It looks like South Dakota is allowing at request for eminent domain in SD except for near the town of Wall.
From the Casper Star Tribune:
Railroad expansion plan wins, loses
By The Associated Press
PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Transportation Commission has approved the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad’s request for authority to acquire land in southwest South Dakota by condemnation for its $6 billion expansion to Wyoming’s coal fields.
However, the commission denied the DM&E’s application for authority to use eminent domain in an area east of the town of Wall, S.D., on its existing line because the railroad has not yet demonstrated that it has negotiated with any landowners on that stretch.
The DM&E wants to upgrade its existing track across South Dakota and Minnesota and build 262 miles of new line from the Wall area to the Powder River Basin coal fields in Wyoming. The new line would run through the Cheyenne River valley into Wyoming at the southern edge of the Black Hills National Forest.
The Canadian Pacific Railroad has purchased the DM&E but has not yet decided whether to pursue the project, which would haul coal east to power plants.
Representatives of the railroad and lawyers for landowners were not immediately available for comment Wednesday.
South Dakota law says a railroad can use eminent domain only if the governor or the Transportation Commission finds the project is a public