Surface Transportation Board 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) \1\ has filed an application under 49 U.S.C. 10901 for authority to acquire and operate approximately 368 miles of railroad lines (referred to as the ``Core Lines'') that are owned by the State of South Dakota (the State).\2\ The Core Lines, which are described in a July 10, 1986 Operating Agreement between Burlington Northern Railroad Company (BN, a BNSF predecessor) and the State, extend principally: between milepost (MP) 777.0 near Aberdeen, SD, and MP 650.6 near Mitchell, SD; between MP 518.9 near Sioux City, IA, and MP 649.7 near Mitchell, SD; between MP 293.1 near Canton, SD, and MP 650.6 near Mitchell, SD; \3\ between MPs 74.1 and 68.8 in Sioux Falls, SD; between MP 68.8 near Sioux Falls, SD, and MP 49.4 near Canton, SD; and between MPs 511.9 and 518.9 in Sioux City, IA.

The Surface Transportation Board proposes to adopt 1.029 (2.9%) as the measure of average change in railroad productivity for the 1999-2003 (5-year) period. This proposal is a revision to the proposal published on February 2, 2005, at 70 FR 5509-10. The current value of 2.2% was developed for the 1998 to 2002 period.

The Surface Transportation Board proposes to adopt 1.035 (3.5%) as the measure of average change in railroad productivity for the 1999-2003 (5-year) period. The current value of 2.2% was developed for the 1998 to 2002 period.

Under 49 U.S.C. 11327, the Board finds that a settlement agreement that was entered into by Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company (collectively, NS) and Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company (W&LE), when implemented, will satisfy certain conditions imposed in CSX Corp. et al.ControlConrail Inc. et al., 3 S.T.B. 196 (1998). Under 49 U.S.C. 10502 the Board grants the exemption authority sought by NS and W&LE pursuant to the settlement agreement. The Settlement Agreement includes 7 elements. Element 1 provides that W&LE will be granted overhead trackage rights, limited to one train per day per direction, between Bellevue (Yeomans), OH, at Milepost (MP) T-54.7 and Toledo (Manhattan Jct.), OH, at MP CS- 1.30. Element 1 also provides that W&LE will be granted back- up haulage rights for overflow traffic. In STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 96), the Board has granted an exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 for the Bellevue-Toledo trackage rights, which were originally sought in a responsive application in a rail consolidation proceeding, subject to the labor protective conditions set forth in Norfolk and Western Ry. Co.Trackage RightsBN, 354 I.C.C. 605, 610-15 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.Lease and Operate, 360 I.C.C. 653, 664 (1980). Element 2 provides that W&LE will purchase the Toledo Pivot Bridge, which is also known as the Maumee River Bridge (this is a railroad swing bridge that spans the Maumee River in Toledo, OH). In STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 99), the Board has granted a 49 U.S.C. 10502 petition for exemption of the Toledo Pivot Bridge purchase transaction. Any employee affected by the Toledo Pivot Bridge purchase exempted in STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 99) will be protected as required by section 10902(d), subject to the standards and procedures established in Wisconsin Central Ltd.Acquisition Exem. Union Pac. RR, 2 S.T.B. 218 (1997), aff'd in relevant part sub nom. Association of American Railroads v. STB, 162 F.3d 101 (D.C. Cir. 1998). Element 3 provides for a 10-year extension of W&LE's lease of NS's Huron Dock on Lake Erie. In STB Finance Docket No. 32516 (Sub- No. 1), the Board has accepted a 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(4) notice of exemption respecting the Huron Dock lease extension. Any employee affected by the Huron Dock lease extension exempted in STB Finance Docket No. 32516 (Sub-No. 1) will be protected by the labor protective conditions set forth in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.Lease and Operate, 354 I.C.C. 732 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.Lease and Operate, 360 I.C.C. 653 (1980). Element 4 provides for a 10-year extension of W&LE's Bellevue-Huron Dock overhead trackage rights, by which W&LE accesses Huron Dock. These trackage rights run over the NS line between approximately MP B242 at Bellevue, OH, and approximately MP B229 at Berlin Heights, OH, and between approximately MP B232 at Shinrock, OH (on the Bellevue-Berlin Heights segment), and approximately MP HU12.2 at the Huron Dock connection in Huron, OH. In STB Finance Docket No. 32525 (Sub-No. 1), the Board has accepted a 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(4) notice of exemption respecting the Bellevue-Huron Dock trackage rights extension. Any employee affected by the trackage rights exempted in STB Finance Docket No. 32525 (Sub-No. 1) will be protected by the labor protective conditions set forth in Norfolk and Western Ry. Co. Trackage RightsBN, 354 I.C.C. 605, 610-15 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.Lease and Operate, 360 I.C.C. 653, 664 (1980). Element 5 provides that W&LE will be granted overhead trackage rights in the Cleveland, OH area between Berea, OH (at MP CD- 194.2), and the Knob, OH (at MP GZ-488.13). In STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 97), the Board has accepted a 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7) notice of exemption for the Berea-Knob trackage rights. Any employee affected by the trackage rights exempted in STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub- No. 97) will be protected by the labor protective conditions set forth in Norfolk and Western Ry. Co.Trackage RightsBN, 354 I.C.C. 605, 610-15 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.Lease and Operate, 360 I.C.C. 653, 664 (1980). Element 6 provides that NS will be granted overhead trackage rights between Clairton, PA (at MP 5.2), and Bellevue, OH (at MP H53.7), with certain rights of ingress and egress at Mingo Jct., OH, Jewett, OH, Bowerston, OH, and Orrville, OH. In STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 98), the Board has accepted a 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7) notice of exemption for the Clairton-Bellevue trackage rights. Any employee affected by the trackage rights exempted in STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 98) will be protected by the labor protective conditions set forth in Norfolk and Western Ry. Co.Trackage RightsBN, 354 I.C.C. 605, 610-15 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc. Lease and Operate, 360 I.C.C. 653, 664 (1980). Element 7 provides that, to allow NS to access a new trailer parking facility in the Maple Heights area (Maple Heights is located a few miles southeast of Cleveland), NS will be granted the right to create and use a second road at-grade crossing over W&LE's Cleveland Subdivision line at MP 8.67 under the same terms and conditions that govern NS's use of the existing road at-grade crossing over the W&LE line at MP 9.03. Element 7 further provides for NS and W&LE to negotiate a broader agreement regarding operations in the Maple Heights area. NS and W&LE are currently evaluating two options, both of which involve the lease, by NS, of freight rights on the Randall Secondary.