Surface Transportation Board 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under 49 U.S.C. 10502, the Board is granting a petition for exemption from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323 et seq., for BNSF Railway Company, a Class I rail carrier, to lease and operate an interlocker plant and underlying land owned by the Illinois Central Railroad Company (CN), a Class I rail carrier. The interlocker plant, which is situated at or near BNSF's Corwith Yard in the City of Chicago, Cook County, IL, includes all signal appliances and structures thereon and the tower facility, but excludes the tracks, track appurtenances, turnouts and derails of CN and BNSF. The interlocker plant is bounded by: (i) The opposing home signals on the BNSF Joliet, IL-Chicago main line; (ii) the opposing home signals on the CN Joliet- Chicago main line; and (iii) the opposing home signals on the BNSF Joliet-Chicago main line and the BNSF Wye.

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 et seq. (PRA), has submitted a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of approval for the currently approved collection of the Waybill Compliance Survey. The Board previously published a notice about these collections in the Federal Register on December 18, 2006, at 71 FR 75811. That notice allowed for a 60-day public review and comment period. No comments were received. The Waybill Compliance Survey is described in detail below. Comments may now be submitted to OMB concerning (1) the accuracy of the Board's burden estimates; (2) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; (3) 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; and (4) whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the collection has practical utility.

The Board grants an exemption, under 49 U.S.C. 10502, from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323, et seq., for Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company (collectively, NS), to acquire control of Algers, Winslow and Western Railway Company (AWW) and to consolidate AWW into NS following the acquisition. The exemption is granted subject to the employee protective conditions in New York Dock Ry.ControlBrooklyn Eastern Dist., 360 I.C.C. 60 (1979), and the condition that NS adhere to its pledge to preserve the Oakland City, IN interchange and honor existing contracts involving AWW.

In conjunction with the Surface Transportation Board's decision in Rail Fuel Surcharges, STB Ex Parte No. 661 (STB served Jan. 26, 2007), the Board has proposed to require all large (Class I) railroads to submit a monthly report containing the following information: total monthly fuel cost; gallons of fuel consumed during the month; increased or decreased cost of fuel over the previous month; and total monthly revenue from fuel surcharges.

The Board, on its own motion, in a decision served on January 26, 2007, is exempting Norfolk Southern Railway Company and CSX Transportation, Inc. from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10903 to discontinue service over a line of railroad known as the Robbinsville Industrial Track, subject to the employee protective conditions in Oregon Short Line R. Co.AbandonmentGoshen, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979). The line extends between milepost 32.20 and milepost 37.90 in the cities of Hamilton Township and Washington Township, Mercer County, NJ, a distance of approximately 5.7 miles. The decision also grants a petition for reconsideration filed by Mr. James Riffin in a related docket, STB Docket No. AB-167 (Sub-No. 1185X), a proceeding in which Consolidated Rail Corporation filed a notice of exemption to abandon the instant line.