[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 30 (Monday, February 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7414-7416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3395]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 91)] \1\


CSX Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc., Norfolk Southern 
Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Control and Operating 
Leases/Agreements--Conrail Inc. and Consolidated Rail Corporation 
(General Oversight)

AGENCY:  Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Decision No. 1; Notice of general oversight proceeding, and 
request for comments from interested persons on the progress of 
implementation of the Conrail transaction and the workings of the 
various conditions imposed.

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SUMMARY: In 1998, in CSX Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc., 
Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company--
Control and Operating Leases/Agreements--Conrail Inc. and Consolidated 
Rail Corporation, STB Finance Docket No. 33388, Decision No. 89 (STB 
served July 23, 1998) (CSX/NS/CR Dec. No. 89), we approved, subject to 
various conditions (including a 5-year general oversight condition): 
(1) The acquisition of control of Conrail Inc. and Consolidated Rail 
Corporation (collectively, Conrail or CR) by (a) CSX Corporation and 
CSX Transportation, Inc. (collectively, CSX) and (b) Norfolk Southern 
Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company (collectively, NS); 
and (2) the division of the assets of Conrail by and between CSX and 
NS. We are now instituting a proceeding to implement the general 
oversight condition imposed in CSX/NS/CR Dec. No. 89. We are requiring 
CSX and NS to file progress reports respecting the Conrail transaction 
and to make certain data available to interested persons. We are 
inviting interested persons to submit comments on the progress of 
implementation of the Conrail transaction and the conditions we 
imposed.

DATES: CSX and NS must file progress reports by June 1, 2000, and must 
make their 100% traffic waybill tapes available to interested persons 
by June 15, 2000. Comments of interested persons will be due on July 
14, 2000. Replies will be due on August 3, 2000.

ADDRESSES: An original and 25 copies of all documents must refer to STB 
Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 91) and must be sent to: Surface 
Transportation Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, Attn: 
STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 91), 1925 K Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, one copy of all documents filed 
in this proceeding must be sent to: (1) Dennis G. Lyons, Esq., Arnold & 
Porter, 555 12th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004-1202 (representing 
CSX); and (2) Richard A. Allen, Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger, LLP, 888 
17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006-3939 (representing NS).
    In addition to submitting an original and 25 copies of all paper 
documents filed with the Board, parties must also submit, on 3.5-inch 
IBM-compatible floppy diskettes (disks) or compact discs (CDs), copies 
of all pleadings and

[[Page 7415]]

