[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 87 (Thursday, May 5, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27069-27082]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-10442]



[[Page 27069]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

49 CFR Part 1250

[Docket No. EP 724 (Sub-No. 4)]


United States Rail Service Issues--Performance Data Reporting

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board (the Board or STB).

ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: Through this Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(SNPR), the Board is proposing to establish new regulations requiring 
all Class I railroads and the Chicago Transportation Coordination 
Office (CTCO), through its Class I members, to report certain service 
performance metrics on a weekly basis.

DATES: Comments are due by May 31, 2016. Reply comments are due by June 
28, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments and replies may be submitted either via the Board's 
e-filing format or in the traditional paper format. Any person using e-
filing should attach a document and otherwise comply with the 
instructions at the E-FILING link on the Board's Web site, at http://www.stb.dot.gov. Any person submitting a filing in the traditional 
paper format should send an original and 10 copies to: Surface 
Transportation Board, Attn: Docket No. EP 724 (Sub-No. 4), 395 E Street 
SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
    Copies of written comments and replies will be available for 
viewing and self-copying at the Board's Public Docket Room, Room 131, 
and will be posted to the Board's Web site. Copies will also be 
available (for a fee) by contacting the Board's Chief Records Officer 
at (202) 245-0238 or 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Davis at (202) 245-0378. 
Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Surface Transportation Board initiated 
this rulemaking proceeding in response to the service problems that 
began to emerge in the railroad industry in late 2013. Those service 
problems affected the transportation of a wide range of commodities, 
including grain, fertilizer, ethanol, coal, automobiles, chemicals, 
propane, consumer goods, crude oil, and industrial commodities.
    In response to the service challenges, the Board held two public 
hearings, in April 2014 in Washington, DC, and in September 2014 in 
Fargo, ND, to allow interested persons to report on service problems, 
to hear from rail industry executives on plans to address rail service 
problems, and to explore options to improve service. During and after 
these hearings, parties expressed concerns about the lack of publicly 
available information related to rail service and requested access to 
performance data from the railroads to better understand the scope, 
magnitude, and impact of the service issues,\1\ as well as the 
underlying causes and the prospects for recovery.
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    \1\ See generally National Grain and Feed Association Letter, 
U.S. Rail Serv. Issues, EP 724 (filed May 6, 2014); Western Coal 
Traffic League Letter, U.S. Rail Serv. Issues, EP 724 (filed Apr. 
17, 2014); Apr. Hr'g Tr. 154-155, U.S. Rail Serv. Issues, EP 724 
(Apr. 10, 2014); Western Coal Traffic League Statement 5-6, U.S. 
Rail Serv. Issues, EP 724 (filed Sept. 5, 2014); Sept. Hr'g Tr. 48, 
290, U.S. Rail Serv. Issues, EP 724 (Sept. 4, 2014).
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    Based on these concerns and to better understand railroad operating 
conditions, the Board issued an October 8, 2014 order requiring all 
Class I railroads and the Class I railroad members of the CTCO to file 
weekly reports containing specific performance data. See U.S. Rail 
Serv. Issues--Data Collection (Interim Data Order), EP 724 (Sub-No. 3) 
(STB served Oct. 8, 2014).\2\ Railroads were asked to report weekly 
average train speeds, weekly average terminal dwell times, weekly 
average cars online, number of trains held short of destination, and 
loading metrics for grain and coal service, among other information. 
The data were intended to give both the Board and its stakeholders 
access to near real-time information about the operations and 
performance of the Class I railroads and the fluidity of the Chicago 
gateway. In addition, the data were expected to assist rail shippers in 
making logistics decisions, planning operations and production, and 
mitigating potential losses.
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    \2\ On motion of Canadian Pacific Railway Company, the Board 
modified the Interim Data Order by decision served on February 23, 
2016, to allow it to discontinue reporting data related to the Rapid 
City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad, Inc.
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    On October 22, 2014, the Class I railroads and the Association of 
American Railroads (AAR) (on behalf of the CTCO) filed the first set of 
weekly reports in response to the Interim Data Order. As requested by 
the Board, each carrier provided an explanation of its methodology for 
deriving performance data in response to each request. Generally, the 
reports corresponded to the elements of the Interim Data Order; 
however, some railroads approached individual requests differently, 
leading to variations in the reported data. The different approaches 
were due primarily to the railroads' disparate data-keeping systems, 
different railroad operating practices, and/or unintended ambiguities 
in certain requests. Certain railroads also departed from the Board's 
prescribed reporting in order to maintain consistency with their own 
weekly data runs and analyses. For the most part, however, railroads 
made reasonable efforts to respond to each request, substituting 
analogous data when the precise information requested could not readily 
be derived.
    The weekly filings have allowed the Board and its stakeholders to 
monitor the industry's performance and have allowed the Board to 
develop baseline data. Based on the Board's experience with the 
reporting to date, and as expressly contemplated in the Interim Data 
Order, the Board proposed new regulations for permanent reporting by 
the members of the Class I railroad industry and the CTCO, through its 
Class I members. See U.S. Rail Serv. Issues--Performance Data 
Reporting, EP 724 (Sub-No. 4) (STB served Dec. 30, 2014) (80 FR 473, 
January 6, 2015) (NPR).
    The proposed reporting requirements in the NPR include many of the 
requests contained in the Interim Data Order. The NPR proposes nine 
weekly metrics that would apply to Class I railroads: (1) System 
average train speed; (2) weekly average terminal dwell time; (3) weekly 
average cars online; (4) weekly average dwell time at origin or 
interchange; (5) weekly total number of loaded and empty trains held 
short of destination or scheduled interchange; (6) daily average number 
of loaded and empty cars operating in normal movement which have not 
moved in specified periods of time; (7) weekly total number of grain 
cars loaded and billed, by State; (8) total overdue car orders, average 
days late, total new orders in the past week, total orders filled in 
the past week, and number of orders cancelled in the past week; and (9) 
weekly total coal unit train loadings or carloadings by region. The NPR 
also proposes metrics pertaining to service in Chicago as well as 
reporting on major rail infrastructure projects. The NPR proposes to 
exempt Kansas City Southern Railway Company from filing state-specific 
information in response to Requests Nos. 7 and 8, due to the nature of 
its grain business and its very limited number of customers in a small 
number of states in its service territory.
    Following receipt of comments in response to the NPR, the Board 
issued an order announcing that it would waive its ex parte 
communications rules in order to allow Board staff to hold

