[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 174 (Friday, September 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55268-55269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22005]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. FD 35666]


Union Pacific Railroad Company--Acquisition and Operation 
Exemption--San Pedro Railroad Operating Company, LLC

    Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under: (1) 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(1) to acquire and operate over 
San Pedro Railroad Operating Company, LLC's (SPROC) line segments 
between MP 1040.15 at Curtiss, Ariz., and MP 1041.32 near Curtiss 
(Parcel 1), and between MP 1071.16 and MP 1084 at Naco, Ariz. (Parcel 
2), and to acquire all of SPROC's property rights, including SPROC's 
freight operating easement, in a line segment between MP 1041.32 and MP 
1071.16 (Parcel 3),\1\ whose underlying right-of-way UP currently owns, 
and to operate over the same; and (2) 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7) to acquire 
overhead trackage rights over a line between MP 1033.008 at Benson, 
Ariz., and MP 1040.15 at Curtiss (Leased Line), that SPROC currently 
leases from UP and operates.\2\
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    \1\ In San Pedro Railroad Operating Company, LLC--Abandonment 
Exemption--In Cochise County, Ariz., AB 1081X (STB served Feb. 3, 
2006), the Board granted SPROC an exemption to abandon approximately 
76.2 miles of railroad in Cochise County, Ariz., including Parcels 
1, 2, and 3 at issue here. SPROC has sought, and received from the 
Board, numerous extensions of the abandonment authority consummation 
deadline for Parcels 1, 2, and 3, the last of which set the 
consummation deadline at September 24, 2012. San Pedro R.R. 
Operating Co.--Aban. Exemption--In Cochise Cnty., Ariz., AB 1081X 
(STB served July 5, 2012).
    \2\ UP has included a copy of the proposed trackage rights 
agreement between UP and SPROC and states that a copy of the signed 
agreement will be filed with the Board within 10 days of the filing 
of the subject verified noticed of exemption.
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    The earliest this transaction may be consummated is September 22, 
2012, the effective date of the exemption (30 days after the exemption 
was filed).
    According to UP, the purpose of assuming the rail operations over 
Parcels 1, 2, and 3, and acquiring the overhead trackage rights over 
the Leased Line is to maintain continuity of railroad service on the 
Curtiss Branch Line and preserve the Curtiss Branch Line for future and 
improved railroad service. UP states that acquiring the overhead 
trackage rights over the Leased Line would also provide the connection 
necessary for UP to serve and operate the southern portion of the 
Curtiss Branch Line.
    In support of the exemption filed under Sec.  1180.2(d)(1), UP 
states the Board previously granted SPROC the authority to abandon 
Parcels 1, 2, and 3, and that UP's acquisition of, and authority to 
operate over, those portions would not constitute a major market 
extension for UP because: (1) The Curtiss Branch Line does not extend 
to the international border with Mexico; (2) the Curtiss Branch Line is 
not in or near any major commercial markets or rail routes; (3) except 
for the Leased Line, the entire Curtiss Branch Line was approved for 
abandonment by the Board; and (4) UP currently retains real property 
ownership of the majority of the right-of-way that makes up the Curtiss 
Branch Line. In support of the exemption filed under Sec.  
1180.2(d)(7), the overhead trackage rights sought by UP over the Leased 
Line are based on a written agreement and such rights were neither 
filed nor sought by UP in a responsive application in a rail 
consolidation proceeding.
    The acquisition exemption is subject to the conditions for the 
protection of railroad employees in New York Dock Railway--Control--
Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, 360 I.C.C. 60 (1979), aff'd sub 
nom. New York Dock Railway v. United States, 609 F.2d 83 (2d Cir. 
1979), as modified by Wilmington Terminal Railroad--Purchase & Lease--
CSX Transportation, Inc., 6 I.C.C. 2d 799, 814-26 (1990), aff'd sub 
nom. Railway Labor Executives' Association v. ICC, 930 F.2d 511 (6th 
Cir. 1991). As a condition to the trackage rights exemption, any 
employees affected by the trackage rights will be protected by the 
conditions imposed in Norfolk & Western Railway--Trackage Rights--
Burlington Northern, Inc., 354 I.C.C. 605 (1978), as modified in 
Mendocino Coast Railway--Lease & Operate--California Western Railroad, 
360 I.C.C. 653 (1980).
    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

[[Page 55269]]

a petition to revoke will not automatically stay the effectiveness of 
the exemption. Stay petitions must be filed by September 14, 2012 (at 
least 7 days before the exemption becomes effective).
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket No. 
FD 35666, must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each 
pleading must be served on Mack H. Shumate, Jr., Union Pacific Railroad 
Company, Law Department, 101 North Wacker Drive, Room 1920, Chicago, IL 
60606.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: August 31, 2012.

    By the Board, Richard Armstrong, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2012-22005 Filed 9-6-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P