Information Collection Activities, 7236-7237 [2012-3178]

Download as PDF 7236 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 28 / Friday, February 10, 2012 / Notices being compromised or if continuation of the exemption would not be consistent with the goals and objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, FMCSA will take immediate steps to revoke the exemption of a driver. Issued on: January 31, 2012. Larry W. Minor, Associate Administrator for Policy. [FR Doc. 2012–3081 Filed 2–9–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board Information Collection Activities AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT. Notice and Request for Comments. ACTION: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501– 3519 (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) gives notice of its intent to seek from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the information collections required under 49 U.S.C. 10904–05 and 10907, and 16 U.S.C. 1247(d). Under these statutory provisions, the Board administers programs designed to preserve railroad service or rail rightsof-way. When a line is proposed for abandonment, affected shippers, communities, or other interested persons may seek to preserve rail service by filing with the Board: an offer of financial assistance (OFA) to subsidize or purchase a rail line for which a railroad is seeking abandonment (49 U.S.C. 10904), including a request for the Board to set terms and conditions of the financial assistance; a request for a public use condition (§ 10905); or a trail-use request (16 U.S.C. 1247(d)). Similarly, SUMMARY: when a line is placed on a system diagram map identifying it as an anticipated or potential candidate for abandonment, affected shippers, communities, or other interested persons may seek to preserve rail service by filing with the Board a feeder line application to purchase the identified rail line (§ 10907). Additionally, the railroad owning the rail line subject to abandonment must, in some circumstances, provide information to the applicant or offeror. The relevant information collections are described in more detail below. Comments are requested concerning: (1) The accuracy of the Board’s burden estimates; (2) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; (3) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology when appropriate; and (4) whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the collection has practical utility. Submitted comments will be summarized and included in the Board’s Request For OMB Approval. Description of Collections Title: Statutory Authority to Preserve Rail Service. OMB Control Number: 2140–00XX. STB Form Number: None. Type of Review: Existing collections in use without an OMB control number. Respondents: Affected shippers, communities, or other interested persons seeking to preserve rail service over rail lines that are proposed or identified for abandonment, and railroads that are required to provide information to the offeror or applicant. Number of Respondents: 60 (including informational filings required of railroads). Frequency: On occasion. TABLE—NUMBER OF YEARLY RESPONSES Number of filings Type of filing Offer of Financial Assistance ... OFA—Railroad Reply to Request for Information ............. OFA—Request to Set Terms and Conditions ...................... Request for Public Use Condition ........................................ Feeder Line Application ............ Trail-Use Request ..................... 3 3 1 9 1 39 Total Burden Hours (annually including all respondents): 374 hours (sum total of estimated hours per response X number of responses for each type of filing). TABLE—ESTIMATED HOURS PER RESPONSE Number of hours per response Type of filing Offer of Financial Assistance ... OFA—Railroad Reply to Request for Information ............. OFA—Request to Set Terms and Conditions ...................... Request for Public Use Condition ........................................ Feeder Line Application ............ Trail-Use Request ..................... 32 10 4 2 70 4 Total ‘‘Non-hour Burden’’ Cost (such as filing fees): $41,980 (sum of estimated ‘‘non-hour burden’’ cost per response X number of responses for each statutory section and type of filing). TABLE—ESTIMATED ‘‘NON-HOUR BURDEN’’ COST PER RESPONSE Type of filing Filing costs Other costs Total costs $1,500 0 23,100 0 2,600 250 $90 30 30 30 200 30 $1,590 30 23,130 30 2,800 280 srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Offer of Financial Assistance ................................................................................................................... OFA—Railroad Reply to Request for Information ................................................................................... OFA—Request to Set Terms and Conditions ......................................................................................... Public Use Request ................................................................................................................................. Feeder Line Application ........................................................................................................................... Trail-Use Request .................................................................................................................................... Needs and Uses: Under the Interstate Commerce Act, Public Law 104–88, 109 Stat. 803 (1995), and Section 8(d) of the National Trails System Act, 16 U.S.C. 1247(d) (Trails Act), persons seeking to preserve rail service may file pleadings VerDate Mar<15>2010 21:29 Feb 09, 2012 Jkt 226001 before the Board to acquire or subsidize a rail line for continued service, or to impose a trail use or public use condition. Under 49 U.S.C. 10904, the filing of an OFA starts a process of negotiations to define the financial PO 00000 Frm 00122 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 assistance needed to purchase or subsidize the rail line sought for abandonment. Once the OFA is filed, the offeror may request additional information from the railroad, which the railroad must provide. If the parties E:\FR\FM\10FEN1.SGM 10FEN1 srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 28 / Friday, February 10, 2012 / Notices cannot agree to the sale or subsidy, the Board may be asked to set the terms and conditions of the financial assistance. Under § 10905, a public use request allows the Board to impose a 180-day public use condition on the abandonment of a rail line, allowing the parties to negotiate a public use for the rail line. Under § 10907, a feeder line application provides the basis for authorizing an involuntary sale of a rail line. Finally, under 16 U.S.C. 1247(d), a trail-use request, if agreed upon by the abandoning carrier, requires the Board to condition the abandonment by issuing a Notice of Interim Trail Use (NITU) or Certificate of Interim Trail Use (CITU), allowing the parties to negotiate an interim trail use/rail banking agreement for the rail line. The collection by the Board of these offers, requests, and applications, and the railroad’s replies (when required), enables the Board to meet its statutory duty to regulate the referenced rail transactions. See Table—Statutory and Regulatory Provisions below. Retention Period: Information in these collections is maintained by the Board for 10 years, after which it is transferred to the National Archives as permanent records. DATES: Comments on this information collection should be submitted by April 10, 2012. ADDRESSES: Direct all comments to Marilyn Levitt, Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423–0001, or to levittm@stb.dot.gov. When submitting comments, please refer to ‘‘Statutory Authority to Preserve Rail Service.’’ FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn Levitt at (202) 245–0269 or at levittm@stb.dot.gov. [Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339.] Relevant STB regulations are referenced below and may be viewed on the STB’s Web site under E–Library > Reference: STB Rules, https://www.stb.dot.gov/stb/ elibrary/ref_stbrules.html. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Respondents seeking authority from the Board to preserve rail lines must submit certain information required under the Board’s related regulations and, in some circumstances, railroads seeking to abandon a line must disclose certain information to the offeror or applicant. Offer of Financial Assistance. When a rail line would otherwise be approved for abandonment (or discontinuance), any financially responsible person may seek to acquire the line for continued rail service (after abandonment has been approved), or may seek to temporarily VerDate Mar<15>2010 21:29 Feb 09, 2012 Jkt 226001 subsidize continued operations by the incumbent railroad (after abandonment or discontinuance has been approved), by filing an OFA under 49 U.S.C. 10904 and 49 CFR 1152.27. An OFA may be submitted to the Board as soon as the railroad seeks abandonment (or discontinuance) authority. Once an OFA is submitted, the abandoning railroad must, upon request, promptly provide to any party considering an OFA and to the Board an estimate of the annual subsidy or minimum purchase price; a report on the physical condition of line; and data on traffic, revenues, net liquidation value, and the cost to rehabilitate to class I (minimum) track standards. If the parties are not able to agree upon the purchase price or subsidy, then, to move forward, either party may ask the Board to set the price or subsidy, which will be binding upon the parties if the offeror chooses to accept the terms set by the Board and proceed with the purchase. Public Use Request. Any person may request that the Board prohibit an abandoning railroad from disposing of the right-of-way—for up to 180 days— without first offering the right-of-way (on reasonable terms) for other suitable public purposes (such as mass transit, pipeline, transmission lines, recreation, etc.). Such requests are governed by 49 U.S.C. 10905 and 49 CFR 1152.28. Feeder Line Application. When a line has been identified on a railroad’s system diagram map as a potential candidate for abandonment (or discontinuance), but before abandonment (or discontinuance) authority has been sought, any financially responsible person (other than a Class I or II railroad) may, by filing a feeder line application under 49 U.S.C. 10907 and 49 CFR part 1151, seek to acquire the line for continued rail service under the forced sale provisions of the feeder railroad development program. Trail-Use Request. The Trails Act provides a mechanism whereby any interested person may seek to ‘‘railbank’’ a rail right-of-way that has been approved for abandonment and use the property in the interim as a recreational trail. The Board has a ministerial role in this process; under 49 CFR 1152.29, interested persons may submit a request to the Board for a trailuse condition, and if the statutory conditions are met, the Board must authorize the parties to negotiate a trailuse agreement by issuing a CITU, or, in an exemption proceeding, a NITU. The CITU or NITU typically permit negotiations for 180 days, but the negotiations can be extended upon request to the Board. Under the Trails PO 00000 Frm 00123 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 7237 Act, trail-use agreements are consensual, not forced. The abandoning railroad is free to choose whether or not to enter into or continue negotiations to transfer (all or part of) the right-of-way to a trail sponsor. Under the PRA, a Federal agency conducting or sponsoring a collection of information must display a currently valid OMB control number. A collection of information, which is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c), includes agency requirements that persons submit reports, keep records, or provide information to the agency, third parties, or the public. Under § 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, Federal agencies are required to provide, prior to an agency’s submitting a collection to OMB for approval, a 60-day notice and comment period through publication in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information. Dated: February 7, 2012. Jeffrey Herzig, Clearance Clerk. [FR Doc. 2012–3178 Filed 2–9–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4915–01–P DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. EP 290 (Sub-No. 4)] Railroad Cost Recovery Procedures— Productivity Adjustment Surface Transportation Board. Proposed railroad cost recovery procedures productivity adjustment. AGENCY: ACTION: In a decision served on February 6, 2012, we proposed to adopt 1.008 (0.8% per year) as the measure of average change in railroad productivity for the 2006–2010 (5-year) averaging period. This represents a 0.6% decrease over the average for the 2005–2009 period. The Board’s February 6, 2012 decision in this proceeding stated that comments may be filed addressing any perceived data and computational errors in our calculation. It also stated that, if there were no further action taken by the Board, the proposed productivity adjustment would become effective on March 1, 2012. DATES: The productivity adjustment is effective March 1, 2012. Comments are due by February 21, 2012. ADDRESSES: Send comments (an original and 10 copies) referring to Docket No. EP 290 (Sub-No. 4) to: Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423–0001. SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\10FEN1.SGM 10FEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 28 (Friday, February 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7236-7237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3178]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

