Hazardous Materials: Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Assessment and Request for Public Comment for a Special Permit Relating to the Transport of Precursor Chemicals From Syria in Port Arthur, Texas, 33802-33803 [2014-13685]
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 113 / Thursday, June 12, 2014 / Notices
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Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30181–83
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.95 and
501.8.
Terry Shelton,
Associate Administrator for the National
Center for Statistics and Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2014–13727 Filed 6–11–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–59–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA–2014–0085; Notice
14–9]
Hazardous Materials: Notice of
Availability of Draft Environmental
Assessment and Request for Public
Comment for a Special Permit Relating
to the Transport of Precursor
Chemicals From Syria in Port Arthur,
Texas
Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Availability and
Request for Public Comment.
rmajette on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY:
This notice informs the public
of the availability of a draft
environmental assessment in support of
a special permit application that would
allow offloading and the transport by
highway of hazardous materials in nonDOT Specification Packaging in Port
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
21:18 Jun 11, 2014
Jkt 232001
Arthur, Texas. PHMSA requests public
comment on the draft environmental
assessment.
DATES: PHMSA will accept comments
on the draft environmental assessment
until close of business June 23, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be
submitted in the following ways:
Federal eRulemaking Portal:
www.regulations.gov. Follow
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Docket Management System:
U.S. Department of Transportation,
Docket Operations, M–30, West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC 20590. If you submit
your comments by mail, please submit
two copies. To receive confirmation that
PHMSA has received your comments,
please include a self-addressed stamped
postcard.
Hand Delivery: Docket Management
System: U.S. Department of
Transportation, Docket Operations,
M–30, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: Docket Management System:
U.S. Department of Transportation,
Docket Operations, 202–493–2251.
Instructions: Include the agency name
and docket number PHMSA–2014–0085
(Notice 14–9) at the beginning of your
comment. Please note that all comments
received will be posted without change
to www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search
the electronic form of any written
communications and comments
received into any of our dockets by the
name of the individual submitting the
document (or signing the document, if
submitted on behalf of an association,
business, labor union, etc.). You may
review DOT’s complete Privacy Act
Statement in the Federal Register, 65 FR
19477, April 11, 2000, or you may visit
www.regulations.gov.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read the draft environmental assessment
or comments received, go to
www.regulations.gov or DOT’s Docket
Operations Office (see hand delivery
address above).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alice Koethe, Attorney, Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration, Office of the Chief
Counsel, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC 20590; 202–366–7207;
alice.koethe@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42
PO 00000
Frm 00090
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
U.S.C. 4321–4347, the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA
implementing regulations, 40 CFR parts
1500–1508, and DOT Order 5610.1C,
Procedures for Considering
Environmental Impacts, the Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA) has prepared
a draft environmental assessment (Draft
EA) for an application for a Special
Permit/Requested Relief of Certain
Packaging Requirements for Highway
Motor Vehicles relating to the transport
of precursor chemicals from Syria in
Port Arthur, Texas. PHMSA serves as
the lead agency for the Draft EA, and the
U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of
Commerce, and the U.S. Department of
the Treasury serve as cooperating
agencies.
The Organisation for the Prohibition
of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the
Department of State have informed
PHMSA that an operation is underway
to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons
program, including the removal of 19
different chemicals from Syria used as
precursors to chemical weapons. Five of
these chemicals are bound for Port
Arthur, Texas, where they will be
destroyed and disposed (the
‘‘operation’’). These five chemicals have
been/are to be transferred to a
Norwegian sovereign immune cargo
vessel, which is ultimately bound for
Port Arthur, Texas. There are no
explosives or munitions associated with
the chemicals, and these chemicals have
not been assembled into weapons or
mixed for weapons purposes. OPCW
informed PHMSA that these five
chemicals are being shipped in 16 20ft ISO maritime shipping containers in
various packagings. However, due to
incomplete information from
international officials and questions
about loading, PHMSA cannot confirm
that the UN packagings containing the
chemicals are compliant with the
Hazardous Materials Regulations, 49
CFR Parts 171–180 (HMR).
