[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 185 (Friday, September 25, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 49068]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23191]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 35292]


Pinsly Railroad Company--Control Exemption--The Prescott and 
Northwestern Railroad Company

    Pinsly Railroad Company (PRC), a noncarrier, has filed a verified 
notice of exemption to obtain control of The Prescott and Northwestern 
Railroad Company (PNW), a Class III rail carrier, through the purchase 
of all PNW's stock from Potlatch Land & Lumber, LLC (PLL).\1\ PRC 
currently controls five Class III railroads: Pioneer Valley Railroad 
Company, Inc. (PVR), which operates in Massachusetts; Florida Central 
Railroad Company, Inc. (FCR), Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc. 
(FMR), and Florida Northern Railroad Company, Inc. (FNR), each of which 
operates in Florida; and Arkansas Midland Railroad Company, Inc. 
(AKMD), which operates in Arkansas. PRC states that it executed a Stock 
Purchase Agreement with PLL on September 4, 2009, to acquire all of 
PNW's stock and assume control of PNW.\2\
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    \1\ PRC has also concurrently filed a motion for protective 
order pursuant to 49 CFR 1104.14(b) to allow PRC to file the 
unredacted Stock Purchase Agreement under seal. That motion will be 
addressed in a separate decision.
    \2\ The Stock Purchase Agreement also covers PRC's acquisition 
of another Class III rail line. For that acquisition, PRC has filed 
a verified petition for exemption in Pinsly Railroad Company-Control 
Exemption-Warren & Saline River Railroad Company, STB Finance Docket 
No. 35293. The petition will be addressed in a separate decision.
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    The transaction is scheduled to be consummated simultaneously with 
the transaction filed in STB Finance Docket No. 35293 no later than 
December 31, 2009, unless the transaction in STB Finance Docket No. 
35293 is not finalized by that date. In that event, this transaction 
will be consummated separately on or after the date that this notice 
becomes effective (which will occur on October 9, 2009).
    Applicant states that: (i) The rail line involved in this 
transaction does not connect with any rail lines of the PVR, FCR, FMR, 
FNR, AKMD or any other railroad now controlled by applicant; (ii) the 
acquisition of control of PNW is not part of a series of anticipated 
transactions that would connect any of the railroads with each other or 
with any railroad in their corporate family; and (iii) this transaction 
does not involve a Class I rail carrier. Therefore, the transaction is 
exempt from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49 
CFR 1180.2(d)(2).
    Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), the Board may not use its exemption 
authority to relieve a rail carrier of its statutory obligation to 
protect the interests of its employees. Section 11326(c), however, does 
not provide for labor protection for transactions under sections 11324 
and 11325 that involve only Class III rail carriers. Accordingly, the 
Board may not impose labor protective conditions here, because all the 
carriers involved are Class III rail carriers.
    If the notice contains false or misleading information, the 
exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49 
U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to 
revoke will not automatically stay the effectiveness of the exemption. 
Petitions for stay must be filed no later than October 2, 2009 (at 
least 7 days before the exemption becomes effective).
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB 
Finance Docket No. 35292, must be filed with the Surface Transportation 
Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, one 
copy of each pleading must be served on Thomas J. Litwiler, Fletcher & 
Sippel LLC, 29 North Wacker Drive, Suite 920, Chicago, IL 60606-2832.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: September 22, 2009.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. E9-23191 Filed 9-24-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P