New York State Department of Environmental Conservation-Adverse Abandonment-Saratoga and North Creek Railway in Town of Johnsburg, NY, 49151-49152 [2018-21161]
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 189 / Friday, September 28, 2018 / Notices
Dated: September 25, 2018.
Jeff Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018–21138 Filed 9–27–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. FD 36218; Docket No. FD
36219]
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
Gregory B. Cundiff, Connie Cundiff,
CGX, Inc. and Ironhorse Resources,
Inc.—Continuance in Control
Exemption—San Pedro Valley
Holdings, LLC in Cochise County,
Ariz.; Gregory B. Cundiff, Connie
Cundiff, CGX, Inc. and Ironhorse
Resources, Inc.—Continuance in
Control Exemption—San Pedro Valley
Railroad, LLC in Cochise County, Ariz.
In Docket No. FD 36218, Gregory B.
Cundiff, Connie Cundiff, CGX, Inc.
(CGX), and Ironhorse Resources, Inc.
(IHR),1 (collectively, applicants) filed a
verified notice of exemption under 49
CFR 1180.2(d)(2) for CGX to continue in
control of San Pedro Valley Holdings,
LLC (SPVH), upon SPVH’s becoming a
Class III rail carrier.
This transaction is related to a
concurrently filed verified notice of
exemption in San Pedro Valley
Holdings, LLC—Acquisition
Exemption—San Pedro & Southwestern
Railroad in Cochise County, Ariz.,
Docket No. FD 36216. In that
proceeding, SPVH seeks an exemption
under 49 CFR 1150.31 to acquire two
rail lines owned by the San Pedro and
Southwestern Railroad Company: (1)
From point of connection to Union
Pacific Railroad (UP) at milepost
1033.25 at or near Benson, to milepost
1040.15 at or near St. David, a distance
of 6.9 miles in Cochise County, Ariz.;
and (2) from point of connection to UP
at milepost 1074 at or near Wilcox, to
all tracks at Wilcox Yard, a total of 8,281
feet or 1.57 miles, in Cochise County
(collectively, the Lines). The Lines total
approximately 8.47 miles.
In Docket No. FD 36219, applicants
filed a verified notice of exemption
under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) for IHR to
continue in control of San Pedro Valley
Railroad, LLC (SPVR), upon SPVR’s
becoming a Class III rail carrier. This
transaction is related to a concurrently
filed verified notice of exemption in San
Pedro Valley Railroad—Operator
Exemption—San Pedro Valley Holdings,
LLC in Cochise County, Ariz., Docket
1 CGX, a noncarrier holding company, owns
IHR—also a noncarrier holding company. CGX is
owned in equal parts by the Gregory B. Cundiff
Trust and the Connie Cundiff Trust, both of which
are noncarrier individual trusts.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:22 Sep 27, 2018
Jkt 244001
No. FD 36217, in which SPVR seeks an
exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to
assume operations over the Lines.
According to applicants, CGX will
continue in control of SPVH upon
SPVH’s becoming a Class III rail carrier
and will remain in control of the
following Class III carriers: Crystal City
Railroad, Inc; Lone Star Railroad, Inc.;
Rio Valley Railroad, Inc.; and
Mississippi Tennessee Holdings, Inc.
Applicants state that IHR will continue
in control of SPVR upon SPVR’s
becoming a Class III rail carrier and will
remain in control of the following Class
III carriers: Texas Railroad Switching,
Inc.; Rio Valley Switching Company;
Mississippi Tennessee Railroad, LLC;
Southern Switching Company;
Gardendale Railroad, Inc.; Caney Fork &
Western Railroad; and Santa Teresa
Southern Railroad.
The earliest these transactions may be
consummated is October 17, 2018, the
effective date of the exemptions (30
days after the verified notices were
filed).2 CGX and IHR state that they
intend to consummate the transactions
no sooner than 30 days after the filing
of the notices of exemption.
Applicants state that: (1) The
properties to be acquired by SPVH and
operated by SPVR, and the properties of
the rail carriers controlled by CGX and
IHR do not connect with each other; (2)
the proposed continuances in control
are not part of a series of anticipated
transactions that would connect the
carriers with each other or any railroad
in their corporate families; and (3) the
transactions do not involve a Class l rail
carrier. Therefore, the transactions are
exempt from the prior approval
requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 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 Sections 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 notices contain false or
misleading information, the exemptions
are void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the
exemptions under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)
may be filed at any time. The filing of
2 The verified notices of exemption in Docket
Nos. FD 36218 and FD 36219 originally were filed
on August 30, 2018, but were supplemented on
September 17, 2018, to clarify the common control
of the entities involved in the transactions.