Veolia is the private company that the
OPCW selected for the destruction and
disposal of the chemicals. Upon arrival
at the Port of Port Arthur, Veolia’s
subcontractor, Bed Rock Inc, d/b/a/Tri
State Motor Transit Company (Tri
State), will transport the chemicals 15
miles overland from the Port of Port
Arthur to Veolia’s approved disposal
site in Port Arthur, Texas. Due to the
lack of compliance assurance with the
HMR, Veolia has requested a special
permit (SP) from PHMSA.
PHMSA has prepared the Draft EA
analyzing the environmental impacts of
four alternatives: (1) The no action
alternative, where PHMSA does not
issue a SP because the chemicals do not
E:\FR\FM\12JNN1.SGM
12JNN1
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 113 / Thursday, June 12, 2014 / Notices
enter and are not destroyed in the
United States; (2) PHMSA does not
issue a SP and exercises agency
discretion to forgo enforcement of the
HMR for the 15-mile overland transport;
(3) PHMSA issues a SP, inspects the
drums for HMR compliance prior to the
arrival in Port Arthur, and requires any
non-compliant or unsafe drums to be
placed into salvage drums; and (4)
PHMSA issues a SP for relief from the
HMR.
The Draft EA is available online at
www.regulations.gov under docket
number PHMSA–2014–0085. The Draft
EA is also available on PHMSA’s Web
site at https://phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/
port-arthur. The Draft EA is also
available for inspection locally at the
following public library: Port Arthur
Public Library, 4615 9th Avenue (at
Highway 73), Port Arthur, TX 77642,
409–985–8838. The anticipated delivery
date to Port Arthur necessitates an
abbreviated comment period of 10 days.
Patrick D. Broe (Broe) and Sand
Springs Holdings, LLC (Holdings)
(collectively, Applicants), both
noncarriers, have filed a verified notice
of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2)
to acquire control of Sand Springs
Railway Company (Sand Springs), a
Class III railroad.
Applicants state that Broe directly
controls Holdings, OmniTRAX, Inc.
(OmniTRAX), a noncarrier company
that controls 12 Class III railroads,1 and
BNS Holding, Inc. (BNS), a noncarrier
that indirectly controls three Class III
railroads.2 Applicants also state that
Sheffield Steel Corporation (Sheffield), a
noncarrier, currently controls Sand
Springs. According to Applicants,
Holdings and Sheffield have entered
into an agreement 3 dated May 23, 2014,
by which Holdings will acquire all of
the stock of Sand Springs. Once that
transaction is consummated, Broe and
Holdings will control Sand Springs.
Applicants intend to consummate this
transaction on or shortly after June 26,
2014 (the effective date of the
exemption, 30 days after the notice of
exemption was filed).
Applicants state that: (1) The rail lines
operated by OmniTRAX’s and BNS’s
railroads do not connect with the rail
lines operated by Sand Springs; (2) this
transaction is not part of a series of
anticipated transactions that would
connect the rail lines operated by Sand
Springs with any railroad in the
OmniTRAX or BNS corporate family;
and (3) the transaction does not involve
a Class I rail carrier. Therefore, the
transaction is exempt from the prior
approval acquirements of 49 U.S.C.
11323 pursuant to 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2).
Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), the Board
may not use its exemption authority to
relieve a rail carrier of its statutory
obligation to protect the interests of its
employees. Section 11326(c), however,
does not provide for labor protection for
transactions under 11324 and 11325
that involve only Class III rail carriers.
Accordingly, the Board may not impose
labor protective conditions here,
because all of the carriers involved are
Class III carriers.
If the verified notice contains false or
misleading information, the exemption
is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the
exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)
may be filed at any time. The filing of
a petition to revoke will not
automatically stay the effectiveness of
the exemption. Petitions to stay must be
filed no later than June 19, 2014 (at least
7 days before the exemption becomes
effective).
An original and 10 copies of all
pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD
35829, must be filed with the Surface
Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20423–0001. In
addition, a copy must be served on Karl
Morell, Ball Janik LLP, 655 Fifteenth
1 Those 12 railroads are: Chicago Rail Link, LLC;
Georgia Woodlands Railroad, LLC; Great Western
Railway of Colorado, LLC; Manufacturers’ Junction
Railway, LLC; Newburgh & South Shore Railroad,
LLC; Northern Ohio & Western Railway, LLC;
Panhandle Northern Railroad, LLC; Alliance
Terminal Railroad, LLC; Fulton County Railway,
LLC; Alabama & Tennessee River Railway, LLC;
Kettle Falls International Railway, LLC; and
Stockton Terminal and Eastern Railroad.