[[Page 27070]]

meetings with interested parties to develop a more complete record with 
regard to technical issues in this proceeding. See U.S. Rail Serv. 
Issues--Performance Data Reporting (Waiver Decision), EP 724 (Sub-No. 
4) (STB served Nov. 9, 2015). As a result of the comments and meetings, 
the Board is issuing this SNPR to revise the proposed rule. A summary 
of the proposed changes are outlined in Table 1 in Appendix A of this 
decision.
    We will address one preliminary issue before summarizing the 
comments and explaining our proposed revisions to the NPR.

Preliminary Matter

    On November 30, 2015, practitioners Thomas F. McFarland and Gordon 
P. MacDougall petitioned the Board to reconsider its Waiver Decision. 
McFarland and MacDougall had not previously participated in this 
proceeding, but assert an interest in future performance metrics in 
their roles as counsel before the Board. (Pet. 2.) They assert that the 
Waiver Decision is a departure from long-standing rules and that the 
Board does not have the authority to waive its prohibition against ex 
parte communication. (Pet. 3, 9) Alternatively, McFarland and 
MacDougall argue that the Board did not render findings adequate to 
waive its rules, citing 49 U.S.C. 10502, the statute dealing with the 
Board's exemption power. (Pet. 11.)
    On December 21, 2015, AAR filed a reply to the petition, arguing 
that the Waiver Decision complies with the Board's rules and all 
governing law. (AAR Reply 3, Dec. 21, 2015.) AAR states that although 
the Board's rules do generally prohibit ex parte communications, they 
also contemplate the Board's authority to waive those rules. AAR also 
cites the Board's regulations at 49 CFR 1100.3, pursuant to which the 
Board is to construe its rules liberally ``to secure just, speedy and 
inexpensive determination of the issues presented.'' (AAR Reply 3, Dec. 
21, 2015.)
    Under 49 U.S.C. 1322(c) \3\ and 49 CFR 1115.3(b), the Board will 
grant a petition for reconsideration only upon a showing that the prior 
action: (1) Will be affected materially because of new evidence or 
changed circumstances; or (2) involves material error. Allegheny Valley 
R.R.--Pet. for Declaratory Order, FD 35239, slip op. at 3 (STB served 
July 16, 2013). The Board finds that McFarland and MacDougall did not 
allege new evidence or changed circumstances and failed to demonstrate 
material error in the Waiver Decision.
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    \3\ Formerly 49 U.S.C. 721. See Public Law 114-110, 3(a)(5), 129 
Stat. 2228, 2228.
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    The Board was well within its powers to hold individual meetings 
with interested parties in this proceeding. As stated in the Waiver 
Decision, slip op. at 2, the Board may waive its regulation on ex parte 
communication in appropriate proceedings. The Board is entitled to 
discretion in administering its own procedural rules as it deems 
necessary to resolve urgent transportation problems. See Am. Farm Lines 
v. Black Ball Freight Serv., 397 U.S. 532, 539 (1970) (citing the well-
established proposition that ``[i]t is always within the discretion of 
a court or an administrative agency to relax or modify its procedural 
rules adopted for the orderly transaction of business before it when in 
a given case the ends of justice require it.''). Likewise, there is no 
basis for the claim that the Board must justify a waiver of its rules 
by satisfying the exemption standards of 49 U.S.C. 10502, which applies 
to exemptions from statutory provisions, not Board regulations. 
Furthermore, the argument that the Board's ex parte prohibition arose 
from 1962 recommendations by the Administrative Conference of the 
United States (ACUS) is outdated. In 2014, ACUS reaffirmed a 1977 
recommendation against a general prohibition on ex parte communications 
in informal rulemakings.\4\ Its recent recommendation reaffirmed its 
view that:
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    \4\ The 1977 recommendation states:
