[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 28 (Friday, February 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7236-7237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3178]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board


Information Collection Activities

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 
3501-3519 (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) gives 
notice of its intent to seek from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) approval of the information collections required under 49 U.S.C. 
10904-05 and 10907, and 16 U.S.C. 1247(d). Under these statutory 
provisions, the Board administers programs designed to preserve 
railroad service or rail rights-of-way. When a line is proposed for 
abandonment, affected shippers, communities, or other interested 
persons may seek to preserve rail service by filing with the Board: an 
offer of financial assistance (OFA) to subsidize or purchase a rail 
line for which a railroad is seeking abandonment (49 U.S.C. 10904), 
including a request for the Board to set terms and conditions of the 
financial assistance; a request for a public use condition (Sec.  
10905); or a trail-use request (16 U.S.C. 1247(d)). Similarly, when a 
line is placed on a system diagram map identifying it as an anticipated 
or potential candidate for abandonment, affected shippers, communities, 
or other interested persons may seek to preserve rail service by filing 
with the Board a feeder line application to purchase the identified 
rail line (Sec.  10907). Additionally, the railroad owning the rail 
line subject to abandonment must, in some circumstances, provide 
information to the applicant or offeror. The relevant information 
collections are described in more detail below.
    Comments are requested concerning: (1) The accuracy of the Board's 
burden estimates; (2) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information collected; (3) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on the respondents, including the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology when appropriate; and (4) whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Board, including whether the collection has practical utility. 
Submitted comments will be summarized and included in the Board's 
Request For OMB Approval.

Description of Collections

    Title: Statutory Authority to Preserve Rail Service.
    OMB Control Number: 2140-00XX.
    STB Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Existing collections in use without an OMB control 
number.
    Respondents: Affected shippers, communities, or other interested 
persons seeking to preserve rail service over rail lines that are 
proposed or identified for abandonment, and railroads that are required 
to provide information to the offeror or applicant.
    Number of Respondents: 60 (including informational filings required 
of railroads).
    Frequency: On occasion.

                    Table--Number of Yearly Responses
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Number of
                       Type of filing                          filings
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offer of Financial Assistance..............................            3
OFA--Railroad Reply to Request for Information.............            3
OFA--Request to Set Terms and Conditions...................            1
Request for Public Use Condition...........................            9
Feeder Line Application....................................            1
Trail-Use Request..........................................           39
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Total Burden Hours (annually including all respondents): 374 hours 
(sum total of estimated hours per response X number of responses for 
each type of filing).

                   Table--Estimated Hours Per Response
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Number of
                       Type of filing                         hours per
                                                               response
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offer of Financial Assistance..............................           32
OFA--Railroad Reply to Request for Information.............           10
OFA--Request to Set Terms and Conditions...................            4
Request for Public Use Condition...........................            2
Feeder Line Application....................................           70
Trail-Use Request..........................................            4
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Total ``Non-hour Burden'' Cost (such as filing fees): $41,980 (sum 
of estimated ``non-hour burden'' cost per response X number of 
responses for each statutory section and type of filing).

         Table--Estimated ``Non-Hour Burden'' Cost Per Response
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Filing
          Type of filing              costs     Other costs  Total costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offer of Financial Assistance....       $1,500          $90       $1,590
OFA--Railroad Reply to Request               0           30           30
 for Information.................
OFA--Request to Set Terms and           23,100           30       23,130
 Conditions......................
Public Use Request...............            0           30           30
Feeder Line Application..........        2,600          200        2,800
Trail-Use Request................          250           30          280
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Needs and Uses: Under the Interstate Commerce Act, Public Law 104-
88, 109 Stat. 803 (1995), and Section 8(d) of the National Trails 
System Act, 16 U.S.C. 1247(d) (Trails Act), persons seeking to preserve 
rail service may file pleadings before the Board to acquire or 
subsidize a rail line for continued service, or to impose a trail use 
or public use condition. Under 49 U.S.C. 10904, the filing of an OFA 
starts a process of negotiations to define the financial assistance 
needed to purchase or subsidize the rail line sought for abandonment. 
Once the OFA is filed, the offeror may request additional information 
from the railroad, which the railroad must provide. If the parties

[[Page 7237]]

cannot agree to the sale or subsidy, the Board may be asked to set the 
terms and conditions of the financial assistance. Under Sec.  10905, a 
public use request allows the Board to impose a 180-day public use 
condition on the abandonment of a rail line, allowing the parties to 
negotiate a public use for the rail line. Under Sec.  10907, a feeder 
line application provides the basis for authorizing an involuntary sale 
of a rail line. Finally, under 16 U.S.C. 1247(d), a trail-use request, 
if agreed upon by the abandoning carrier, requires the Board to 
condition the abandonment by issuing a Notice of Interim Trail Use 
(NITU) or Certificate of Interim Trail Use (CITU), allowing the parties 
to negotiate an interim trail use/rail banking agreement for the rail 
line.
    The collection by the Board of these offers, requests, and 
applications, and the railroad's replies (when required), enables the 
Board to meet its statutory duty to regulate the referenced rail 
transactions. See Table--Statutory and Regulatory Provisions below.
    Retention Period: Information in these collections is maintained by 
the Board for 10 years, after which it is transferred to the National 
Archives as permanent records.