2 Those three railroads are: Nebraska, Kansas and
Colorado Railway, LLC; Illinois Railway, LLC; and
Georgia & Florida Railway, LLC.
3 A redacted version of the agreement between
Holdings and Sheffield was filed with the notice of
exemption. An unredacted version was filed
concurrently under seal, along with a motion for
protective order pursuant to 49 CFR 1104.14(b).
That motion will be addressed in a separate
decision.
Issued in Washington, DC, on June 6, 2014.
Magdy El-Sibaie,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous
Materials Safety, Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014–13685 Filed 6–11–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–60–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. FD 35829]
rmajette on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Patrick D. Broe and Sand Springs
Holdings, LLC—Acquisition of Control
Exemption—Sand Springs Railway
Company
VerDate Mar<15>2010
21:18 Jun 11, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00091
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
33803
Street NW., Suite 225, Washington, DC
20005.
Board decisions and notices are
available on our Web site at
WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.
Decided: June 9, 2014.
By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell,
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Raina S. White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2014–13775 Filed 6–11–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. FD 35831]
Grainbelt Corporation—Trackage
Rights Exemption—BNSF Railway
Company and Stillwater Central
Railroad, LLC
BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) and
Stillwater Central Railroad, LLC f/k/a
Stillwater Central Railroad, Inc. (SLWC),
pursuant to written trackage rights
agreements dated April 1, 2014, and
May 21, 2014, respectively, have each
agreed to amend their trackage rights
agreements with Grainbelt Corporation
(GNBC),1 which together will allow
GNBC to provide local service to a grain
shuttle facility in Eldorado, Okla.
(between Altus and Quanah).
Specifically, BNSF is amending its
trackage rights with GNBC regarding
service over the connecting line
between the connection with SLWC east
of Long (milepost 668.73) and Quanah
(milepost 723.30), and SLWC is
amending its trackage rights with GNBC
regarding service between Snyder Yard
(milepost 664.00) and its connection
with BNSF east of Long (milepost
668.73).2
1 GNBC already held overhead trackage rights
granted by the predecessor of BNSF between
Snyder Yard, Okla. (milepost 664.00) and Quanah,
Tex. (milepost 723.30), under which GNBC has the
right to interchange at Quanah with BNSF and
Union Pacific Railroad Company. BNSF
subsequently sold a portion of the subject trackage
to SLWC. The original trackage rights were
supplemented in 2009 to allow GNBC to operate
between Snyder and Altus, Okla., with the right to
perform limited local service at Long, Okla. See
Grainbelt Corp.—Trackage Rights Exemption—
BNSF Ry. & Stillwater Cent. R.R., FD 35332 (STB
served Dec. 17, 2009). The trackage rights were
further amended in 2013 to allow GNBC to provide
local grain service to a shuttle facility at Headrick,
Okla. See Grainbelt Corp.—Trackage Rights
Exemption—BNSF Ry. & Stillwater Cent. R.R., FD
35719 (STB served Mar. 15, 2013). The original and
supplemental trackage rights would not be affected
by the amended trackage rights that are the subject
of this proceeding.
2 Redacted versions of the trackage rights
agreements between GNBC/BNSF and GNBC/SLWC
E:\FR\FM\12JNN1.SGM
Continued
12JNN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 113 (Thursday, June 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33802-33803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-13685]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2014-0085; Notice 14-9]
Hazardous Materials: Notice of Availability of Draft
Environmental Assessment and Request for Public Comment for a Special
Permit Relating to the Transport of Precursor Chemicals From Syria in
Port Arthur, Texas
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Availability and Request for Public Comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice informs the public of the availability of a draft
environmental assessment in support of a special permit application
that would allow offloading and the transport by highway of hazardous
materials in non-DOT Specification Packaging in Port Arthur, Texas.
PHMSA requests public comment on the draft environmental assessment.
