PUC hearing sets filing and briefing deadlines for rail-crossing template agreements
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Summary
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s administrative judge set April 1 for parties to file template preliminary engineering agreements, ordered simultaneous briefing on legal disputes raised by BNSF (initial briefs due April 3; responses April 17) and required BNSF to file grade-separated and updated at-grade templates by March 10. Hearings were set for May 19 and Aug. 11.
Administrative Judge Melody Murbaba of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 24 directed railroad and stakeholder parties to move forward on standardized template agreements for public rail crossings and set firm filing and briefing deadlines to resolve outstanding legal disputes.
The judge said the proceeding, numbered 24MDash0274R, is intended "to move forward and, having template agreements paired by the parties that can then be approved by the commission for use in accordance with rule 72 14." She told participants the commission is focused on ensuring any template "can't violate Colorado law."
Murbaba set April 1, 2026 as the deadline for Union Pacific and BNSF to file template preliminary engineering (PE) agreements that would be applicable across crossing types. Counsel for the parties told the judge they could meet that target: Josephine Jordan, appearing for Union Pacific Railroad, said UP had circulated PE templates and expected to complete them "towards the end of, March by April 1," and Brandon Dittman, representing multiple municipal and utility parties, said stakeholders had already redlined the PE drafts and "I think we can certainly file those by the end of, this month" (later confirmed as April 1). Caitlin Warner, on behalf of BNSF, said BNSF had provided its PE templates and expected to finish if all parties provide timely feedback.
The judge also addressed legal disputes flagged by BNSF in a Feb. 20 notice and ordered simultaneous briefing so the commission can decide whether contested provisions comply with Colorado law. Murbaba had initially announced a 30-day initial briefing deadline (March 26) with responses 14 days later, but after a participant requested a one-week accommodation she revised the schedule: initial briefs are now due April 3 and response briefs are due April 17. "I want everybody to make sure they've got the time to put together your legal arguments. I wanna see citations for everything that you're arguing," she said.
On construction and maintenance templates, Murbaba asked BNSF to file a version of its grade-separated crossings template and an updated at-grade agreement, asking parties to identify any remaining disputed provisions (to be highlighted and noted in the filing). She set March 10 as the deadline for those submissions.
Murbaba said she expects to bifurcate the proceeding so a recommended decision on Union Pacific’s filed templates can be issued separately and, if finalized, allow those agreements to take effect sooner. She scheduled additional hearings for May 19 and Aug. 11, both at 2:30 p.m., and instructed parties to register as described in the forthcoming decision.
The hearing record shows parties generally agreed the PE templates are "much simpler agreements" and are largely close to agreement, while BNSF’s notice flagged a set of disputed items that the commission wants litigated on written briefing. The judge closed the session by thanking participants and saying she would continue to move the matter forward.
Next procedural steps: parties file PE templates by April 1; initial simultaneous legal briefs due April 3; response briefs due April 17; BNSF grade-separated and updated at-grade templates due March 10; hearings May 19 and Aug. 11 at 2:30 p.m.