    A general prohibition applicable to all agencies against the 
receipt of private oral or written communications is undesirable, 
because it would deprive agencies of the flexibility needed to 
fashion rulemaking procedures appropriate to the issues involved, 
and would introduce a degree of formality that would, at least in 
most instances, result in procedures that are unduly complicated, 
slow and expensive, and, at the same time, perhaps not conducive to 
developing all relevant information.
    Ex parte Communications in Informal Rulemaking Proceedings, 42 
FR 54251, 54253 (Oct. 5, 1977).

    Ex parte communications, which may be oral or written, convey a 
variety of benefits to both agencies and the public. . . . These 
meetings can facilitate a more candid and potentially interactive 
dialogue of key issues and may satisfy the natural desire of 
interested persons to feel heard. In addition, if an agency engages 
in rulemaking in an area that implicates sensitive information, ex 
parte communications may be an indispensable avenue for agencies to 
obtain the information necessary to develop sound, workable 
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policies.

    ``Ex Parte'' Communications in Informal Rulemaking Proceedings, 
79 FR 35988, 35994 (June 25, 2014).

    The purpose of the Board's Waiver Decision is consistent with the 
reasons suggested by ACUS, in particular, to fashion procedures for 
informal rulemakings appropriate to the issues involved. The Waiver 
Decision also provided safeguards to ensure fairness and accessibility 
to parties. The Board put in place measures that permitted any 
interested party the opportunity to meet with Board staff, to review 
the substance of comments made in the individual meetings by reading 
summaries of the meetings posted on the Board's Web site, and to 
comment in response to the information contained in the meeting 
summaries. Accordingly, there is no basis for McFarland and 
MacDougall's claims of material error in the decision.\5\ The Petition 
for Reconsideration will be denied.
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    \5\ Procedurally, the petition was not timely. The Waiver 
Decision stated that individual meetings would take place between 
November 16, 2015, and December 7, 2015; the meetings began on 
November 19, 2015. McFarland and MacDougall did not file their 
petition until November 30, 2015.
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Discussion of Comments and Supplemental Proposed Rules

    The following parties provided comments in this proceeding, either 
in the form of written submissions or oral comments during the ex parte 
meetings that were then summarized and posted by the Board, or both:
    Alliance for Rail Competition et al. (ARC); American Chemistry 
Council (ACC); Association of American Railroads (AAR); BASF 
Corporation (BASF); BNSF Railway Company (BNSF); Canadian Pacific 
Railway Company (CP); Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP); 
CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT); Freight Rail Customer Alliance (FRCA); 
High Road Consulting, Ltd. (HRC); Kansas City Southern Railway Company 
(KCS); Thomas F. McFarland and Gordon P. MacDougall (McFarland and 
MacDougall); National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA); National 
Industrial Transportation League (NITL); Norfolk Southern Railway 
Company (NSR); South Dakota Corn Growers Association (SDCGA); The 
Fertilizer Institute (TFI); Texas Trading and Transportation Services, 
LLC, et al. (TTMS); The Honorable John Thune, Chairman, Senate 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Senator Thune); 
Union Pacific Railway Company (UP); U.S. Department of Agriculture 
(USDA); U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT); and Western Coal 
Traffic League, et al. (WCTL).
    In response to the NPR and the invitation for stakeholder meetings, 
the Board received a significant volume of comments and proposals from 
stakeholders. We have carefully

