[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 6, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 45801]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-18183]



[[Page 45801]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 35160]


Oregon International Port of Coos Bay--Feeder Line Application--
Coos Bay Line of the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, Inc.

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of acceptance of feeder line application and setting of 
procedural schedule.

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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board has accepted for 
consideration the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay's (the Port's) 
feeder line application under 49 U.S.C. 10907, and has set the 
procedural schedule for the proceeding. The Port seeks to acquire 
approximately 111.016 miles of Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, 
Inc.'s (CORP's) Coos Bay Line (the Line) between milepost 763.130, near 
Cordes, OR, and milepost 652.114, near Danebo, OR.

DATES: Competing applications by other parties seeking to acquire all 
or any portion of the Line sought in the initial application are due by 
August 8, 2008. Any supplement by the Port to its application is due by 
August 8, 2008. The Board, through the Director of the Office of 
Proceedings, will issue a decision accepting or rejecting a competing 
application no later than August 22, 2008. Verified statements and 
comments addressing both the initial and competing applications must be 
filed by August 29, 2008. Verified replies by applicants and other 
interested parties must be filed by September 12, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Send an original and 10 copies of any competing 
applications, supplements, verified statements, comments, and verified 
replies referring to STB Finance Docket No. 35160 to: Surface 
Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In 
addition, send one copy of any competing applications, supplements, 
verified statements, comments, and verified replies to (1) applicant's 
representative: Sandra L. Brown, Esq., Troutman Sanders LLP, 401 Ninth 
Street, NW., Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20004; and (2) CORP's 
representative: Terence M. Hynes, Sidley Austin LLP, 1501 K Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20005.

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: On July 11, 2008, the Port filed an 
application under the feeder line provision at 49 U.S.C. 10907 to 
acquire the Line from CORP. The Port offers $9,811,100 for the Line, 
its estimate of the Line's net liquidation value. The Port asserts that 
the Line has no going concern value.
    Under 49 U.S.C. 10907(b)(1), the Board is authorized to require the 
sale of a rail line to a financially responsible person if the public 
convenience and necessity require or permit the sale. The Port contends 
that the proposed sale is required or permitted under the public 
convenience and necessity criteria, 49 U.S.C. 10907(c)(1)(A)-(E), and 
that it is a financially responsible person willing to pay not less 
than the constitutional minimum value of the Line.
    Acceptance of the Port's Application. Under 49 CFR 1151.2(b), the 
Board, through the Director of the Office of Proceedings, must accept a 
complete application, or reject one that is incomplete, no later than 
30 days after the application is filed. Notice of an acceptance must be 
published in the Federal Register . 49 CFR 1151.2(b)(1). An application 
is complete if it has been properly served and contains substantially 
all information required by section 1151.3, except as modified by 
advance waiver. Id. The notice also provides a procedural schedule for 
the proceeding. Id.
    The Port's application contains sufficient information to be 
accepted for consideration. However, because the Port forecasts that 
the Line will require extensive rehabilitation and that rail service 
will incur substantial losses, the Port is encouraged to supplement the 
information it has provided thus far with regard to section 
1151.3(a)(7), which addresses the proposed operator of the line; 
section 1151.3(a)(9), which addresses any preconditions that would be 
placed on shippers in order for them to receive service, including 
shipper subsidies; and section 1151.3(a)(10), which addresses the 
sources of other subsidies the applicant would receive. Any such 
supplement must be filed by August 8 so that those responding to the 
application will have ample time to review the supplement.
    Procedural Schedule. The Board has determined that it is in the 
interest of the public, the Port, and CORP to complete the feeder line 
proceeding in an expedited manner. Specifically, the procedural 
schedule described above was adopted based in part on the procedural 
schedule of CORP's pending abandonment application, which is being 
processed by the Board concurrently in a separate docket.\1\
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    \1\ On July 14, 2008, in Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, 
Inc.--Abandonment and Discontinuance of Service--in Coos, Douglas, 
and Lane Counties, OR, STB Docket No. AB-515 (Sub-No. 2), CORP filed 
for authority, under 49 U.S.C. 10903, to abandon the Coos Bay Branch 
between milepost 669.0 near Vaughn, OR, and milepost 763.13 near 
Cordes, OR, and to discontinue service over the segments of the Coos 
Bay Subdivision that are leased by it, including: (1) The Coquille 
Branch between milepost 763.13 near Cordes, OR, and milepost 785.5 
near Coquille, OR, which is leased from the Union Pacific Railroad 
Company; and (2) the LPN Branch between CORP milepost 738.8 and LPN 
Branch milepost 2.0, which is leased from Longview, Portland & 
Northern Railway Company. The Federal Register notice of CORP's 
abandonment application is being published August 1, 2008.
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    Lastly, on July 29, 2008, the Board served a decision in the CORP 
abandonment proceeding granting requests for a public hearing, which is 
being set for August 21, 2008 in Eugene, OR.\2\ Because the Port is 
seeking to acquire a rail line that includes the line that CORP is 
seeking to abandon, and because both applications were filed at 
approximately the same time, the Port, CORP and other interested 
parties may address issues relevant to both proceedings at that 
hearing. Details about the public hearing, including how to 
participate, can be found in a separate decision that is being served 
on August 1, 2008, in this proceeding and in the CORP abandonment 
proceeding.
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    \2\ Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, Inc.--Abandonment and 
Discontinuance of Service--in Coos, Douglas, and Lane Counties, OR, 
STB Docket No. AB-515 (Sub-No. 2) (STB served July 29, 2008).
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    Copies of the application and any supplement filed by the applicant 
may be obtained free of charge by contacting applicant's 
representative. Alternatively, the application and any supplement filed 
may be inspected at the offices of the Surface Transportation Board, 
Suite 131, during normal business hours, or copies may be obtained from 
the Board's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.
    To obtain a free copy of the full decision, visit the Board's Web 
site at http://www.stb.dot.gov or call the Board's Information Officer 
at (202) 245-0245. [Assistance for the hearing impaired is available 
through Federal Information Relay Services (FIRS): (800) 877-8339.]

    Decided: July 31, 2008.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Anne K. Quinlan,
Acting Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E8-18183 Filed 8-5-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P