DATES: PHMSA will accept comments on the draft environmental assessment
until close of business June 23, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted in the following ways:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Docket Management System: U.S. Department of Transportation,
Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. If you submit your
comments by mail, please submit two copies. To receive confirmation
that PHMSA has received your comments, please include a self-addressed
stamped postcard.
Hand Delivery: Docket Management System: U.S. Department of
Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 between
9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: Docket Management System: U.S. Department of Transportation,
Docket Operations, 202-493-2251.
Instructions: Include the agency name and docket number PHMSA-2014-
0085 (Notice 14-9) at the beginning of your comment. Please note that
all comments received will be posted without change to
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of any
written communications and comments received into any of our dockets by
the name of the individual submitting the document (or signing the
document, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor
union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in
the Federal Register, 65 FR 19477, April 11, 2000, or you may visit
www.regulations.gov.
Docket: For access to the docket to read the draft environmental
assessment or comments received, go to www.regulations.gov or DOT's
Docket Operations Office (see hand delivery address above).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alice Koethe, Attorney, Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of the Chief Counsel,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590; 202-366-7207;
alice.koethe@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347, the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA implementing regulations, 40 CFR parts
1500-1508, and DOT Order 5610.1C, Procedures for Considering
Environmental Impacts, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA) has prepared a draft environmental assessment
(Draft EA) for an application for a Special Permit/Requested Relief of
Certain Packaging Requirements for Highway Motor Vehicles relating to
the transport of precursor chemicals from Syria in Port Arthur, Texas.
PHMSA serves as the lead agency for the Draft EA, and the U.S. Coast
Guard, U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of the
Treasury serve as cooperating agencies.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and
the Department of State have informed PHMSA that an operation is
underway to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons program, including the
removal of 19 different chemicals from Syria used as precursors to
chemical weapons. Five of these chemicals are bound for Port Arthur,
Texas, where they will be destroyed and disposed (the ``operation'').
These five chemicals have been/are to be transferred to a Norwegian
sovereign immune cargo vessel, which is ultimately bound for Port
Arthur, Texas. There are no explosives or munitions associated with the
chemicals, and these chemicals have not been assembled into weapons or
mixed for weapons purposes. OPCW informed PHMSA that these five
chemicals are being shipped in 16 20-ft ISO maritime shipping
containers in various packagings. However, due to incomplete
information from international officials and questions about loading,
PHMSA cannot confirm that the UN packagings containing the chemicals
are compliant with the Hazardous Materials Regulations, 49 CFR Parts
171-180 (HMR).
Veolia is the private company that the OPCW selected for the
destruction and disposal of the chemicals. Upon arrival at the Port of
Port Arthur, Veolia's subcontractor, Bed Rock Inc, d/b/a/Tri State
Motor Transit Company (Tri State), will transport the chemicals 15
miles overland from the Port of Port Arthur to Veolia's approved
disposal site in Port Arthur, Texas. Due to the lack of compliance
assurance with the HMR, Veolia has requested a special permit (SP) from
PHMSA.
PHMSA has prepared the Draft EA analyzing the environmental impacts
of four alternatives: (1) The no action alternative, where PHMSA does
not issue a SP because the chemicals do not
[[Page 33803]]
enter and are not destroyed in the United States; (2) PHMSA does not
issue a SP and exercises agency discretion to forgo enforcement of the
HMR for the 15-mile overland transport; (3) PHMSA issues a SP, inspects
the drums for HMR compliance prior to the arrival in Port Arthur, and
requires any non-compliant or unsafe drums to be placed into salvage
drums; and (4) PHMSA issues a SP for relief from the HMR.
The Draft EA is available online at www.regulations.gov under
docket number PHMSA-2014-0085. The Draft EA is also available on
PHMSA's Web site at https://phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/port-arthur. The Draft
EA is also available for inspection locally at the following public
library: Port Arthur Public Library, 4615 9th Avenue (at Highway 73),
Port Arthur, TX 77642, 409-985-8838. The anticipated delivery date to
Port Arthur necessitates an abbreviated comment period of 10 days.
Issued in Washington, DC, on June 6, 2014.
Magdy El-Sibaie,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety, Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-13685 Filed 6-11-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P