Therefore, September 17 is deemed the verified
notices’ filing date.
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
49151
a petition to revoke will not
automatically stay the effectiveness of
the exemptions. Petitions for stay must
be filed no later than October 10, 2018
(at least seven days before the
exemptions become effective).
An original and 10 copies of all
pleadings, referring to Docket Nos. FD
36218 and FD 36219, must be filed with
the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E
Street SW, Washington, DC 20423–0001.
In addition, a copy of each pleading
must be served on the applicants’
counsel, Thomas F. McFarland, Thomas
F. McFarland, P.C., 208 South LaSalle
Street, Suite 1666, Chicago, IL 60604–
1228.
According to applicants, these actions
are categorically excluded from
environmental review under 49 CFR
1105.6(c) and from historic reporting
under 49 CFR 1105.8(b).
Board decisions and notices are
available on our website at www.stb.gov.
Decided: September 25, 2018.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018–21184 Filed 9–27–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 1261]
New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation—Adverse
Abandonment—Saratoga and North
Creek Railway in Town of Johnsburg,
NY
On September 10, 2018, the New York
State Department of Environmental
Conservation (the Department) filed an
application under 49 U.S.C. 10903
requesting that the Surface
Transportation Board (the Board)
authorize the third-party, or adverse,
abandonment of Saratoga and North
Creek Railway (SNCR) over
approximately 29.71 miles of rail line
extending between milepost NC 0.0 at
North Creek, NY, and its terminus at
milepost NC 29.71 near the former
Tahawus Mine (Tahawus Line or the
Line). The Line traverses United States
Postal Service Zip Codes 12842, 12843,
12851, 12852, 12853, and 12857.
According to the Department, the Line
was built by the United States during
the Second World War to facilitate the
transportation of strategic materials
from a former mine owned and operated
by NL Industries. In 2012, SNCR
obtained Board authority to operate over
the Tahawus Line, which it had
purchased from NL Industries the year
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49152
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 189 / Friday, September 28, 2018 / Notices
before. See Saratoga & N. Creek Ry.—
Operation Exemption—Tahawus Line,
FD 35631 (STB served June 1, 2012).
According to the Department, since
obtaining Board authority, SNCR has
moved at most a few carloads of
industrial garnet as well as carloads of
ballast purchased by SNCR for its own
use. The Department further claims that
there is currently no freight service on
the Line and there are only two
potential shippers. The Department
states that SNCR has resorted to using
the right-of-way, which runs through
the state-owned Forest Preserve within
New York’s Adirondack Park, as a
storage facility for obsolete railcars. The
Department states that it is seeking an
adverse abandonment to protect the
Forest Preserve.
In a decision served on February 27,
2018, the Department was granted
exemptions from several statutory
provisions as well as waivers of certain
Board regulations that were not relevant
to its adverse discontinuance
application or that sought information
not available to the Department.
According to the Department, there is
no documentation in its possession that
indicates that the Line contains
federally granted rights-of-way. Any
documentation in the Department’s
possession will be made available
promptly to those requesting it. The
Department’s entire case-in-chief for
adverse abandonment was filed with the
application.
The Department states that the
interests of railroad employees will be
protected by the conditions set forth in
Oregon Short Line Railroad—
Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch
Between Firth & Ammon, in Bingham &
Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 360 I.C.C.
91 (1979).
Any interested person may file
written comments concerning the
proposed adverse abandonment or
protests (including protestant’s entire
opposition case) by October 25, 2018.
Persons who may oppose the proposed
adverse abandonment but who do not
wish to participate fully in the process
by submitting verified statements of
witnesses containing detailed evidence
should file comments. Persons opposing
the proposed adverse abandonment who
wish to participate actively and fully in
the process should file a protest,
observing the filing, service, and content
requirements of 49 CFR 1152.25. The
Department’s reply is due by November
9, 2018.
All filings in response to this notice
must refer to Docket No. AB 1261 and
must be sent to: (1) Surface
Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW,
Washington, DC 20423–0001; and (2)
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:22 Sep 27, 2018
Jkt 244001
Joshua M. Tallent, New York State
Office of the Attorney General,
Environmental Protection Bureau, The
Capitol, Albany, NY 12224–0341.