Information Collection Activities

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C.
3501-3519 (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) gives
notice of its intent to seek from the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approval of the information collections required under 49 U.S.C.
10904-05 and 10907, and 16 U.S.C. 1247(d). Under these statutory
provisions, the Board administers programs designed to preserve
railroad service or rail rights-of-way. When a line is proposed for
abandonment, affected shippers, communities, or other interested
persons may seek to preserve rail service by filing with the Board: an
offer of financial assistance (OFA) to subsidize or purchase a rail
line for which a railroad is seeking abandonment (49 U.S.C. 10904),
including a request for the Board to set terms and conditions of the
financial assistance; a request for a public use condition (Sec.
10905); or a trail-use request (16 U.S.C. 1247(d)). Similarly, when a
line is placed on a system diagram map identifying it as an anticipated
or potential candidate for abandonment, affected shippers, communities,
or other interested persons may seek to preserve rail service by filing
with the Board a feeder line application to purchase the identified
rail line (Sec. 10907). Additionally, the railroad owning the rail
line subject to abandonment must, in some circumstances, provide
information to the applicant or offeror. The relevant information
collections are described in more detail below.
Comments are requested concerning: (1) The accuracy of the Board's
burden estimates; (2) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information collected; (3) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on the respondents, including the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology when appropriate; and (4) whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the Board, including whether the collection has practical utility.
Submitted comments will be summarized and included in the Board's
Request For OMB Approval.

