[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16408-16409]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6214]



[[Page 16408]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34797]


New England Transrail, LLC, D/B/A Wilmington & Woburn Terminal 
Railway--Construction, Acquisition and Operation Exemption--in 
Wilmington and Woburn, MA

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of oral argument.

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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board will hold an oral argument on 
Thursday, April 19, 2007, at 10 a.m., at its offices in Washington, DC. 
The argument will explore what planned activities by the above-
referenced petitioner would be part of rail transportation subject to 
the Board's jurisdiction. All current parties of record may 
participate, and New England Transrail, LLC (NET) is directed to 
participate.

DATES: Any current party of record in STB Finance Docket No. 34797 
wishing to speak at the oral argument should file with the Board a 
written notice of intent to participate, and should identify a 
requested time allotment as soon as possible, but no later than April 
6, 2007. The Board will issue a decision allocating times to the 
participants. Each participant should submit a written statement of its 
position on April 16, 2007.

ADDRESSES: All notices of intent to participate may be submitted either 
via the Board's e-filing format or in the traditional paper format. Any 
person using e-filing should comply with directions posted at the 
Board's http://www.stb.dot.gov Web site, at the ``E-FILING'' link. E-
filers, please remember that formal filings must be submitted as a PDF 
document and, if available, in the original electronic document format 
(such as Word, Excel or WordPerfect). Any person submitting a filing in 
the traditional paper format should send an original and 10 copies of 
the filing to: Surface Transportation Board, Attn: STB Finance Docket 
No. 34797, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Joseph Dettmar, (202) 245-0395. 
[Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at: (800) 877-8339.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 5, 2005, NET, a noncarrier, 
filed a petition for exemption to acquire, construct, and operate a 
rail line and related facilities in Wilmington and Woburn, MA. NET 
proposes to receive by truck at the site, and provide rail 
transportation for, a variety of commodities, including sand and 
gravel, plastic resins, liquids, municipal solid waste (MSW) and 
construction and demolition debris (C&D). NET explains that it would 
sort, grind, crush, aggregate, segregate, and/or bale all of the C&D 
and some of the MSW it receives before loading the materials onto rail 
cars or containers for rail shipment. NET asserts that all of its 
proposed activities and operations at the site would either constitute 
rail transportation, or would be integrally related to such 
transportation, and would therefore be subject to the Board's 
jurisdiction. A number of parties disagree, maintaining that NET's 
proposed activities involving C&D and MSW would not be part of rail 
transportation.
    The Board will conduct an oral argument to further explore some of 
the issues raised by NET and the other interested parties. NET is 
directed to participate and other parties of record are encouraged to 
participate. Participants are asked to be prepared to respond to 
questions from the Board based on the record in this case, and, in 
addition, to discuss the following issues:
     Is it premature to issue a preliminary decision given the 
pending appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third 
Circuit in the New York, Susquehanna and Western case \1\ and the 
ongoing Environmental Protection Agency remedial investigation and 
feasibility study under the Superfund laws on the property on which NET 
proposes to operate the business at issue in this matter?
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    \1\ New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Corp. v. Jackson, 
New Jersey Meadowlands Commission et al., No. 05-4010, 2007 WL 
576431 (D.N.J. Feb. 21, 2007), appeal docketed, No. 07-1675 (3d Cir. 
Mar. 16, 2007).
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     What Federal statutes and regulations are applicable to 
facilities where C&D and MSW are handled and to what extent is their 
administration delegated to the states?
     Could the Board address the state environmental concerns 
associated with NET's proposal by conditioning any Board authorization 
of NET's proposal on NET permitting state officials to periodically 
inspect the facility? If so, could the Board provide for the suspension 
or revocation of NET's authorization on the recommendation of state 
officials based on an unsatisfactory inspection, provided that NET has 
some due process recourse to the Board?
     If the C&D and MSW activities proposed by NET are 
determined not to be part of rail transportation, what impact would 
such a decision have on this proposal and on the transloading of other 
commodities by railroads?
     In determining whether a facility is a rail transloading 
facility, must the activities that take place there be solely 
transportation activities?
     In determining whether NET's proposed activities would be 
part of rail transportation, would it be enough that an activity 
facilitates transportation, or must that activity be essential to the 
transportation?
     May a determination be based on the type of commodity 
involved? To what extent, if any, does it matter that the proposed 
facility would handle multiple commodities?
     Should C&D and MSW be considered differently from all 
other commodities and, if so, on what basis?
     What is the source of the materials other than C&D and MSW 
that NET proposes to transport? Where are those shipments destined? 
Would those commodities be segregated from C&D and MSW? How would they 
be segregated, loaded and unloaded?
     Would NET's proposed activities at the transload facility 
with respect to C&D and MSW add value to the materials, facilitate the 
disposal of the materials in a landfill or otherwise, or serve any 
purpose other than facilitating rail transport? If so, should that have 
an impact on our determination here?
     To what extent would NET's proposed handling of C&D and 
MSW be directed towards ensuring that the material would meet the 
requirements of the landfill, or other receiver, to which it would be 
transported?
     Does NET anticipate earning revenue as a result of any 
recycling activities, e.g., NET's proposed activities of inspection, 
sorting and reclaiming of reusable materials from the C&D and MSW at 
this facility?
     What is the background of each of the principals of NET? 
What is the extent of their prior and current involvement in (a) the 
railroad industry; (b) the trucking industry; (c) the MSW and C&D 
industries; and (d) environmental compliance issues? How was the NET 
project conceived?
    Date of Oral argument. The oral argument will begin at 10 a.m. on 
Thursday, April 19, 2007, in the 1st floor hearing room at the Board's 
headquarters at 395 E Street, SW., in Washington, DC, and will continue 
until every person scheduled to speak has been heard.
    Notice of Intent to Participate. Any party of record wishing to 
speak at the oral argument should file with the Board a written notice 
of intent to

[[Page 16409]]

participate, and should indicate a requested time allotment, as soon as 
possible, but no later than April 6, 2007.
    Board Releases and Live Audio Available Via the Internet. Decisions 
and notices of the Board, including this notice, are available on the 
Board's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov. This oral argument will be 
available on the Board's Web site by live audio streaming. To access 
the oral argument, click on the ``Live Audio'' link under ``Information 
Center'' at the left side of the home page beginning at 10 a.m. on 
April 19, 2007.
    This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the 
human environment or the conservation of energy resources.

    Dated: March 29, 2007.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-6214 Filed 4-3-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P