Any request for an interim trail use/
railbanking condition under 16 U.S.C.
1247(d) and 49 CFR 1152.29 must be
filed by October 25, 2018, and should
address whether the issuance of a
certificate of interim trail use in this
case would be consistent with the grant
of an adverse abandonment application.
Each trail use request must be
accompanied by a $300 filing fee. See 49
CFR 1002.2(f)(27).
Filings may be submitted either via
the Board’s e-filing format or in the
traditional paper format. Any person
using e-filing should comply with the
instructions found on the Board’s
‘‘www.stb.gov’’ website, at the ‘‘E–
FILING’’ link. Any person submitting a
filing in the traditional paper format
should send the original and 10 copies
of the filing to the Board with a
certificate of service. Except as
otherwise set forth in 49 CFR pt.1152,
every document filed with the Board
must be served on all parties to this
adverse abandonment proceeding. 49
CFR 1104.12(a).
An environmental assessment (EA) (or
environmental impact statement (EIS), if
necessary) prepared by the Board’s
Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA)
will be served upon all parties of record
and upon any agencies or other persons
who commented during its preparation.
Any other persons who would like to
obtain a copy of the EA (or EIS) may
contact OEA by phone at the number
listed below. EAs in these abandonment
proceedings normally will be made
available within 33 days of the filing of
the application. The deadline for
submission of comments on the EA will
generally be within 30 days of its
service. The comments received will be
addressed in the Board’s decision. A
supplemental EA or EIS may be issued
where appropriate.
Persons seeking further information
concerning abandonment procedures
may contact the Board’s Office of Public
Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and
Compliance at (202) 245–0238 or refer
to the full abandonment regulations at
49 CFR pt. 1152. Assistance for the
hearing impaired is available through
the Federal Information Relay Service
(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339.
Board decisions and notices are
available on our website at www.stb.gov.
Decided: September 25, 2018.
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Aretha Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018–21161 Filed 9–27–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. FD 36216]
San Pedro Valley Holdings, LLC—
Acquisition Exemption—San Pedro
and Southwestern Railroad Company
in Cochise County, Ariz.
San Pedro Valley Holdings, LLC
(SPVH), a noncarrier, has filed a verified
notice of exemption under 49 CFR
1150.31 to acquire two rail lines owned
by the San Pedro and Southwestern
Railroad Company: (1) From point of
connection to Union Pacific Railroad
(UP) at milepost 1033.25 at or near
Benson, to milepost 1040.15 at or near
St. David, a distance of 6.9 miles in
Cochise County, Ariz.; and (2) from
point of connection to UP at milepost
1074 at or near Wilcox, to all tracks at
Wilcox Yard, a total of 8,281 feet or 1.57
miles, in Cochise County (collectively,
the Lines). The Lines total
approximately 8.47 miles.
This transaction is related to a
concurrently filed verified notice of
exemption in Gregory B. Cundiff—
Continuance in Control Exemption—
San Pedro Valley Holdings, LLC in
Cochise County, Ariz., Docket No. FD
36218, in which CGX, Inc., seeks Board
approval to continue in control of SPVH
upon SPVH’s becoming a Class III rail
carrier.
SPVH certifies that, as a result of the
proposed transaction, its projected
annual revenues will not result in its
becoming a Class I or Class II rail carrier
and will not exceed $5 million. SPVH
also certifies that the proposed
transaction does not involve any
interchange commitments as defined in
49 CFR 1150.43(h).
The earliest this transaction may be
consummated is October 17, 2018, the
effective date of the exemption (30 days
after the verified notice was filed).1
SPVH states that it intends to
consummate the transaction no sooner
than 30 days after the filing of this
notice of exemption.
If the verified notice contains false or
misleading information, the exemption
is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the
1 SPVH filed its verified notice of exemption on
August 30, 2018. On September 17, 2018, however,
SPVH supplemented its verified notice to clarify
references to Docket No. FD 36218. Therefore,
September 17, 2018, is deemed the verified notice’s
filing date.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 189 (Friday, September 28, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49151-49152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21161]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 1261]
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation--Adverse
Abandonment--Saratoga and North Creek Railway in Town of Johnsburg, NY
On September 10, 2018, the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (the Department) filed an application under
49 U.S.C. 10903 requesting that the Surface Transportation Board (the
Board) authorize the third-party, or adverse, abandonment of Saratoga
and North Creek Railway (SNCR) over approximately 29.71 miles of rail
line extending between milepost NC 0.0 at North Creek, NY, and its
terminus at milepost NC 29.71 near the former Tahawus Mine (Tahawus
Line or the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip
Codes 12842, 12843, 12851, 12852, 12853, and 12857.
