[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 154 (Thursday, August 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47702-47704]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19555]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board


30-Day Notice of Request for Approval: Statutory Authority To 
Preserve Rail Service

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 (section 
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 (section 10907). Additionally, the railroad owning the rail 
line subject to abandonment must, in some circumstances, provide 
information to the applicant or offeror. The Board previously published 
a notice about this collection in the Federal Register on February 10, 
2012, at 77 FR 7236-37 (60-day notice). That notice allowed for a 60-
day public review and comment period. No comments were received. The 
information collection for which approval is sought is described in 
detail below. Comments may now be submitted to OMB 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 this collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the 
collection has practical utility.

Description of Collection

    Title: Statutory Authority to Preserve Rail Service.
    OMB Control Number: 2140-00.
    STB Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Existing collection 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: 40 (including informational filings required 
of railroads).\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, there were 56 filings under 49 
U.S.C. 10904-07 and the Trails Act. See Table--Number of Yearly 
Responses. In the 60-day notice, the Board indicated that there were 
approximately 60 respondents. Although no comments were filed, it 
has come to our attention that approximately 30% of the filings were 
additional filings submitted by railroads or trail users that had 
already submitted filings during the time period. Therefore, the 
number of respondents has been revised to approximately 40, which is 
30% less than the number of filings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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..........................................           20
Trail-Use Request Extension \2\............................           19
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ In the 60-day notice, the Board did not separate trail use requests
  into initial trail-use requests and extension requests, but it has
  done so in this notice because the initial request has a capped filing
  fee and the extension request does not. The distinction is necessary
  to more accurately derive the cost to the government of this
  collection and the total non-hour burden cost, which increases from
  $41,980 (in the 60-day notice) to $45,780.

    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
Trail-Use Request Extension................................            4
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Total ``Non-hour Burden'' Cost (such as filing fees): $45,780 (sum 
of estimated ``non-hour burden'' cost per response X number of 
responses for each statutory section and type of filing).

[[Page 47703]]



                             Table--Estimated ``Non-Hour Burden'' Cost per Response
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Type of filing                            Filing costs     Other costs     Total costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offer of Financial Assistance...................................          $1,500             $90          $1,590
OFA--Railroad Reply to Request for Information..................               0              30              30
OFA--Request to Set Terms and Conditions........................          23,100              30          23,130
Request for Public Use Condition................................               0              30              30
Feeder Line Application.........................................           2,600             200           2,800
Trail-Use Request...............................................             250              30             280
Trail-Use Request Extension.....................................             450              30             480
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Needs and Uses: Under the Interstate Commerce Act, as amended by 
the ICC Termination Act of 1995, Public Law No. 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 cannot agree to the sale or 
subsidy, either party also may file a request for the Board to set the 
terms and conditions of the financial assistance. Under section 10905, 
a public use request allows the Board to impose a 180-day public use 
condition on the abandonment of a rail line, permitting the parties to 
negotiate a public use for the rail line. Under section 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), permitting 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.
    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 
September 10, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be identified as ``Paperwork 
Reduction Act Comments, Surface Transportation Board, Statutory 
Authority to Preserve Rail Service.'' These comments should be directed 
to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Patrick Fuchs, Surface Transportation 
Board Desk Officer, by fax at (202) 395-5167; by mail at OMB, Room 
10235, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20500; or by email at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Marilyn Levitt, (202) 245-0269. 
[Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) for the hearing impaired: 
(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

[[Page 47704]]

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 section 3506(b) of the PRA, Federal 
agencies are required to provide, concurrent with an agency's 
submitting a collection to OMB for approval, a 30-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: August 6, 2012.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2012-19555 Filed 8-8-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P