[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 156 (Wednesday, August 13, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 48332-48333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20588]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

49 CFR Part 1152

[STB Ex Parte No. 647]


Class Exemption for Expedited Abandonment Procedure for Class II 
and Class III Railroads

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board (Board) has received a 
proposal to create a class exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 for Class II 
and Class III railroads from the prior approval abandonment 
requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10903. The Board intends to consider this 
proposal, and any other matters that interested persons may raise 
regarding the abandonment process generally, at an oral hearing to be 
held in the fall of this year. The Board is not seeking public comment 
at this time but will issue a subsequent notice setting forth the 
details for filing comments and participating in the Board's hearing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph H. Dettmar, (202) 565-1600. 
[Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) for the hearing impaired: 1-
800-877-8339.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 15, 2003, sixty-five regional and 
short-line carriers \1\ (petitioners) filed a petition before the Board 
to use its exemption authority under 49 U.S.C. 10502. Petitioners ask 
the Board to adopt a new class exemption for use by small carriers in 
abandoning rail lines. Petitioners claim that the proposal would 
eliminate current regulatory incentives for small carriers to delay 
abandonment while letting the traffic base and physical condition of 
low-density lines deteriorate; subject exit and entry to the rail 
industry to market forces; and increase the dissemination of commercial 
information to facilitate the offer of financial assistance (OFA) 
procedures. In addition, petitioners claim that the proposal would 
reduce the administrative burdens on the Board.
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    \1\ The sixty-five carriers are: Allegheny & Eastern Railroad, 
Inc.; Bradford Industrial Rail, Inc.; Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad, 
Inc.; Carolina Coastal Railway, Inc.; Commonwealth Railway, Inc.; 
Chicago SouthShore & South Bend Railroad; Chattahoochee & Gulf 
Railroad Co., Inc.; Connecuh Valley Railroad Co., Inc.; Corpus 
Christi Terminal Railroad, Inc.; The Dansville & Mount Morris 
Railroad Company; Eastern Idaho Railroad, Inc.; Genesee & Wyoming 
Railroad Company; Golden Isles Terminal Railroad, Inc.; H&S Railroad 
Co., Inc.; Illinois Indiana Development Company, LLC; Illinois & 
Midland Railroad Company, Inc.; Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, Inc.; 
Knoxville & Holston River Railroad Co., Inc.; Lancaster and Chester 
Railway Company; Laurinburg & Southern Railroad Co., Inc.; Louisiana 
& Delta Railroad, Inc.; Louisville & Indiana Railroad Company; 
Minnesota Prairie Line, Inc.; Montana Rail Link, Inc.; New York & 
Atlantic Railway Company; Pacific Harbor Line, Inc.; Palouse River & 
Coulee City Railroad, Inc.; Pennsylvania Southwestern Railroad, 
Inc.; Piedmont & Atlantic Railroad Inc.; Pittsburgh & Shawmut 
Railroad, Inc.; Portland & Western Railroad, Inc.; Rochester & 
Southern Railroad, Inc.; Rocky Mount & Western Railroad Co., Inc.; 
St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad Company; Salt Lake City Southern 
Railroad Company; Savannah Port Terminal Railroad, Inc.; South 
Buffalo Railway Company; South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad Company; 
Stillwater Central Railroad; Talleyrand Terminal Railroad, Inc.; 
Three Notch Railroad Co., Inc.; Timber Rock Railroad, Inc.; Twin 
Cities & Western Railroad Company; Utah Railway Company; Willamette 
& Pacific Railroad, Inc.; Wiregrass Central Railroad Company, Inc.; 
York Railway Company; AN Railway, LLC; Atlantic and Western Railway, 
Limited Partnership; Bay Line Railroad, LLC; Central Midland 
Railway; Copper Basin Railway, Inc.; East Tennessee Railway, L.P.; 
Galveston Railroad, L.P.; Georgia Central Railway, L.P.; The Indiana 
Rail Road Company; KWT Railway, Inc.; Little Rock & Western Railway, 
L.P.; M & B Railroad, L.L.C.; Tomahawk Railway, Limited Partnership; 
Valdosta Railway, L.P.; Western Kentucky Railway, LLC; Wheeling & 
Lake Erie Railway Company; Wilmington Terminal Railroad, L.P.; and 
Yolo Shortline Railroad Company.
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    The proposal would allow small carriers to file a notice of 
exemption whenever they make the business decision that a given line 
was no longer economically viable. Petitioners argue that their 
proposal would eliminate delays in the abandonment process and allow 
small carriers to quickly redeploy limited assets. This, petitioners 
maintain, would facilitate maintenance and infrastructure upgrades 
necessary for small carriers to continue in operation.
    The proposed notices of exemption would include 36-months of 
traffic and revenue information, a description of the current physical 
condition of the line, an estimate of rehabilitation, the

[[Page 48333]]

carrier's calculation of the line's net liquidation value (NLV), the 
names of connecting carriers and the points of interchange. The 
abandoning carrier would publish this information for three consecutive 
weeks in local newspapers and in nationally-distributed, railroad trade 
publications. A potential purchaser could review the data underlying 
the published information and the abandoning carrier would be required 
to provide such information within 5 days.
    Petitioners' proposal would require carriers availing themselves of 
the class exemption to stipulate that any OFA sale would be at NLV and 
would forgo any claim of a going concern value. In addition, the 
proposed exemption would assure that any purchaser would have access to 
third-party carriers through trackage or haulage rights at commercially 
reasonable rates where traffic moved via those connections during the 
preceding 24-month period. Further, the proposal would give OFA 
purchasers more time to consider and evaluate a line by allowing offers 
up to 90 days after publication in the Federal Register and it would 
make the data available before the OFA process formally begins.
    Petitioners' proposal would also invert the environmental and 
historic preservation requirements. Currently, abandoning carriers must 
prepare environmental and historic reports before filing for 
abandonment authority. Petitioners argue that this is sometimes 
wasteful, as a successful OFA purchase obviates the need for such 
reports. Petitioners' proposal would allow the environmental and 
historic reporting to be made after the completion of the OFA process.
    As noted, the Board intends to hold a hearing during the fall on 
this petition and on other matters that interested persons may raise 
regarding the Board's abandonment process. The Board will issue a 
subsequent notice providing details for persons interested in 
submitting written comments and participating in the Board's hearing.
    Board decisions, notices, and the May 15, 2003 petition are 
available on our Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: August 7, 2003.

    By the Board, Roger Nober, Chairman.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-20588 Filed 8-12-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P