Surface Transportation Board June 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Surface Transportation Board, Office of Environmental Analysis, published a document in the Federal Register of June 19, 2019, concerning preparation of an environmental impact statement, scheduled scoping meetings, and a request for comments on the draft scope of study. The street address for the first scoping meeting listed was incorrect.

Spring 2019 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. Publication of the Spring 2019 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions represents a key component of the regulatory planning mechanism prescribed in Executive Order 12866 ``Regulatory Planning and Review'' (58 FR 51735) and Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 93390, January 30, 2017, Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs. The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires that agencies publish semiannual regulatory agendas in the Federal Register describing regulatory actions they are developing that may have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities (5 U.S.C. 602). In the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda) agencies report regulatory actions upcoming in the next year. Executive Order 12866 ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' signed September 30, 1993 (58 FR 51735), and Office of Management and Budget memoranda implementing section 4 of that Order establish minimum standards for agencies' agendas, including specific types of information for each entry. The Unified Agenda helps agencies fulfill these requirements. All Federal regulatory agencies have chosen to publish their regulatory agendas as part of the Unified Agenda. The complete publication of the Spring 2019 Unified Agenda containing the regulatory agendas for 71 Federal agencies, is available to the public at https://reginfo.gov. The Spring 2019 Unified Agenda publication appearing in the Federal Register consists of agency regulatory flexibility agendas, in accordance with the publication requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Agency regulatory flexibility agendas contain only those Agenda entries for rules that are likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities and entries that have been selected for periodic review under section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition (Coalition) plans to file a request with the Surface Transportation Board (Board) for authority to construct and operate an approximately 80-mile rail line between two terminus points in the Uinta Basin near Myton, Utah, and Leland Bench, Utah, and the interstate rail network. The construction and operation of the proposed rail line has the potential to result in significant environmental impacts; therefore, the Board's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) has determined that the preparation of an EIS is appropriate pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended. The purpose of this notice is to inform stakeholdersincluding members of the public; tribes; federal, state, and local agencies; environmental groups; and potential shippers interested in or potentially affected by the proposed project. OEA will hold public scoping meetings as part of the NEPA process. Comments submitted during scoping will assist OEA in defining the range of alternatives and potential impacts to be considered in the EIS. OEA has developed a Draft Scope of Study for the EIS for stakeholder review and comment. Public meeting dates and locations, along with the Draft Scope of Study, are provided below.

The Board is publishing, and providing the public an opportunity to comment on, the 2018 weighted average state tax rates for each Class I railroad, as calculated by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), for use in the Revenue Shortfall Allocation Method (RSAM).

The Surface Transportation Board (Board) grants in part a petition filed by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) in Docket No. EP 753 and amends its prior proposal in Docket No. EP 749 (Sub-No. 1) to revise certain regulations related to the National Trails System Act. Specifically, the Board proposes to modify, through this supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPR), its regulations to establish a new one-year period for any initial interim trail use negotiating period, instead of the existing 180-day initial negotiating period; to permit up to three one-year extensions of the initial period if the trail sponsor and the railroad agree; and to permit additional one-year extensions if the trail sponsor and the railroad agree and good cause is shown.