Based on several posts here and other sources, the state wants all of the former PCC lines under some sort of local control. From what I have read, there would be one "local" agency to oversee the CW portion and another to oversee the P&L and former UP portions. My past experiences with the Port of Whitman have not given me much to be confident about as far as rail is concerned for several reasons. 1) Past statements stating the only reason they have an interest in rail preservation is as a back up to truck barge for both keeping freight rates low and just in case the Snake River dams come out. 2) It's poorly run opposition to the UP Pleasant Valley and Tekoa Branch abandonments--a number of consultants advised that protests were a waste of time, that they should find some way to buy all or part of the lines while the scrap prices were low, they chose to go after the expensive protest route, embarking on a number of very expensive studies (that ended up costing more than purchasing the lines). UP abandoned the lines in spite of the protests led by the port. 3) Port of Whitman manages industrial parks, river ports and has partial interests in the Colfax, Malden and Pullman/Moscow airports. In spite of public statments stating that it wanted to find industries to support rail use, it lobbied zoning planners hard to get a rezone for the Colfax Airport to allow a strawboard (lumber/plywood made from straw) to be built at the Colfax AIRPORT instead of rail sites nearby. The length of time it took to get the zoning changed and an economic downturn kept the plant from being built. Had it been built, it's unlikely the finished products or the raw materials would have been flown in. I'm not confident in this process. Another factor to watch is how the funds were allocated by lawmakers, my past experience with the state of Washington is that money is alocated by budget period---usually two years. If the money isn't spent, unless it has some sort of exception---which are rare---it returns to the general fund, never to be seen again. If these folks mess around too long, it is possible they could lose the $7 million if it goes unspent (again this depends on how it was alocated, it would be worth finding out.) It also wasn't mentioned how these local government agencies were to be funded, will local tax dollars have to be raised to run the local rail operating agency? These lines seem to be a long way from having anything resembling a secure future.