Description of Collections

Title: Statutory Authority to Preserve Rail Service.
OMB Control Number: 2140-00XX.
STB Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Existing collections in use without an OMB control
number.
Respondents: Affected shippers, communities, or other interested
persons seeking to preserve rail service over rail lines that are
proposed or identified for abandonment, and railroads that are required
to provide information to the offeror or applicant.
Number of Respondents: 60 (including informational filings required
of railroads).
Frequency: On occasion.

Table--Number of Yearly Responses
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Type of filing filings
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offer of Financial Assistance.............................. 3
OFA--Railroad Reply to Request for Information............. 3
OFA--Request to Set Terms and Conditions................... 1
Request for Public Use Condition........................... 9
Feeder Line Application.................................... 1
Trail-Use Request.......................................... 39
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Burden Hours (annually including all respondents): 374 hours
(sum total of estimated hours per response X number of responses for
each type of filing).

Table--Estimated Hours Per Response
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
Type of filing hours per
response
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offer of Financial Assistance.............................. 32
OFA--Railroad Reply to Request for Information............. 10
OFA--Request to Set Terms and Conditions................... 4
Request for Public Use Condition........................... 2
Feeder Line Application.................................... 70
Trail-Use Request.......................................... 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total ``Non-hour Burden'' Cost (such as filing fees): $41,980 (sum
of estimated ``non-hour burden'' cost per response X number of
responses for each statutory section and type of filing).

Table--Estimated ``Non-Hour Burden'' Cost Per Response
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filing
Type of filing costs Other costs Total costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offer of Financial Assistance.... $1,500 $90 $1,590
OFA--Railroad Reply to Request 0 30 30
for Information.................
OFA--Request to Set Terms and 23,100 30 23,130
Conditions......................
Public Use Request............... 0 30 30
Feeder Line Application.......... 2,600 200 2,800
Trail-Use Request................ 250 30 280
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Needs and Uses: Under the Interstate Commerce Act, Public Law 104-
88, 109 Stat. 803 (1995), and Section 8(d) of the National Trails
System Act, 16 U.S.C. 1247(d) (Trails Act), persons seeking to preserve
rail service may file pleadings before the Board to acquire or
subsidize a rail line for continued service, or to impose a trail use
or public use condition. Under 49 U.S.C. 10904, the filing of an OFA
starts a process of negotiations to define the financial assistance
needed to purchase or subsidize the rail line sought for abandonment.
Once the OFA is filed, the offeror may request additional information
from the railroad, which the railroad must provide. If the parties

[[Page 7237]]

cannot agree to the sale or subsidy, the Board may be asked to set the
terms and conditions of the financial assistance. Under Sec. 10905, a
public use request allows the Board to impose a 180-day public use
condition on the abandonment of a rail line, allowing the parties to
negotiate a public use for the rail line. Under Sec. 10907, a feeder
line application provides the basis for authorizing an involuntary sale
of a rail line. Finally, under 16 U.S.C. 1247(d), a trail-use request,
if agreed upon by the abandoning carrier, requires the Board to
condition the abandonment by issuing a Notice of Interim Trail Use
(NITU) or Certificate of Interim Trail Use (CITU), allowing the parties
to negotiate an interim trail use/rail banking agreement for the rail
line.
The collection by the Board of these offers, requests, and
applications, and the railroad's replies (when required), enables the
Board to meet its statutory duty to regulate the referenced rail
transactions. See Table--Statutory and Regulatory Provisions below.
Retention Period: Information in these collections is maintained by
the Board for 10 years, after which it is transferred to the National
Archives as permanent records.

