[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 182 (Thursday, September 19, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 59092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-23697]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34110]


Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway LLC--Acquisition and Operation 
Exemption--Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Company, Canadian American 
Railroad Company, The Northern Vermont Railroad Company Incorporated, 
Newport & Richford Railroad Company and Van Buren Bridge Company

    Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway LLC (MMA), a noncarrier, has 
filed a notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to acquire and 
operate, certain rail lines and other assets of Bangor & Aroostook 
Railroad Company (BAR), Canadian American Railroad Company (CDAC), The 
Northern Vermont Railroad Company Incorporated (NVT), Newport & 
Richford Railroad Company (N&R), and Van Buren Bridge Company (VBB), 
(collectively, the BAR system assets), totaling approximately 518.48 
miles of rail lines located in Maine and Vermont.\1\
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    \1\ On August 15, 2001, an involuntary petition for bankruptcy 
under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Act was filed against BAR before 
the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maine 
(Court). Subsequently, CDAC, NVT, N&R and VBB filed voluntary 
petitions for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 before the Court.
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    MMA will acquire and operate the following rail lines:
    BAR's (a) Searsport, Millinocket, and Madawaska Subdivisions 
between milepost 0.0 at Searsport, ME, and milepost 264.1 at Madawaska, 
ME; (b) Van Buren Subdivision between milepost 0.0 at Madawaska, and 
milepost 24.74 at Van Buren, ME; (c) Presque Isle Subdivision between 
milepost 0.0 at Squa Pan, ME, and milepost 25.30 at Presque Isle, ME; 
(d) Limestone Subdivision between milepost 0.0 at Presque Isle, and 
milepost 30.36 at Limestone, ME; (e) Fort Fairfield Subdivision between 
milepost 0.0 at Presque Isle, and milepost 18.64 at Fort Fairfield, ME; 
(f) Houlton Subdivision between milepost 0.0 at Oakfield, ME, and 
milepost 18.40 at Houlton, ME; (g) East Millinocket Subdivision between 
milepost 0.0 at Millinocket, ME, and milepost 7.55 at E. Millinocket, 
ME; and (h) K.I. Subdivision between milepost 0.0 at Brownville, ME, 
and milepost 4.0 at Brownville Jct. ME;
    CDAC's Moosehead Subdivision between milepost 0.0 at Brownville 
Jct., and milepost 101.90 at the United States-Canadian border 
crossing;
    NVT and N&R's rail lines: (a) Between the United States-Canadian 
border crossing at milepost 26.25 and milepost 32.63 of the Newport 
Subdivision near Richford, VT; (b) between milepost 43.32 at the United 
States-Canadian border crossing and milepost 58.4 at the end of the 
Newport Subdivision, in Newport, VT; and (c) between milepost 0.0 at 
Newport, and milepost 2.0 of the Lyndonville Subdivision, near Newport; 
and
    VBB's rail line between the connection with BAR and the 
International Boundary Line in the center of the Van Buren Bridge at 
the United States-Canadian border.\2\
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    \2\ MMA states that it also intends to acquire lines and assets 
of CDAC, VBB and the Canadian Trustee for the Quebec Southern 
Railway Company, Ltd. that are part of the BAR system but are 
located in Canada and are not subject to Board jurisdiction.
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    MMA indicates that it intends to consummate the transaction as soon 
as possible following the Court's approval of its agreement with the 
Trustee.\3\ The earliest the transaction could have been consummated 
was September 3, 2002, the effective date of the exemption (7 days 
after the exemption was filed).
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    \3\ MMT indicates that it expected to submit the agreement to 
the Court for approval on or about August 31, 2002.
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    Because the projected revenues of the rail lines to be operated 
will exceed $5 million, MMA certified to the Board on June 12, 2002, 
that the required notice of its rail line acquisition and operation was 
posted at the workplace of the employees of affected lines and was 
served on the national offices of all labor unions with employees on 
the affected lines. See 49 CFR 1150.35(a), referring to 49 CFR 
1150.32(e).\4\
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    \4\ MMT had originally served and posted notice of its intent on 
November 5, 2001. However, in light of the subsequent bankruptcy of 
the carriers to be acquired, MMT served and posted a revised notice 
of intent.
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    If the notice contains false or misleading information, the 
exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49 
U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to 
revoke does not automatically stay the transaction.
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB 
Finance Docket No. 34110, must be filed with the Surface Transportation 
Board, 1925 K Street NW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, one 
copy of each pleading must be served on Michael L. Rosenthal, Covington 
& Burling, 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20006-2401.\5\
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    \5\ The State of Vermont's Agency of Transportation has entered 
an appearance, and E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Company (Dupont) has 
filed a petition for leave to intervene, expressing concerns about 
MMA's financial viability. Dupont's petition to intervene will be 
granted.
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    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.

    Decided: September 11, 2002.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-23697 Filed 9-18-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P