[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67706-67707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19808]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34177]


Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad Corporation--Acquisition and 
Operation Exemption--Lines of I&M Rail Link, LLC

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Environmental Appendix and Request 
for Public Review and Comment.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to announce the availability of, 
and invite public review and comment on, the Environmental Appendix 
prepared by the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Corporation 
(DM&E) and the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad Corporation (IC&E), 
which the railroads submitted to the Board on November 9, 2006. The 
Environmental Appendix sets forth the contention of DM&E and IC&E that 
their acquisition of rail lines formerly owned by I&M Rail Link (IMRL) 
will not materially alter the traffic projections or routings for 
DM&E's Powder River Basin coal traffic that have already been 
considered in a separate but related rail construction case, and that 
therefore no formal analysis of the cumulative impacts of these 
transactions is required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., or the National Historic 
Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), 16 U.S.C. 470.
    Briefly summarized, in a separate proceeding initiated in 1998, 
four years before the filing of the instant acquisition proceeding, 
DM&E sought approval to construct and operate some 280 miles of new 
rail line so that it could reach coal mines in Wyoming's Powder River 
Basin (PRB) and thereby generate adequate revenue to rehabilitate 
DM&E's existing rail system in South Dakota and Minnesota (DM&E 
Construction). During that proceeding it was contemplated that DM&E's 
PRB coal traffic would move from DM&E's new line to various interchange 
points with other carriers on DM&E's existing line. One of the 
interchange points considered in detail was Owatonna, Minnesota, where 
DM&E's PRB coal traffic was expected to be transferred to the lines 
that were then owned by IMRL to reach some of the utilities in DM&E's 
core markets.
    Following extensive environmental review, the Board authorized the 
DM&E Construction in 2002. Following litigation, a remand by the Eighth 
Circuit Court of Appeals, and subsequent supplemental environmental 
analysis, the Board once again authorized the DM&E construction project 
in 2006. Judicial review of that decision is currently pending.
    On June 7, 2002, about 5 months after the Board had authorized the 
DM&E Construction, IC&E filed a notice of exemption in this proceeding 
to acquire and operate the lines of IMRL. In a related transaction, on 
August 29, 2002, DM&E and its subsidiary Cedar American Rail Holdings, 
Inc., filed an application with the Board seeking approval for control 
of IC&E. In decisions issued on July 22, 2002 and February 3, 2003, the 
Board allowed both IC&E's acquisition of IMRL and DM&E's control of 
IC&E to go forward subject to a traffic restriction prohibiting DM&E 
and IC&E from moving DM&E coal trains to or from the PRB over the newly 
acquired IMRL lines until the Board could consider what, if any, 
environmental review of cumulative environmental impacts (that is, 
impacts from more DM&E coal trains operating over the former IMRL lines 
as a result of the change in ownership of IMRL than would otherwise 
have moved over the IMRL lines) was warranted. The Board also directed 
that it be notified if and when DM&E starts construction of its new 
rail line and be provided with information regarding any anticipated 
additional DM&E PRB coal trains that would move on the IMRL lines as a 
result of the acquisition.
    In response to a petition filed by DM&E and IC&E asking that the 
above conditions should be lifted, the Board issued a decision on 
October 18, 2006, in the acquisition proceeding. In that decision, the 
Board agreed with DM&E and IC&E that it is not necessary to wait until 
DM&E actually begins construction of its new line to determine the 
level of further environmental review, if any, that is appropriate to 
consider in the acquisition case any cumulative effects of the 
construction and acquisition proceedings. The Board further directed 
DM&E and IC&E to prepare an Environmental Appendix setting out the 
basis for their contention that the change in ownership of IMRL does 
not materially alter the traffic projections or routings for DM&E's PRB 
coal traffic previously considered in the DM&E Construction case and 
that therefore there is no need for any further environmental review 
under NEPA or historic review under the NHPA.
    The railroads submitted their Environmental Appendix to the Board 
on November 9, 2006. To afford the public an opportunity to review and 
comment on DM&E's and IC&E's position, the entire text of the 
Environmental Appendix has been posted on the Board's Web site. The 
railroads also have distributed the Environmental Appendix to certain 
agencies and communities, as well as all of the parties on the Board's 
service list in the acquisition case and have published newspaper 
notices.
    Interested members of the public are invited to submit comments on 
any potentially significant impacts related to the cumulative effects, 
if any, of the acquisition and DM&E Construction to the Board's Section 
of Environmental Analysis (SEA) by December 11, 2006. Directions on how 
to submit comments are set forth below.
    Based on SEA's consideration of all timely comments and its own 
independent review of all available environmental information, SEA will 
make a recommendation to the Board regarding what level of further 
environmental review, if any, is warranted here. The Board will then 
determine whether to issue a finding of no significant environmental 
impact (FONSI), or, alternatively, to prepare either an Environmental 
Impact Statement or an Environmental Assessment to examine cumulative 
effects of the two proceedings.
    The Environmental Appendix may be viewed on the Board's Web site by 
going to http://www.stb.dot.gov and clicking on ``E-Library,'' then 
clicking on ``Filings.'' The Environmental Appendix is listed under 
November 9, 2006, and

[[Page 67707]]

is identified by Filing ID No. 218058 and Docket No. FD--34117--0.
    If you wish to submit written environmental comments, please 
provide SEA with a signed original. Environmental comments may also be 
filed electronically on the Board's Web site, http://www.stb.dot.gov, 
by clicking on the ``E-FILING'' link. Please refer to STB Finance 
Docket No. 34177 in all correspondence, including e-filings, to the 
Board in this proceeding. Written comments are due to SEA by December 
11, 2006, and should be sent to the following address: Finance Docket 
No. 34177, Surface Transportation Board, 1925 K Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20423-0001.
    Please write the following in the lower left-hand corner of the 
envelope: Environmental Filing.
    Any questions or requests for additional information about the 
Board's environmental review process should be directed to Victoria 
Rutson of the Board's Section of Environmental Analysis at (202) 565-
1545.

    By the Board, Victoria Rutson, Chief, Section of Environmental 
Analysis.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E6-19808 Filed 11-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P