Surface Transportation Board January 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In response to a petition filed on August 1, 2012, by Diana Del Grosso, Ray Smith, Joseph Hatch, Cheryl Hatch, Kathleen Kelley, Andrew Wilklund, and Richard Kosiba (Petitioners), the Board is instituting a declaratory order proceeding under 49 U.S.C. 721 and 5 U.S.C. 554(e). Petitioners request that the Board declare that specific operations conducted in the town of Upton, Mass. (Town) at a bulk transloading facility (Upton Facility), claimed to be performed by the Grafton and Upton Railroad (G&U), do not constitute ``transportation by a rail carrier,'' and that the Town's zoning and other regulations are therefore not preempted under 49 U.S.C. 10501(b). This notice provides for further submissions by the parties and seeks public comment.

The Surface Transportation Board (Board), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3519 (PRA), gives notice that the Board will seek from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an extension of approval for the currently approved collection, system diagram maps, described below. The Board is seeking comments regarding this collection concerning (1) Whether the collection is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the collection has practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the Board's burden estimates; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (4) 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. Comments will be summarized and included in the Board's request for OMB approval.

Tongue River Railroad Company, Inc. (TRRC) seeks a Board license under 49 U.S.C. 10901 to construct and operate a rail line in southeast Montana. The purpose of the proposed line is to transport low sulfur sub-bituminous coal from mine sites in the Otter Creek and Ashland, Mont., area. TRRC had filed a revised application for its construction authority on October 16, 2012, but modified the project in a December 17, 2012 supplemental application that supersedes the October 16 revised application. As discussed in the supplemental application, TRRC's preferred routing for the proposed line would be the Colstrip Alignment between Colstrip, Mont., and Ashland/Otter Creek, Mont., the southern portion of which was approved previously by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The Board here gives notice that it is accepting the supplemental application. The Board has already established a service list for this proceeding in a notice served on September 20, 2012, and a procedural schedule for filings on the transportation merits in a decision served on November 1, 2012. Under that schedule, filings concerning whether the supplemental application meets the criteria of 49 U.S.C. 10901 are due by March 1, 2013, and any reply comment from TRRC is due by April 15, 2013. As indicated below, any entity that is not currently on the service list that submits a filing by March 1 will be added to the service list.