Twenty-Five Years of Rail Banking: A Review and Look Ahead, 25301 [E9-12237]

Agencies

• Surface Transportation Board
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 25301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-12237]



[[Page 25301]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Ex Parte No. 690]


Twenty-Five Years of Rail Banking: A Review and Look Ahead

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board will hold a public hearing 
beginning at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8, 2009, in the Hearing Room on 
the first floor of the Board's headquarters in Washington, DC. The 
purpose of the public hearing will be to examine the impact, 
effectiveness, and future of rail banking under Section 8(d) of the 
National Trails System Act. Persons wishing to speak at the hearing 
should notify the Board in writing.

DATES: The public hearing will take place on Wednesday, July 8, 2009. 
Any person wishing to speak at the hearing should file with the Board a 
combined notice of intent to participate (identifying the party, the 
proposed speaker, the time requested, and the topic(s) to be covered) 
and the person's written testimony, as soon as possible, but no later 
than June 29, 2009. Written submissions by interested persons who do 
not wish to appear at the hearing are also due by June 29, 2009.

ADDRESSES: All filings may be submitted either via the Board's e-filing 
format or in the traditional paper format. Any person using e-filing 
should attach a document and otherwise comply with the Board's https://www.stb.dot.gov Web site, at the ``E-FILING'' link. Any person 
submitting a filing in the traditional paper format should send an 
original and 10 copies of the filing to: Surface Transportation Board, 
Attn: STB Ex Parte No. 690, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-
0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Rutson at (202) 245-0295. 
Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at: (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1983, Congress added Section 8(d) to the 
National Trails System Act to create a program--codified at 16 U.S.C. 
1247(d)--to allow preservation of railroad corridors for possible 
future rail use, called ``rail banking,'' and to allow railroad 
corridors that would be abandoned to be used in the interim as 
recreational trails.
    In brief, the Trails Act and the Board's implementing regulations 
give interested parties the opportunity to negotiate voluntary 
agreements to use for recreational trails railroad rights-of-way that 
otherwise would be abandoned. The trail sponsor must agree to assume 
responsibility for managing the trail, for paying property taxes on the 
right-of-way, and for any liability in connection with trail use. In 
turn, the rail carrier may salvage its track and discontinue service on 
the line. If the parties reach a Trails Act agreement, the right-of-way 
can be used as a trail until (if ever) a rail carrier decides to 
restore rail service on the line.
    The Board has issued numerous decisions authorizing trail use 
negotiation periods, many of which have resulted in agreements between 
the rail carrier and the party seeking interim trail use. To date, the 
Board has authorized nine rail banked lines for the restoration of rail 
service. Very recently (on May 11, 2009, in STB Docket No. AB-3 (Sub-
No. 104X), Missouri Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--In 
Muskogee, McIntosh and Haskell Counties, OK), the Board vacated a 
Notice of Interim Trail Use in part to permit the restoration of active 
rail service on a portion of a rail banked line.
    In recent years, an increasing number of questions have been 
brought to the Board, both formally and informally, regarding aspects 
of the rail banking program. Formally, the Board has pending before it 
STB Finance Docket No. 35116, R.J. Corman Railroad Company/Pennsylvania 
Lines Inc.--Construction and Operation Exemption--in Clearfield County, 
PA, involving a proposal to construct and operate over 10 miles of a 
previously fully abandoned rail right-of-way and to reactivate a 9.3-
mile portion of a connecting rail banked line. Informally, the Board 
has been asked who would be responsible for bearing the cost of 
rebuilding a railroad bridge removed during interim trail use if active 
rail service should ever be restored.
    To allow a more detailed discussion of these and other issues, the 
Board is holding a hearing to explore the issues surrounding the rail 
banking program. These issues include:
     Has rail banking under Section 8(d) been a success for 
rail carriers and trail users?
     Have most rail corridors proposed for rail banking under 
Section 8(d) actually been developed into trails?
     Should the Board require notice or a copy of the Trails 
Act agreements to be submitted to the Board?
     What can or should the Board do to further facilitate rail 
banking and encourage the restoration of active rail service on rail 
banked lines?
     Who should bear the cost to restore a rail corridor for 
rail service, including replacing any bridges that may have been 
removed during interim trail use?
     How have reversionary property owners been affected by 
rail banking?
    Parties are also invited to comment on the rail banking program in 
general and the future of rail banking in an era of constrained rail 
infrastructure.
    Date of Hearing: The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 
July 8, 2009, in the 1st floor hearing room at the Board's headquarters 
at 395 E Street, SW., in Washington, DC, and will continue, with short 
breaks if necessary, until every person scheduled to speak has been 
heard.
    Notice of Intent To Participate and Testimony: Any person wishing 
to speak at the hearing should file with the Board a combined notice of 
intent to participate (identifying the party, the proposed speaker, the 
time requested, and the topic(s) to be covered) and the person's 
written testimony, as soon as possible, but no later than June 29, 
2009. Also, any interested person who wishes to submit a written 
statement without appearing at the July 8 hearing should file that 
statement by June 29, 2009.
    Board Releases and Live Video Streaming Available via the Internet: 
Decisions and notices of the Board, including this notice, are 
available on the Board's Web site at https://www.stb.dot.gov. This 
hearing will be available on the Board's Web site by live video 
streaming. To access the hearing, click on the ``Live Video'' link 
under ``Information Center'' at the left side of the home page 
beginning at 9 a.m. on July 8, 2009.
    This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the 
human environment or the conservation of energy resources.

    Dated: May 21, 2009.

    By the Board.
Anne K. Quinlan,
Acting Secretary.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. E9-12237 Filed 5-26-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P