[[Page 27071]]

reviewed those comments and meeting summaries in order to identify both 
general themes regarding service reporting and better technical methods 
for collecting information. We now propose revised rules that we 
believe will be more helpful to the agency and the public.
    The NPR's proposal covers a broad set of railroad service metrics 
derived largely from the Interim Data Order requests, along with 
definitions and requirements governing those metrics.\6\ Below we 
generally summarize the comments received on the NPR, and we explain 
the changes now proposed in this SNPR. Although not all comments and 
recommendations have been adopted in the SNPR, we have worked to 
carefully consider the many comments, written and oral, that comprise 
this docket.
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    \6\ With regard to Requests Nos. 7 and 8, KCS was not required 
to report information by State, but instead only system-wide data. 
See NPR, slip op. at 7.
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Reporting Week and Timing

    The NPR defines the reporting week as Sunday to Saturday with 
reports due the following Tuesday.
    Railroad Interests. The railroad interests generally request a 
Saturday through Friday reporting week. While several railroads support 
a Friday filing deadline, others would be amenable to maintaining the 
Interim Data Order's Wednesday deadline. (AAR Comments 18, March 2, 
2015; NSR Comments 3-4, March 2, 2015; UP Comments 8-9, March 2, 2015; 
NSR Mtg. Summary 1; BNSF Mtg. Summary 3; UP Mtg. Summary 6.) CSXT 
requests that each carrier be permitted to define its own reporting 
week. (CSXT Comments 4, March 2, 2015.) CSXT also requests that the 
Board allow 12 months for the railroads to comply with any new data 
requirements. (Id. at 7.)
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. No comments provided.
    Revised Proposal. The Board proposes to modify the reporting week 
and day, as suggested by the railroad interests. Railroads advise that 
for internal data reporting and the reports made to AAR on a weekly 
basis, their reporting week runs from 12:01 a.m. Saturday through 11:59 
p.m. Friday. They suggest that modifying the reporting week would 
require them to establish parallel reporting systems, which would be 
duplicative and potentially lead to confusion. They also stated that 
they have adopted processes to facilitate reporting under the Interim 
Data Order, which would be disrupted by the modification proposed in 
the NPR. The railroads also stress that having to submit the weekly 
reports to the Board on Tuesday would not allow sufficient time to 
review, process, and quality-check the data. Although several suggest a 
Friday reporting day, there was no opposition to maintaining the 
Interim Data Order's Wednesday reporting day. Shippers and other 
stakeholders voice no objection to the reporting week proposed here, or 
the Wednesday reporting day, and neither affects the substantive value 
of the data collected. Therefore, the Board proposes that the reporting 
day will be Wednesday for the preceding reporting week, measured from 
12:01 a.m. Saturday through 11:59 p.m. Friday.

Definition of Unit Train

    The NPR defined unit train as comprising 50 or more railcars of the 
same or similar type, carrying a single commodity in bulk.
    Railroad Interests. AAR and several railroads request clarification 
of the definition of ``unit train'' as used in the NPR. (AAR Comments 
17, March 2, 2015; BNSF Comments 10, March 2, 2015; CSXT Comments 5-6, 
March 2, 2015; NSR Comments 4, March 2, 2015; UP Comments 9-10, March 
2, 2015; AAR Mtg. Summary 2.) AAR explains that the proposed definition 
of unit train ``would divorce service reporting from how railroads and 
their customers think about shipments in a commercial sense'' and 
suggests that the Board instead rely on each railroad's unit train 
designations. (AAR Comments 17, March 2, 2015.) Similarly, UP argues 
that the definition should focus on the nature of the railroad's 
operation instead of the number of carloads in a train, which, it 
states, would align with how it does business. (UP Comments 11, March 
2, 2015.) In response to the Interim Data Order, UP states that it 
relies on its train-category symbols to identify and classify trains, 
not the number of cars in a train. (Id. at 10-11.) UP also argues that 
the Board should substitute the term ``trainload'' for unit train. UP 
asserts that unit train implies a shuttle-type service and that using 
trainload would better reflect the diversity of movement types for bulk 
trains in non-manifest service. (Id. at 11-12.)
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. Shippers and other 
stakeholders generally agree that the definition of a unit train should 
be clarified. (NGFA Mtg. Summary 1-2; HRC Comments 4, Dec. 23, 2015.) 
NGFA states that it may be appropriate for each railroad to provide its 
own definition at the outset of reporting. (NGFA Mtg. Summary 2.)
    Revised Proposal. The Board proposes to withdraw the proposed 
definition of ``unit train.'' Based on written comments and individual 
meetings with stakeholders, we believe that a static definition of 
``unit train'' for the service metric reporting could distort data 
reporting. Instead, the Board believes that the better course of action 
for service metric reporting here is to allow railroads to report unit 
train data based on how train symbols (or codes) are assigned in 
accordance with each railroad's operating practices.

