[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 97 (Friday, May 17, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25011-25012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12455]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board 1
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    \1\ The ICC Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. No. 104-88, 109 
Stat. 803, which was enacted on December 29, 1995, and took effect 
on January 1, 1996, abolished the Interstate Commerce Commission and 
transferred certain functions to the Surface Transportation Board 
(Board). This notice relates to functions that are subject to Board 
jurisdiction pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10901.
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[STB Finance Docket No. 32910]


Northwestern Pacific Railroad Authority; Acquisition Exemption; 
Former Northwestern Pacific Railroad Line From Southern Pacific 
Transportation Company and Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and 
Transportation District

    Northwestern Pacific Railroad Authority (NWPRA), a 
noncarrier,2 has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 
1150.31 to acquire former Northwestern Pacific Railroad Line real 
estate and rail facilities/trackage from Southern Pacific 
Transportation Company (SP) which extends from Healdsburg, CA (NWP MP 
68.2), to Lombard Station, Napa County, CA (SP MP 63.4), via 
Schellville (NWP MP 40.6/SP MP 72.59), a distance of 66.85 miles.
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    \2\ NWPRA is an independent joint powers public agency created 
pursuant to California Government Code Section 6500 et seq. by 
virtue of an agreement among the County of Marin, the Golden Gate 
Bridge, Highway and Transportation District (GGBHTD), and the North 
Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA).
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    The purpose of the acquisition is to preserve the railroad corridor 
for potential future mass transit use.
    The transaction was expected to close on or about April 30, 1996.
    Freight service on the line will continue to be provided by the 
California Northern Railroad Company (CNRR) pursuant to long-term lease 
arrangement with SP.3 NWPRA will take title subject to the CNRR 
lease, and CNRR will continue to provide freight service. The joint 
powers agreement forming the NWPRA make an express commitment that in 
the event the existing operator files an application to abandon or 
discontinue freight service over the line NWPRA is to acquire in 
Finance Docket No. 32910, NCRA will be entitled to obtain an easement 
from NWPRA permitting it to continue freight service over the line. To 
provide for this, NWPRA states that it will, simultaneously with the 
closing of this transaction, transfer a permanent and exclusive freight 
railroad easement to NCRA, which will become effective only upon the 
cessation of freight

[[Page 25012]]

service by CNRR and the approval by the Board of both the transfer of 
the easement and the assumption of carrier responsibility by NCRA.
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    \3\ See California Northern Railroad Company Limited 
Partnership--Trackage Rights--Southern Pacific Transportation 
Company, Finance Docket No. 32673, (ICC served May 15, 1995).
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    In addition, CNRR currently operates over the segment between NWP 
MP 26.96 and NWP MP 25.57 pursuant to a freight easement which was 
retained by SP in a transaction involving GGBHT.4 At the closing 
of the transaction in Finance Docket No. 32910, SP's freight easement 
will be quitclaimed to GGBHTD, which will then grant to NWPRA the 
rights to operate over the easement area. According to NWPRA, NCRA will 
obtain an easement from NWPRA to provide freight service over the 
segment between NWP MP 26.96 and NWP MP 25.57, at the same time that it 
acquires the easement mentioned earlier, by which it would take over 
operations after CNRR ceases its operations.
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    \4\ See Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District--
Acquisition Exemption--Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company and 
Southern Pacific Transportation Company, Finance Docket No. 31689 
(ICC served July 5, 1990).
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    NWPRA states that the future transfer of these easements will imbue 
NCRA with all carrier rights and responsibilities and that NWPRA will 
remain a noncarrier holder of the underlying real estate. NWPRA thus 
states that it intends in the near future to file either a Motion to 
Dismiss this Notice or a Petition for a Declaratory Order requesting 
that it be designated as a noncarrier.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to reopen the proceeding to 
revoke the exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. 
The filing of a petition to reopen will not automatically stay the 
transaction.
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB 
Finance Docket No. 32910, must be filed with the Surface Transportation 
Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Branch, 1201 Constitution 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20423. In addition, a copy of each pleading 
must be served on David J. Miller, Esq., Hanson, Bridgett, Marcus, 
Vlahos & Rudy, 333 Market Street, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA 94105.

    Decided: May 9, 1996.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-12455 Filed 5-16-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P