Surface Transportation Board 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3519 (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) gives notice of its intent to seek from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an extension of approval for the collection of the Report of Fuel Cost, Consumption, and Surcharge Revenue. Comments are requested 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 the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the collection has practical utility. Submitted comments will be summarized and included in the Board's request for OMB approval.

The Board approves the third quarter 2013 Rail Cost Adjustment Factor (RCAF) and cost index filed by the Association of American Railroads. The third quarter 2013 RCAF (Unadjusted) is 0.977. The third quarter 2013 RCAF (Adjusted) is 0.425. The third quarter 2013 RCAF-5 is 0.401.

The Board is granting an exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10901 for the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) to construct an approximately 65- mile high-speed passenger rail line between Merced and Fresno, California (the Project). The Project would be the first section of the statewide California High-Speed Train System. This exemption is subject to environmental mitigation conditions and the condition that the Authority build the route designated as environmentally preferable.

The Board is publishing, and providing the public an opportunity to comment on, the 2012 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 Board is publishing this initial regulatory flexibility analysis to aid the public in commenting on the impact on small rail carriers, if any, of the proposed rules on demurrage liability.

The Board is granting an exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 from the prior approval requirements at 49 U.S.C. 11323-25 for Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company (GTW), an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian National Railway Company, to acquire from CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) an exclusive, perpetual, non-assignable railroad operating easement over: 1. The location of the railroad at-grade crossing, at or near Leewood, between CSXT at milepost 00F Z 371.26 and Illinois Central Railroad Company (IC) at milepost 387.85, including the underlying right-of-way extending 50 feet on either side of the centerline of the CSXT tracks to IC's existing right-of-way and 75 feet on either side of the centerline of the IC tracks, together with appurtenances (other than the CSXT tracks outside the crossing) and related interlocking (Leewood Crossing); and 2. The location of the railroad at-grade crossing, at or near Aulon, between CSXT at milepost 0NI 224.05 and IC at milepost 390.0, including the underlying right-of-way extending approximately 50 feet on either side of the centerline of the CSXT track to IC's existing right-of-way and 50 feet on either side of the centerline of the IC tracks, together with appurtenances (other than the CSXT tracks outside the crossing) and related interlocking (Aulon Crossing). This acquisition is related to the Board's February 8, 2013 decision in this docket granting GTW's petition for exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 from the prior approval requirements at 49 U.S.C. 11323-25 to acquire from CSXT an operating easement over approximately 2.1 miles of CSXT's Memphis Terminal Subdivision between Leewood, Tenn., and Aulon, Tenn. After the Board served that decision, CSXT and GTW realized that they had unintentionally failed to seek authority permitting the operating easement to span the Aulon and Leewood Crossings. By a decision served on May 9, 2013, the Board is granting GTW's petition for supplemental authority and allowing it to expand its operating easement over these crossings.

The Surface Transportation Board (Board or STB), 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), is submitting a request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval of the information collections required under 49 U.S.C. 11301 and 49 CFR 1177 (rail or water carrier equipment liens (recordations)); under 49 U.S.C. 10747 and 49 CFR 1313 (rail agricultural contract summaries); and under 49 U.S.C. 13702(b) and 49 CFR 1312 (water carrier tariffs). The Board previously published a notice about this collection in the Federal Register on October 19, 2012, at 77 Fed. Reg. 64376. That notice allowed for a 60-day public review and comment period. No comments were received. The relevant information collections are described in more detail below. For each collection, comments are requested 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 the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the collection has practical utility. Submitted comments will be summarized and included in the Board's request for OMB approval.

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), the Surface Transportation Board (Board) gives notice that it is requesting from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the information collectionRail Depreciation Studies further described below. The Board previously published a notice about this collection in the Federal Register on July 30, 2012, at 77 FR 44710. That notice allowed for a 60-day public review and comment period. No comments were received. Comments may now be submitted to OMB concerning (1) whether this collection of information 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.

The Board has approved the second quarter 2013 Rail Cost Adjustment Factor (RCAF) and cost index filed by the Association of American Railroads. The second quarter 2013 RCAF (Unadjusted) is 1.006. The second quarter 2013 RCAF (Adjusted) is 0.438. The second quarter 2013 RCAF-5 is 0.414.

Under 49 U.S.C. 10502, the Board revokes the class exemption as it pertains to the trackage rights described in Docket No. FD 35715 \1\ to permit the trackage rights to expire 24 months after the commencement date of the agreement, or the date that the Gary City Track Connection, which is located at or near Gary, Ind., is completed and in use, whichever comes first, in accordance with the agreement of the parties, subject to the employee protective conditions set forth in Oregon Short Line RailroadAbandonment Portion Goshen Branch Between Firth & Ammon, in Bingham & Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979).