According to the Department, the Line was built by the United
States during the Second World War to facilitate the transportation of
strategic materials from a former mine owned and operated by NL
Industries. In 2012, SNCR obtained Board authority to operate over the
Tahawus Line, which it had purchased from NL Industries the year
[[Page 49152]]
before. See Saratoga & N. Creek Ry.--Operation Exemption--Tahawus Line,
FD 35631 (STB served June 1, 2012). According to the Department, since
obtaining Board authority, SNCR has moved at most a few carloads of
industrial garnet as well as carloads of ballast purchased by SNCR for
its own use. The Department further claims that there is currently no
freight service on the Line and there are only two potential shippers.
The Department states that SNCR has resorted to using the right-of-way,
which runs through the state-owned Forest Preserve within New York's
Adirondack Park, as a storage facility for obsolete railcars. The
Department states that it is seeking an adverse abandonment to protect
the Forest Preserve.
In a decision served on February 27, 2018, the Department was
granted exemptions from several statutory provisions as well as waivers
of certain Board regulations that were not relevant to its adverse
discontinuance application or that sought information not available to
the Department.
According to the Department, there is no documentation in its
possession that indicates that the Line contains federally granted
rights-of-way. Any documentation in the Department's possession will be
made available promptly to those requesting it. The Department's entire
case-in-chief for adverse abandonment was filed with the application.
The Department states that the interests of railroad employees will
be protected by the conditions set forth in Oregon Short Line
Railroad--Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch Between Firth & Ammon, in
Bingham & Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979).
Any interested person may file written comments concerning the
proposed adverse abandonment or protests (including protestant's entire
opposition case) by October 25, 2018. Persons who may oppose the
proposed adverse abandonment but who do not wish to participate fully
in the process by submitting verified statements of witnesses
containing detailed evidence should file comments. Persons opposing the
proposed adverse abandonment who wish to participate actively and fully
in the process should file a protest, observing the filing, service,
and content requirements of 49 CFR 1152.25. The Department's reply is
due by November 9, 2018.
All filings in response to this notice must refer to Docket No. AB
1261 and must be sent to: (1) Surface Transportation Board, 395 E
Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001; and (2) Joshua M. Tallent, New
York State Office of the Attorney General, Environmental Protection
Bureau, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341.
Any request for an interim trail use/railbanking condition under 16
U.S.C. 1247(d) and 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by October 25, 2018,
and should address whether the issuance of a certificate of interim
trail use in this case would be consistent with the grant of an adverse
abandonment application. Each trail use request must be accompanied by
a $300 filing fee. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(27).
Filings may be submitted either via the Board's e-filing format or
in the traditional paper format. Any person using e-filing should
comply with the instructions found on the Board's ``www.stb.gov''
website, at the ``E-FILING'' link. Any person submitting a filing in
the traditional paper format should send the original and 10 copies of
the filing to the Board with a certificate of service. Except as
otherwise set forth in 49 CFR pt.1152, every document filed with the
Board must be served on all parties to this adverse abandonment
proceeding. 49 CFR 1104.12(a).
An environmental assessment (EA) (or environmental impact statement
(EIS), if necessary) prepared by the Board's Office of Environmental
Analysis (OEA) will be served upon all parties of record and upon any
agencies or other persons who commented during its preparation. Any
other persons who would like to obtain a copy of the EA (or EIS) may
contact OEA by phone at the number listed below. EAs in these
abandonment proceedings normally will be made available within 33 days
of the filing of the application. The deadline for submission of
comments on the EA will generally be within 30 days of its service. The
comments received will be addressed in the Board's decision. A
supplemental EA or EIS may be issued where appropriate.
Persons seeking further information concerning abandonment
procedures may contact the Board's Office of Public Assistance,
Governmental Affairs, and Compliance at (202) 245-0238 or refer to the
full abandonment regulations at 49 CFR pt. 1152. Assistance for the
hearing impaired is available through the Federal Information Relay
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Board decisions and notices are available on our website at
www.stb.gov.
Decided: September 25, 2018.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Aretha Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018-21161 Filed 9-27-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
