systems are go.

As previously reported, the Washington State Department of Transportation has proposed to acquire and rehabilitate the Palouse River and Coulee City (PCC) railroad network.

Last week Locke signed the supplemental transportation budget.

"As a result of the governor's veto, WSDOT does not need to seek approval from the office of financial management or the legislature on a business plan to purchase the PCC railroad," said Theresa Gren, WSDOT spokesperson for rail communication.

"We are pleased, absolutely," Gren said of the process so far. "Public involvement went real well, great turn out and great folks."

According to Gren, the next steps for the PCC network acquisition include an early April review of the draft of the PCC business plan by the WSDOT executive management, a mid-April review of the business plan by Secretary of Agriculture Doug MacDonald and a determination by the department on how to proceed that will be made in the middle of May.

"This is just part of the process we have to go through," Gren said. "If the department makes the determination to proceed with the purchase by mid-May, an agreement to purchase should be in place by mid-June."