[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 94 (Monday, May 17, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26723-26725]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12334]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
49 CFR Part 1244
[STB Ex Parte No. 385 (Sub-No. 4)]
Modification of the Carload Waybill Sample and Public Use File
Regulations
AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board (Board) solicits comments on
modifications to the existing regulations at 49 CFR Part 1244 to
require identification of contract movements in the annual Carload
Waybill Sample (Waybill Sample), to establish procedures to ensure the
confidentiality of contract revenue information in the Waybill Sample,
and to limit the period during which the Waybill Sample will remain
confidential.
DATES: Comments are due on July 1, 1999.
[[Page 26724]]
ADDRESSES: Send comments (an original and 10 copies) referring to STB
Ex Parte No. 385 (Sub-No. 4) to: Surface Transportation Board, Office
of the Secretary, Case Control Branch, 1925 K Street, NW, Washington,
D.C. 20423-0001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: H. Jeff Warren, (202) 565-1533 or
James A. Nash, (202) 525-1542. [Assistance for the hearing impaired is
available through TDD services (202) 565-1695.]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Railroads that annually terminate 4,500 or
more carloads (or 5 percent of the carloads in any state) are required
to report data, including revenues, on individual movements contained
in a sampling of their traffic. This Waybill Sample is used for a
variety of purposes by the Board, parties appearing before the agency
and the public in general. Because of the widespread use of
confidential transportation contracts in the railroad industry,
1 the Waybill Sample reporting requirements must be tailored
to ensure that the Board receives accurate data on contract movements
for all carriers and, at the same time, that confidential information
regarding those contracts is protected from public disclosure. In
addition, the National Archives and Records Administration (Archives)
recently indicated that it is interested in maintaining historic
Waybill Sample records for future studies. To do so, the
confidentiality of these records must expire at some time to allow for
future public release.
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\1\ The Association of American Railroads recently advised the
General Accounting Office that 70% of rail traffic moves under
contract.
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Proposed Procedures
To enhance the usefulness of the Waybill Sample, both for ourselves
and for other parties, and to facilitate the ability of the Archives to
maintain historical records, we are considering several changes to our
rules and procedures. First, all railroads would be required to
identify (flag) those shipments in the Waybill Sample that are governed
by transportation contracts. Second, railroads would be required to
report the actual revenues for each such contract shipment, although an
average revenue value would be substituted for the actual revenues to
maintain the confidentiality of the contract rate information. These
two changes would fulfill our need for more complete contract data,
protect sensitive commercial contract rate information, and allow
others to conduct accurate, broad-based economic studies. Third, the
confidentiality of such Waybill Sample records would be limited to 20
years.
1. Identification of Contract Shipments
The majority of railroads already identify contract movements in
the Waybill Sample and simply ``mask'' the contract revenue information
using varying procedures to conceal the actual revenues earned on
contract traffic. However, because some carriers do not flag contract
movements, we are unable to develop complete information on contract
traffic. The Board needs more accurate data to carry out statutorily
mandated functions, to provide reports to Congress, and to perform
internal studies of the rail industry. Thus, we need to revise our
regulations to ensure that all carriers flag contract movements.
There will be no impact on those carriers already flagging contract
movements from the new proposed requirement, and these procedures may
help safeguard commercially sensitive contract rate information for
those carriers that do not now flag contract shipments and whose actual
contract revenues may appear in the Waybill Sample. While we may be
unaware that a particular movement is a contract shipment, competitors
of the shipper or railroad might know that it is a contract movement.
In such circumstances, disclosure of the actual unflagged contract rate
may be at risk when Waybill Sample data is released to parties for use
in individual proceedings before the Board. Thus, while some carriers
may have to begin flagging contract shipments, the confidentiality of
the contract rate should be better protected under our proposal to mask
contract revenue information in a uniform manner.
2. Use of Average Revenue Figures
The masking procedures currently used by some carriers make it
impossible for outside parties to conduct accurate revenue based
studies from the Waybill Sample data regardless of the level of
aggregation. To provide a more useful method of masking all revenue
information in the Waybill Sample, we suggest aggregating actual
contract and non-contract revenue data, after which we would calculate
an average revenue per ton-mile by Standard Transportation Commodity
Code (STCC) class within broad geographic areas, such as the nine
census regions. We would then use this average value to develop a
revenue figure for each waybill by multiplying the average revenue per
ton-mile by each movement's shipment tons and miles. The reported
actual revenue in each Waybill Sample record would then be replaced by
the average revenue number. Sensitive commercial contract information
would be protected because we would not identify contract shipment and
because actual revenue data would not be released. Nevertheless, the
public could conduct accurate, broad-based economic studies because the
average revenues would be accurate when aggregated to the appropriate
level.
Parties are asked to comment on our suggested masking methodology
or to suggest other procedures that could be applied by us or the
railroads to meet the same objectives. Comments should address the
appropriate level of geographic aggregation and the appropriate level
of STCC aggregation (two digit, four digit, etc.) to be used.
3. Waybill Confidentiality Time Limit
Finally, we believe that it should be possible to limit
confidential treatment of contract revenue information contained in the
Waybill Sample to a 20-year period. The Archives is interested in
maintaining the Waybill Sample records for future studies, much as the
U.S. Census is maintained. However, in order for historic Waybill
Sample records to be useful, a time period must be specified after
which confidential data can be made public. It could be as little as
ten years, or as much as one hundred years. (Census data is now made
public after seventy years.) Because most rail contracts do not exceed
a 20-year term, a 20-year confidentiality period may be adequate to
protect commercially sensitive shipper and railroad data.
Scope of This Proceeding
While we encourage all parties to comment on the areas we have
discussed above, we are not soliciting comments in this proceeding on
any other aspects of the collection, design, or release of the Waybill
Sample or its associated Public Use Waybill file. Moreover, because no
analysis of the Waybill Sample should be needed to comment on this
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, we do not plan to release
Waybill Sample data in connection with this proceeding.
This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the
human environment or energy conservation.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), we conclude preliminarily that our
action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities within the meaning of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act.
Decided: May 10, 1999
[[Page 26725]]
By the Board, Chairman Morgan, Vice Chairman Clyburn, and
Commissioner Burkes.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-12334 Filed 5-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P