DATES: Comments on this information collection should be submitted by
April 10, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Direct all comments to Marilyn Levitt, Surface
Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001, or
to levittm@stb.dot.gov. When submitting comments, please refer to
``Statutory Authority to Preserve Rail Service.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn Levitt at (202) 245-0269 or at
levittm@stb.dot.gov. [Assistance for the hearing impaired is available
through the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339.] Relevant STB regulations are referenced below and may be viewed
on the STB's Web site under E-Library > Reference: STB Rules, https://www.stb.dot.gov/stb/elibrary/ref_stbrules.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Respondents seeking authority from the Board
to preserve rail lines must submit certain information required under
the Board's related regulations and, in some circumstances, railroads
seeking to abandon a line must disclose certain information to the
offeror or applicant.
Offer of Financial Assistance. When a rail line would otherwise be
approved for abandonment (or discontinuance), any financially
responsible person may seek to acquire the line for continued rail
service (after abandonment has been approved), or may seek to
temporarily subsidize continued operations by the incumbent railroad
(after abandonment or discontinuance has been approved), by filing an
OFA under 49 U.S.C. 10904 and 49 CFR 1152.27. An OFA may be submitted
to the Board as soon as the railroad seeks abandonment (or
discontinuance) authority. Once an OFA is submitted, the abandoning
railroad must, upon request, promptly provide to any party considering
an OFA and to the Board an estimate of the annual subsidy or minimum
purchase price; a report on the physical condition of line; and data on
traffic, revenues, net liquidation value, and the cost to rehabilitate
to class I (minimum) track standards. If the parties are not able to
agree upon the purchase price or subsidy, then, to move forward, either
party may ask the Board to set the price or subsidy, which will be
binding upon the parties if the offeror chooses to accept the terms set
by the Board and proceed with the purchase.
Public Use Request. Any person may request that the Board prohibit
an abandoning railroad from disposing of the right-of-way--for up to
180 days--without first offering the right-of-way (on reasonable terms)
for other suitable public purposes (such as mass transit, pipeline,
transmission lines, recreation, etc.). Such requests are governed by 49
U.S.C. 10905 and 49 CFR 1152.28.
Feeder Line Application. When a line has been identified on a
railroad's system diagram map as a potential candidate for abandonment
(or discontinuance), but before abandonment (or discontinuance)
authority has been sought, any financially responsible person (other
than a Class I or II railroad) may, by filing a feeder line application
under 49 U.S.C. 10907 and 49 CFR part 1151, seek to acquire the line
for continued rail service under the forced sale provisions of the
feeder railroad development program.
Trail-Use Request. The Trails Act provides a mechanism whereby any
interested person may seek to ``railbank'' a rail right-of-way that has
been approved for abandonment and use the property in the interim as a
recreational trail. The Board has a ministerial role in this process;
under 49 CFR 1152.29, interested persons may submit a request to the
Board for a trail-use condition, and if the statutory conditions are
met, the Board must authorize the parties to negotiate a trail-use
agreement by issuing a CITU, or, in an exemption proceeding, a NITU.
The CITU or NITU typically permit negotiations for 180 days, but the
negotiations can be extended upon request to the Board. Under the
Trails Act, trail-use agreements are consensual, not forced. The
abandoning railroad is free to choose whether or not to enter into or
continue negotiations to transfer (all or part of) the right-of-way to
a trail sponsor.
Under the PRA, a Federal agency conducting or sponsoring a
collection of information must display a currently valid OMB control
number. A collection of information, which is defined in 44 U.S.C.
3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c), includes agency requirements that persons
submit reports, keep records, or provide information to the agency,
third parties, or the public. Under Sec. 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA,
Federal agencies are required to provide, prior to an agency's
submitting a collection to OMB for approval, a 60-day notice and
comment period through publication in the Federal Register concerning
each proposed collection of information, including each proposed
extension of an existing collection of information.

Dated: February 7, 2012.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2012-3178 Filed 2-9-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P

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