attachments (e.g., textual materials, electronic workpapers, data bases 
and spreadsheets used to develop quantitative evidence) and must 
clearly label pleadings and attachments and corresponding computer 
disks/CDs with an identification acronym and pleading number. Textual 
materials must be in, or convertible by and into, WordPerfect 7.0. 
Electronic spreadsheets must be in some version of Lotus, Excel, or 
Quattro Pro. Parties may individually seek a waiver from the disk-CD 
requirement.
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    \1\ A copy of this decision is being served on all persons 
designated as POR, MOC, or GOV on the service list in STB Finance 
Docket No. 33388.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia M. Farr, (202) 565-1613. [TDD 
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for the hearing impaired: 1-800-877-8339.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In CSX/NS/CR Dec. No. 89, we established 
general oversight for 5 years so that we might assess the progress of 
implementation of the Conrail transaction and the workings of the 
various conditions we imposed. \2\ We retained jurisdiction to impose 
additional conditions and/or to take other action if, and to the 
extent, we determined that it was necessary to address harms caused by 
the Conrail transaction. As part of our oversight, we specifically 
indicated that we would monitor implementation of the transaction and 
the workings of our conditions to ensure adherence by CSX and NS to the 
various representations they made on the record during the course of 
the proceeding; to examine impacts involving the relationship of 
shortline railroads to their Class I connections and to other Class I 
railroads; to assess impacts within the Chicago switching district; to 
review the effect of the acquisition premium on the rate reasonableness 
jurisdictional threshold and on revenue adequacy determinations; and to 
monitor transaction-related impacts on Amtrak passenger operations and 
regional rail passenger operations. See CSX/NS/CR Dec. No. 89, slip op. 
at 20-21 (item 38), 160-61, 173-74 (ordering paragraph 1). We also 
indicated that, under the oversight process, we would continue to 
monitor our environmental mitigating conditions. CSX/NS/CR Dec. No. 89, 
slip op. at 161.
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    \2\ As discussed below: (1) Operational issues associated with 
implementation of the Conrail transaction are being handled 
separately through our Office of Compliance and Enforcement; and (2) 
we have initiated a separate 3-year proceeding to examine linehaul 
and switching rates for rail movements into and out of New York's 
Buffalo area.
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    We are now instituting this STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 
91) proceeding to implement the general oversight condition imposed in 
CSX/NS/CR Dec. No. 89. \3\ We invite information from interested 
persons as to both the status of implementation and the effects of the 
various conditions we imposed.
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    \3\ We are establishing a procedural schedule similar to that 
imposed in Union Pacific Corporation, Union Pacific Railroad 
Company, and Missouri Pacific Railroad Company--Control and Merger--
Southern Pacific Rail Corporation, Southern Pacific Transportation 
Company, St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, SPCSL Corp., and 
The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company [General 
Oversight], STB Finance Docket No. 32760 (Sub-No. 21).
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    We are requiring CSX and NS to file, by June 1, 2000, progress 
reports respecting their implementation of the Conrail transaction. 
These progress reports should contain in-depth analyses of 
implementation of the transaction and of the workings of the various 
conditions. We are further requiring CSX and NS to make their 100% 
traffic waybill tapes available to interested persons by June 15, 2000. 
These tapes should include the most up-to-date data then accessible by 
CSX and NS.
    We are directing that interested persons submit, by July 14, 2000, 
any comments respecting the progress of implementation of the Conrail 
transaction and the workings of the various conditions we imposed. 
Comments may be directed to any relevant matters, except as clarified 
below regarding operational monitoring matters and Buffalo Rate Study 
matters. Replies to comments must be submitted by August 3, 2000.
    Operational Monitoring. In CSX/NS/CR Dec. No. 89, we imposed, in 
addition to the 5-year general oversight condition, an operational 
monitoring condition, see CSX/NS/CR Dec. No. 89, slip op. at 162-65, 
176 (ordering paragraph 18). We emphasized that ``our 5-year oversight 
is separate from our operational monitoring,'' CSX/NS/CR Dec. No. 89, 
slip op. at 161. Thus, we do not intend to address matters respecting 
operational monitoring in the STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 91) 
general oversight proceeding. Rather, as indicated in CSX/NS/CR Dec. 
No. 89, slip op. at 165, parties should bring any ongoing matters 
respecting operational monitoring or individual shipper service issues 
directly to the attention of the Director, Office of Compliance and 
Enforcement, Suite 780, at the Board's headquarters located at 1925 K 
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20423-0001.
    Buffalo Rate Study. By decision issued late last year in CSX 
Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc., Norfolk Southern Corporation 
and Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Control and Operating Leases/
Agreements--Conrail Inc. and Consolidated Rail Corporation (Buffalo 
Rate Study), STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 90), Decision No. 1 
(STB served Dec. 15, 1999, and published in the Federal Register on 
Dec. 20, 1999, at 64 FR 71188), we initiated the 3-year Buffalo Rate 
Study, also separate from general oversight, to examine linehaul and 
switching rates for rail movements into and out of the State of New 
York's Buffalo area. Pleadings respecting: (a) The trend in rates for 
rail movements into and out of the Buffalo area, and (b) the conditions 
related to switching that we imposed in the Buffalo area, should be 
submitted in the STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 90) Buffalo Rate 
Study proceeding in accordance with the procedural schedule applicable 
to that proceeding. See Buffalo Rate Study, Decision No. 2 (STB served 
Dec. 28, 1999, and published in the Federal Register on Jan. 4, 2000, 
at 65 FR 319) (revising the procedural schedule applicable to the 
Buffalo Rate Study proceeding). Other Buffalo-related matters 
specifically regarding the progress of implementation of the Conrail 
transaction and the workings of the various merger conditions should be 
submitted in the STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 91) general 
oversight proceeding in accordance with the procedural schedule 
indicated in this decision.
    Protective Order. Parties may submit filings (including electronic 
submissions contained on disks and CDs), as appropriate, under seal 
marked Confidential or Highly Confidential \4\ pursuant to the 
protective order entered in STB Finance Docket No. 33388 in Decision 
No. 1 (served Apr. 16, 1997), as modified in various respects in 
Decision No. 4 (served May 2, 1997), Decision No. 15 (served Aug. 1, 
1997), Decision No. 22 (served Aug. 21, 1997), Decision No. 46 (served 
Oct. 17, 1997), and Decision No. 87 (served June 11, 1998). Waybill 
files made available to interested persons will be subject to this 
protective order.
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    \4\ Parties submitting filings under seal will be expected to 
file redacted versions that will be placed in the public docket.
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    Service List. A copy of this decision is being served on all 
persons designated as POR, MOC, or GOV on the service list in STB 
Finance Docket No. 33388. This decision will serve as notice that 
persons who were parties of record in STB Finance Docket No. 33388 will 
not automatically be placed on the service list as parties of record in 
the STB Finance Docket Sub-No. 91 general oversight proceeding. Any 
persons interested in being on the STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-
No. 91) service

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list and receiving copies of CSX's and NS's filings relating to the 
general oversight proceeding must send us written notification with 
copies to CSX's and NS's representatives.\5\
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    \5\ Persons who wish to be placed on both the STB Finance Docket 
No. 33388 (Sub-No. 90) Buffalo Rate Study service list and the STB 
Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 91) general oversight service list 
must submit two separate written notifications (one applicable to 
the Buffalo Rate Study proceeding, and one applicable to the general 
oversight proceeding).
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    This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the 
human environment or the conservation of energy resources.

    Decided: February 8, 2000.

    By the Board, Chairman Morgan, Vice Chairman Burkes, and 
Commissioner Clyburn.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-3395 Filed 2-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P