[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 21 (Thursday, January 31, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5907-5908]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-1859]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 35087]


Canadian National Railway Company and Grand Trunk Corporation--
Control--EJ&E West Company; Notice Extending the Public Scoping Period

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice extending the public scoping period.

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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board's Section of Environmental 
Analysis (SEA) announces the extension of the scoping period for the 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that is being prepared in 
connection with an application filed by Canadian National Railroad 
Company (CN) to acquire certain rail lines of the Elgin, Joliet & 
Eastern Railroad (EJ&E). SEA is preparing an EIS because the Surface 
Transportation Board has determined that the proposed acquisition has 
the potential to result in significant effects upon the environment 
within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA).

DATES: The scoping period on the EIS is extended through February 15, 
2008.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to submit written comments regarding the 
attached proposed draft scope, please send your comments to: Surface 
Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423. 
Attention: Phillis Johnson-Ball, Environmental Filing, STB Finance 
Docket No. 35087.
    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. You do not

[[Page 5908]]

need a Login Account to submit Environmental Comments. Simply click on 
``Environmental Comments,'' which will take you to the comment screen. 
Add the Docket number, which is ``FD 35087.'' Select ``Phillis Johnson-
Ball'' in the drop down list under ``attention of.'' Then complete the 
form by adding your name, address, phone and email, then click 
``Submit.''
    You may also call your comments into SEA's toll-free hotline 
established for this proceeding. Dial 1-800-347-0689 and leave your 
comments after the tone. Please refer to STB Finance Docket No. 35087 
in all correspondence, including E-filings, addressed to the Board.
    Following these directions will help ensure that your comments are 
considered in the environmental review process for this proposed 
acquisition. In addition, SEA will add your name to its mailing list 
for distribution of the final scope of the EIS, the DEIS, and Final EIS 
(FEIS).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Phillis Johnson-Ball, SEA Project 
Manager, toll-free at 1-800-347-0689 (TDD for the hearing impaired 1-
800-877-8339). The Web site for the Surface Transportation Board is 
http://www.stb.dot.gov. This document is available in English and 
Spanish by calling the toll-free number at 1-800-347-0689.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 30, 2007, Canadian National 
Railway Corporation (CN) and Grand Trunk Corporation (GTC), a 
noncarrier holding company through which CN controls its U.S. rail 
subsidiaries, filed an application with the Surface Transportation 
Board (Board) seeking the Board's approval of the acquisition of 
control of EJ&E West Company (EJ&EW), a wholly owned noncarrier 
subsidiary of Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E). In this 
document, the action before the Board will be referred to as the 
proposal or the proposed acquisition and CN and GTC will be referred to 
collectively as CN or as Applicants.
    CN is one of Canada's two major railroads, extending from Halifax, 
Nova Scotia, to Vancouver and Prince Rupert, British Columbia. EJ&E is 
a Class II railroad that currently operates over 198 miles of track in 
northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, consisting primarily of 
an arc around Chicago, IL, extending from Waukegan, IL, southwards to 
Joliet, IL, then eastward to Gary, IN, and then northwest to South 
Chicago along Lake Michigan. EJ&E provides rail service to 
approximately 100 customers, including steel mills, coal utilities, 
plastics and chemical producers, steel processors, distribution 
centers, and scrap processors.
    Applicants' proposed acquisition of the EJ&E would shift rail 
traffic currently moving over CN's rail lines inside the EJ&E arc in 
Chicago to the EJ&E, which traverses the suburbs generally to the west 
and south of Chicago. Rail traffic on CNR lines inside the EJ&E arc 
would generally decrease. The decreases in rail traffic would be offset 
by increases in the number of trains operating on the EJ&E rail line 
outside of Chicago (approximately 15-27 more trains would operate on 
various segments of the EJ&E). Applicants also proposed to construct 
six new rail connections and approximately 19 miles of new sidings/
double tracking. Applicants give three primary reasons for seeking 
approval of the proposed acquisition: Improved rail operations in the 
Chicago area; availability to EJ&E's Kirk Yard in Gary, Indiana, and 
other smaller facilities in Joliet, Illinois, and Whiting, Indiana; and 
improved service to companies dealing in steel, chemicals, and 
petrochemicals, as well as Chicago area utilities.
    Because this proposal has the potential to result in significant 
environmental impacts, the Board has determined that the preparation of 
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is appropriate. To help 
determine the scope of the EIS, and as required by the Board's 
regulations at 49 CFR 1105.10(a)(2), SEA published in the Federal 
Register and made available to the public on December 21, 2008, the 
Notice of Availability of Draft Scope of Study for the EIS, Notice of 
Scoping Meetings, and Request for Comments. SEA held seven public 
scoping meetings in the project area between on January 9 and 22, 2008. 
The scoping comment period originally concluded February 1, 2008, but, 
in response to requests, SEA is extending the scoping period an 
additional 14 days, to February 15, 2008.

    Decided: January 30, 2008.

    By the Board, Victoria J. Rutson, Chief, Section of 
Environmental Analysis.
Anne K. Quinlan,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-1859 Filed 1-30-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P