SALT LAKE CITY — The Legislature has completed work on a locomotive fuel tax bill to generate money for rail crossing overpasses and Gov. Gary Herbert is expected to sign it.

“We now have a bill the governor is comfortable with,” Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, said before the Senate voted 23-6 in favor of House Bill 4002 Thursday evening.

Earlier Thursday, the House passed the bill 63-10.

Herbert vetoed a similar measure, House Bill 356, passed during the Legislature’s regular session in March.

After sponsor discussions with the governor’s office, the new bill routes the tax revenue in a different way.

Eighty percent of the $3.66 million raised each year will go into a dedicated account from which the Legislature will be able to appropriate funds for railroad overpass projects.

Another 10% will fund environmental impact studies on those projects, and the final 10% will be doled out by the Utah Department of Transportation for crossing safety and overpass-related work.

The bill follows long-growing cries from local government officials, first responders, drivers and residents for a solution to crossing delays and safety problems.

Two of the most urgent issues cited by supporters of the bill are chronic train blockages of Forest Street in Brigham City and 12th Street in Ogden.

Union Pacific Railroad lobbied hard against the bill, which removes a sales tax exemption on locomotive fuel that railroads have enjoyed since 2008.

During committee meetings on HB 356 in February, the Utah Taxpayers Association said the bill treats Union Pacific unfairly and goes against years of tax policy supporting businesses.

Doug Foxley, Union Pacific’s lobbyist, said the railroad pays tens of millions of dollars a year in state taxes, and he defended the railroad’s stance on crossings, pointing out the railroads were here long before busy roads like Forest Street.

“All other industries pay some kind of fuel tax,” Sandall said Thursday. “This will bring locomotive diesel fuel in line with that and help solve some problems that have been persisting for a number of years.”

Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, said railroads “need to pay their fair share.”

“Look at the truckers,” she said. “They’re working their guts out. They’re bringing us things so we can live. And they’re paying tax on their fuel.”