[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 74 (Wednesday, April 16, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20748-20749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-8161]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 35106]


United States Department of Energy--Rail Construction and 
Operation--Caliente Rail Line in Lincoln, Nye, and Esmeralda Counties, 
NV

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Construction and Operation Application and Adoption 
of Procedural Schedule.

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SUMMARY: The Board is publishing notice of an application filed by the 
United States Department of Energy (DOE) seeking authority to construct 
and operate an approximately 300-mile rail line, to be known as the 
Caliente Line, connecting an existing Union Pacific Railroad Company 
line near Caliente, NV, to a proposed geologic repository at Yucca 
Mountain, Nye County, NV. The purpose of this proposed rail line is to 
allow DOE to transport spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive 
waste for disposal at the proposed geologic repository, as well as to 
provide common carrier rail service to communities situated along the 
proposed line.
    The Board, on its own motion, is adopting a procedural schedule 
that calls for notices of intent to participate and establishes filing 
dates for submissions on whether this application meets the criteria of 
49 U.S.C. 10901.

DATES: This notice is effective on April 16, 2008. Pleadings must be 
filed in accordance with the schedule set forth in the Appendix to this 
notice. All filings, except notices of intent to participate, must be 
concurrently served on all parties of record and must be accompanied by 
a certificate of service.

ADDRESSES: Any filing submitted in this proceeding must be submitted 
either via the Board's e-filing format or in the traditional paper 
format. Any person using e-filing should attach a document and 
otherwise comply with the instructions found on the Board's Web site at 
www.stb.dot.gov at the ``E-FILING'' link. Any person submitting a 
filing in the traditional paper format should send an original and 10 
paper copies of the filing (and also an electronic version) to: Surface 
Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In 
addition, one copy of each filing in this proceeding must be sent (and 
may be sent by e-mail only if service by e-mail is acceptable to the 
recipient) to each of the following: (1) Director, Office of Civilian 
Radioactive Waste Management, United States Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585; (2) Director, Office of 
Logistics Management, United States Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585; (3) Assistant General 
Counsel for Civilian Nuclear Programs, ATTN: Bradley L. Levine, GC-52, 
United States Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., 
Washington, DC 20585; and (4) any other person designated as a party of 
record on the service list notice described below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph H. Dettmar, (202) 245-0395. 
[Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at: 1-800-877-8339].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board's review of construction 
applications is governed by 49 U.S.C. 10901 and by the requirements of 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4370d 
(NEPA), and related environmental laws. Section 10901 requires the 
Board to grant a construction application unless the Board finds that 
the proposal is inconsistent with the public convenience and necessity. 
Under our regulations, comments on DOE's application are due 35 days 
after its March 17, 2008 filing date, and DOE's reply is due 5 days 
after the comments are due. See 49 CFR 1150.10(g) and (h). However, 
because the application is extensive, replies might be lengthy, and the 
proceeding might be controversial, we find that the standard timetable 
is not appropriate in this proceeding. Accordingly, to guide the 
submission of filings on the merits of the application, we will adopt a 
procedural schedule similar to the one used in a recent proceeding 
involving a voluminous and controversial construction application, 
Tongue River Railroad Company, Inc.--Construction and Operation--
Western Alignment, STB Finance Docket No. 30186 (Sub-No. 3). The 
schedule for the DOE proceeding, which is set forth in the Appendix, 
will accord all parties due process because it provides ample time and 
opportunity for the submission of comments and replies. The schedule 
will also better enable the Board to determine whether the proposed 
construction meets the criteria of section 10901.
    DOE has caused notices to be published stating that comments on the 
application are due on or before April 21, 2008, as ordinarily required 
by our rules. While interested parties may continue to file comments by 
April 21, 2008, the parties may also file comments pursuant to the 
longer time frames in the procedural schedule we establish here. To 
alert the parties of the new schedule, we will require DOE to cause 
this notice to be published in the same places as the prior notices and 
to certify to the Board that it has done so.
    Any person who wishes to participate as a party of record in this 
proceeding by filing comments and by receiving other parties' pleadings 
must file with the Acting Secretary of the Board an original and 10 
copies of a notice of intent to participate in accordance with the 
attached procedural schedule. In order to facilitate service of 
pleadings on parties of record, the Board will issue a list of those 
persons who have given notice of their intent to participate. However, 
an interested person does not need to be on the service list to obtain 
a copy of the primary application or any other filing made in this 
proceeding. The primary application and other filings in this 
proceeding will also be available on the Board's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov under ``E-LIBRARY/Filings.'' Additionally, electronic 
copies of the application are available from DOE online at http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov.
    On April 2, 2008, the State of Nevada filed a motion asking the 
Board to reject the application, or in the alternative, to make replies 
to the application due after the applicant has supplemented the record. 
DOE's reply to this motion is due by April 22, 2008. We will address 
the State's motion and any reply in a

