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

The Surface Transportation Board (Board) has approved the settlement agreement (Agreement) negotiated by the United States Departments of Energy and Defense (the Government) on the one hand and BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) on the other hand; prescribed the Agreement's rate and rate update methodology and revenue-to-variable cost (R/VC) ratios as the maximum reasonable rates; and continued to hold these proceedings in abeyance as to the remaining railroad defendants to permit continued settlement negotiations.

Notice is hereby given of a meeting of the National Grain Car Council (NGCC), pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2 10(a)(2).

The Surface Transportation Board (Board) is amending its rules to require rail carriers that submit to the Board R-1 reports that identify information on capital and operating expenditures for Positive Train Control (PTC) to separately report those expenses so that they can be viewed both as component parts of, as well as separately from, other capital investments and expenses. PTC is an automated system designed to prevent train-to-train collisions and other accidents. Rail carriers with traffic routes that carry passengers and/or hazardous toxic-by-inhalation (TIH) or poisonous-by-inhalation (PIH) materials, as so designated under federal law, must implement PTC according to federal legislation. Pursuant to the notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on October 13, 2011, we are adopting supplemental schedules to the R-1 to require financial disclosure with respect to PTC to help inform the Board and the public about the specific costs attributable to PTC implementation.

The Surface Transportation Board (the Board) will hold a public hearing to explore further the issues surrounding the petition by The National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) and the related comments filed in this proceeding.

The Surface Transportation Board (Board) is accepting for consideration the application submitted on June 14, 2013, and supplemented on July 2, 2013, by CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), and Louisville & Indiana Railroad Company, Inc. (L&I). The application seeks Board approval under 49 U.S.C. 11323 et seq., for joint use by CSXT and L&I of L&I's 106.5-mile railroad line between its connection with CSXT in Indianapolis, Ind., milepost 4.0, and its connection with CSXT in Louisville, Ky., milepost 110.5 (the Line). In order to jointly use the Line with L&I, CSXT seeks to acquire and use a perpetual, non-exclusive freight railroad operating easement over the Line. This proposal is referred to as the Transaction, and CSXT and L&I are referred to collectively as Applicants. The Board finds that the Transaction is a ``minor transaction'' under 49 CFR 1180.2(c), and that the application, as supplemented on July 2, 2013, is complete.\1\ The Board adopts a procedural schedule for consideration of the application, under which the Board's final decision would be issued by December 6, 2013 (assuming the environmental review process has been completed), and would become effective by December 26, 2013.