DATES: Comments on this information collection should be submitted by 
April 10, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Direct all comments to Marilyn Levitt, Surface 
Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001, or 
to [email protected]. When submitting comments, please refer to 
``Statutory Authority to Preserve Rail Service.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn Levitt at (202) 245-0269 or at 
[email protected]. [Assistance for the hearing impaired is available 
through the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339.] Relevant STB regulations are referenced below and may be viewed 
on the STB's Web site under E-Library > Reference: STB Rules, http://www.stb.dot.gov/stb/elibrary/ref_stbrules.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Respondents seeking authority from the Board 
to preserve rail lines must submit certain information required under 
the Board's related regulations and, in some circumstances, railroads 
seeking to abandon a line must disclose certain information to the 
offeror or applicant.
    Offer of Financial Assistance. When a rail line would otherwise be 
approved for abandonment (or discontinuance), any financially 
responsible person may seek to acquire the line for continued rail 
service (after abandonment has been approved), or may seek to 
temporarily subsidize continued operations by the incumbent railroad 
(after abandonment or discontinuance has been approved), by filing an 
OFA under 49 U.S.C. 10904 and 49 CFR 1152.27. An OFA may be submitted 
to the Board as soon as the railroad seeks abandonment (or 
discontinuance) authority. Once an OFA is submitted, the abandoning 
railroad must, upon request, promptly provide to any party considering 
an OFA and to the Board an estimate of the annual subsidy or minimum 
purchase price; a report on the physical condition of line; and data on 
traffic, revenues, net liquidation value, and the cost to rehabilitate 
to class I (minimum) track standards. If the parties are not able to 
agree upon the purchase price or subsidy, then, to move forward, either 
party may ask the Board to set the price or subsidy, which will be 
binding upon the parties if the offeror chooses to accept the terms set 
by the Board and proceed with the purchase.
    Public Use Request. Any person may request that the Board prohibit 
an abandoning railroad from disposing of the right-of-way--for up to 
180 days--without first offering the right-of-way (on reasonable terms) 
for other suitable public purposes (such as mass transit, pipeline, 
transmission lines, recreation, etc.). Such requests are governed by 49 
U.S.C. 10905 and 49 CFR 1152.28.
    Feeder Line Application. When a line has been identified on a 
railroad's system diagram map as a potential candidate for abandonment 
(or discontinuance), but before abandonment (or discontinuance) 
authority has been sought, any financially responsible person (other 
than a Class I or II railroad) may, by filing a feeder line application 
under 49 U.S.C. 10907 and 49 CFR part 1151, seek to acquire the line 
for continued rail service under the forced sale provisions of the 
feeder railroad development program.
    Trail-Use Request. The Trails Act provides a mechanism whereby any 
interested person may seek to ``railbank'' a rail right-of-way that has 
been approved for abandonment and use the property in the interim as a 
recreational trail. The Board has a ministerial role in this process; 
under 49 CFR 1152.29, interested persons may submit a request to the 
Board for a trail-use condition, and if the statutory conditions are 
met, the Board must authorize the parties to negotiate a trail-use 
agreement by issuing a CITU, or, in an exemption proceeding, a NITU. 
The CITU or NITU typically permit negotiations for 180 days, but the 
negotiations can be extended upon request to the Board. Under the 
Trails Act, trail-use agreements are consensual, not forced. The 
abandoning railroad is free to choose whether or not to enter into or 
continue negotiations to transfer (all or part of) the right-of-way to 
a trail sponsor.
    Under the PRA, a Federal agency conducting or sponsoring a 
collection of information must display a currently valid OMB control 
number. A collection of information, which is defined in 44 U.S.C. 
3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c), includes agency requirements that persons 
submit reports, keep records, or provide information to the agency, 
third parties, or the public. Under Sec.  3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 
Federal agencies are required to provide, prior to an agency's 
submitting a collection to OMB for approval, a 60-day notice and 
comment period through publication in the Federal Register concerning 
each proposed collection of information, including each proposed 
extension of an existing collection of information.

    Dated: February 7, 2012.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2012-3178 Filed 2-9-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P