[[Page 20749]]

later decision.\1\ Our issuing this notice now does not constitute a 
determination as to whether DOE's application is complete or otherwise 
prejudge the State's motion. We will modify the schedule, if necessary, 
as a result of our subsequent ruling on the State's motion.
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    \1\ On April 8, 2008, Nevada Central Railroad filed a notice 
stating that it intends to participate in this proceeding and that 
it also plans to file a motion to reject the application.
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    The environmental review related to the proposed construction and 
operation of a rail line to Yucca Mountain began in 2004 and is well 
underway. In 2004, the Board accepted DOE's invitation to participate 
as a ``cooperating agency'' under the President's Council on 
Environmental Quality regulations at 40 CFR 1501.6 to give DOE the 
benefit of the Board's expertise in freight rail transportation in the 
preparation of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) addressing a 
potential Nevada rail transportation corridor and alternative rail 
alignments. DOE was also aware when it asked the Board to become a 
cooperating agency that the Board would have jurisdiction over the 
proposed new rail line in the event DOE were to decide to have the 
proposed line operated as a common carrier rail line. (The cooperating 
agency process is intended to make environmental review under NEPA more 
efficient by giving all agencies with licensing authority over a 
project the environmental information they need to comply with NEPA and 
related environmental laws in undertaking their decisionmaking.)
    The Board's Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) and the other 
cooperating agencies on the Nevada rail corridor and rail alignment 
EISs (the Bureau of Land Management and United States Air Force) have 
participated in every step of the EIS process. The Draft EISs were 
issued for public review and comment in October 2007 in Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement for a Rail Alignment for the 
Construction and Operation of a Railroad in Nevada to a Geologic 
Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada (DOE/EIS-03691) and in 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the 
Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at 
Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada--Nevada Rail Transportation Corridor 
(DOE/EIS-0250F-S2D). DOE has made electronic copies of the Draft EISs 
addressing the Nevada rail corridor and alternative rail alignments 
available at http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov.
    SEA participated in the public hearings that were held on the Draft 
EISs in November and December 2007. Following the close of the comment 
period in January 2008, preparation of Final EISs addressing the Nevada 
rail corridor and alternative rail alignments began. DOE estimates that 
it will issue the Final EISs in June 2008. The EISs (including the 
public comments) will serve as the basis for SEA's recommendations to 
the Board regarding whether, from an environmental perspective, DOE's 
construction and operation application should be granted, denied, or 
granted with environmental conditions.
    The Board has not participated in the ongoing EIS process for the 
proposed geologic repository that the proposed new line would serve.
    The Board will take into consideration both the transportation 
merits and the environmental impacts of constructing and operating the 
proposed line when ruling on DOE's application.
    This decision will not significantly affect either the quality of 
the human environment or the conservation of energy resources.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: April 10, 2008.

    By the Board, Chairman Nottingham, Vice Chairman Mulvey, and 
Commissioner Buttrey.
Anne K. Quinlan,
Acting Secretary.

Appendix

Procedural Schedule on the Merits

    April 16, 2008--Publication of notice adopting procedural schedule.
    April 28, 2008--Due date for certification by DOE that it has 
published newspaper notices announcing this procedural schedule.
    May 7, 2008--Due date for notices of intent to participate as a 
party of record.
    July 15, 2008--Due date for comments in support of or opposition to 
the application.
    August 29, 2008--Due date for DOE's reply.

[FR Doc. E8-8161 Filed 4-15-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P