[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 248 (Thursday, December 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78507-78508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-30825]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. FD 35724 (Sub-No. 1)]


California High-Speed Rail Authority--Construction Exemption--In 
Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern Counties, CA

    By petition filed on September 26, 2013, California High-Speed Rail 
Authority (Authority), a state agency formed in 1996, seeks an 
exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 from the prior approval requirements of 
49 U.S.C. 10901 for authority to construct an approximately 114-mile 
high-speed passenger rail line between Fresno and Bakersfield, Cal. 
(the Line).\1\
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    \1\ By decision served June 13, 2013, in California High-Speed 
Rail Authority--Construction Exemption--in Merced, Madera, & Fresno 
Counties, Cal., FD 35724 (the main docket), the Board granted an 
exemption for the Authority to construct the first 65-mile segment 
of the planned California High-Speed Train System (HST System), 
between Merced and Fresno, California. The Line is the second 
segment of the proposed HST System.
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    In a decision served December 4, 2013, and published in the Federal 
Register on December 9, 2013 (78 Fed. Reg. 73,921), the Board 
instituted a proceeding and extended the deadline for comments on the 
transportation merits of the proposed construction to December 24, 
2013. The Board also denied the Authority's request that the Board 
conditionally grant the exemption authority by addressing the 
transportation aspects of the proposed project before the environmental 
review process has been completed.

[[Page 78508]]

    On December 9, 2013, Michael LaSalle filed a letter requesting that 
the Board require the Authority to notify all landowners within and 
along the proposed Fresno-to-Bakersfield alignments, as well as all 
parties of record in the main docket (which pertains to the Merced-to-
Fresno segment) of this proceeding and the comment deadline. LaSalle 
also requests that the Board amend the comment deadline to a reasonable 
time following the Authority's and the Federal Railroad 
Administration's issuance of the Final Environmental Impact Report/
Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) and after their final 
decisions regarding the proposed project, including alignments and 
station locations, have been made. On December 16, 2013, the Community 
Coalition on High Speed Rail filed a letter joining in LaSalle's 
requests.
    On December 12, 2013, the Citizens for California High Speed Rail 
Accountability (CCHSRA) filed a letter requesting that the Board extend 
the comment period to January 31, 2014, because it only recently became 
aware of the petition and because the December 24 deadline coincides 
with the holiday season.\2\ CCHSRA also requested that the Board 
consider providing notice to all impacted landowners in Fresno, Kings, 
Tulare, and Kern Counties.
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    \2\ In a letter filed on December 17, 2013, William Descary, a 
Bakersfield resident, also requests an extension of the comment 
period to January 31, 2014, in light of the holiday season.
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    Notice of the Proceeding. Both LaSalle and CCHSRA request that all 
affected landowners be given direct notice of this proceeding. 
Generally, however, publication in the Federal Register is legally 
sufficient notice to interested or affected parties.\3\ Moreover, 
attempting to identify and provide direct notice to all landowners who 
might potentially be affected would be unworkable.\4\ Also, ample 
notice of the proposed construction project and opportunity to 
participate in the environmental review for the proposed project have 
been provided through the EIR/EIS process. That process included five 
public meetings in 2009 on the potential scope of the Draft EIR/EIS, 
three public hearings in 2011 on the Draft EIR/EIS, and three public 
hearings in 2012 on the Revised Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS. All 
the meetings and hearings were held in the project area including 
Fresno and Bakersfield.
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    \3\ Friends of Sierra R.R. v. ICC, 881 F.2d 663, 667-68 (9th 
Cir. 1989) (citing Fed. Crop Ins. Corp. v. Merrill, 332 U.S. 380 
(1947)); accord State of Cal. ex rel. Lockyer v. FERC, 329 F.3d 700, 
707 (9th Cir. 2003).
    \4\ See Nat'l Trails Sys. Act & R.R. Rights of Way, EP 702, slip 
op. at 7-8 (STB served Feb. 16, 2011).
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    However, given the significant public interest in this proceeding, 
the Board will require the Authority to notify all parties of record in 
the main docket by providing them with a copy of its petition for 
exemption in this sub-docket, as well as a copy of this decision, by 
January 3, 2014, and to certify contemporaneously to the Board that it 
has done so. Those parties, and any other interested persons who wish 
to participate in this sub-docket as a party of record, will then have 
until January 21, 2014, to notify the Board of their intent to 
participate in this sub-docket as a party of record. Only persons who 
participate as a party of record in this sub-docket by filing a notice 
of intent or filing comments (or both) will be entitled to service of 
pleadings and subsequent Board decisions in this sub-docket.
    Extension of the Comment Period. In recognition of the new notice 
procedure set forth above, and taking into consideration the requests 
for an extension of the current comment deadline, we will extend the 
deadline for comments on the transportation to February 14, 2014. This 
extension should provide sufficient time for interested persons to 
comment on the proposed transaction.
    Waiver of service requirement for individual private citizens. The 
Board is interested in encouraging public participation by all 
interested persons in this proceeding. As was done in the main 
docket,\5\ to help create a comprehensive record that embodies the full 
spectrum of interests involved and to facilitate the ability of 
individual private citizens to participate in that process, the service 
requirements of 49 CFR 1104.12(a), which require every document filed 
with the Board to be served upon all parties to the proceeding, will be 
waived for individual private citizens who file comments in this 
proceeding. Thus, filings made by individual private citizens will be 
included in the public record of this proceeding (and posted on the 
Board's Web site) regardless of whether the filings comply with the 
service requirements of Sec.  1104.12(a). All other parties of record, 
including citizen organizations, are expected to comply with the 
Board's service requirement regulations and serve all parties of record 
listed on the Board's service list for this proceeding.
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    \5\ See Cal. High-Speed Rail Auth.--Constr. Exemption--in 
Merced, Madera, & Fresno Cntys., Cal., FD 35724 (STB served May 14, 
2013).
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    This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the 
human environment or the conservation of energy resources.
    It is ordered:
    1. Replies to the petition for exemption are due by February 14, 
2014.
    2. As discussed above in this decision, the Authority must notify 
all parties of record in the main docket of this proceeding of the 
proposed transaction by January 3, 2014, and certify contemporaneously 
to the Board that it has done so.
    3. Any person who wishes to participate in this proceeding as a 
party of record must file with the Board a notice of intent to 
participate by January 21, 2014.
    4. The service requirements under 49 CFR 1104.12(a) are waived for 
individual private citizens participating in this proceeding.
    5. This decision will be published in the Federal Register.
    6. This decision is effective on its service date.

    Decided: December 20, 2013.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2013-30825 Filed 12-24-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P