Requests No. 1 (Train Speed), No. 2 (Terminal Dwell Time), and No. 3 
(Cars Online)

    Request No. 1 seeks system-average train speed, measured for line-
haul movements between terminals and calculated by dividing total 
train-miles by total hours operated for: (a) Intermodal; (b) grain 
unit; (c) coal unit; (d) automotive unit; (e) crude oil unit; (f) 
ethanol unit; (g) manifest; and (h) all other. Request No. 2 asks for 
weekly average terminal dwell time, the average time a car resides at a 
specified terminal location expressed in hours, excluding cars on run-
through trains (i.e., cars that arrive at, and depart from, a terminal 
on the same through train) for the carrier's system, as well as its 10 
largest terminals in terms of railcars processed. Request No. 3 also 
seeks weekly average cars on line by the following car types for the 
reporting week: (a) Box; (b) covered hopper; (c) gondola; (d) 
intermodal; (e) multilevel (automotive); (f) open hopper; (g) tank; (h) 
other; and (i) total.
    Railroad Interests. The railroads do not oppose these data 
requests. Specifically, they note that the data sought in Requests Nos. 
1-3 corresponds with data that six Class I railroads already make 
publicly available on a weekly basis through the AAR. (AAR Comments 8, 
12, March 2, 2015; UP Comments 12, March 2, 2015.) They argue that 
Request Nos. 1-3, with the potential addition of a weekly carloadings 
metric would be sufficient to monitor overall network fluidity. (CP 
Comments 2, March 2, 2015; NSR Comments 2, March 2, 2015; UP Comments 
4, 12, March 2, 2015.)
    Additionally, the railroads provide the Board with weekly 
carloading traffic reports covering 20 carload commodity categories and 
the two intermodal service types. (AAR Comments 13, March 2, 2015.) AAR 
asserts that this and other ``available information and public metrics 
indicated to the Board early on that service was being disrupted and 
allowed the Board to focus on the relevant issues it needed to

[[Page 27072]]

monitor'' during the 2013-14 service disruptions. (Id. at 13.) AAR 
states that the Board should continue to monitor this information. 
(Id.) UP also suggests adding a system-average train speed component to 
Request No. 1 for all trains. (UP Comments 4, March 2, 2015.)
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. For Request No. 1, NGFA 
would expand the ``grain unit'' train category to include five 
subcategories. (NGFA Comments 6, March 2, 2015.) For Request No. 2, it 
would require that dwell times be broken down into four traffic 
categories. (Id.) BASF notes that the weekly average dwell time for 
each carrier's 10 largest terminals is a critical measurement; it uses 
the data to alter its production and movement. (BASF Mtg. Summary 1.) 
For Request No. 3, NGFA requests that the Board require carriers to 
delineate ``tank cars'' by cars used to haul hazmat and non-hazmat 
materials. (NGFA Comments 6, March 2, 2015.) NGFA also requests that 
the metric include a weekly summary of cars that are industry-placed 
(i.e., cars placed at industry for loading or unloading). (Id.)
    Revised Proposal. For Request No. 1, the Board proposes to cure an 
omission from both the Interim Data Order and the NPR by adding an 
overall ``system'' component to the reporting of average train speeds. 
This would align the request with railroads' current AAR reporting. 
Additionally, we propose to add a line item for unit train shipments of 
fertilizer to this request in order to better monitor service issues 
with regard to this commodity, which emerged as a critical issue during 
2013-14.\7\ Since fertilizer moves in both manifest and unit train 
service, the Board requests that parties comment on whether a 
sufficient volume of fertilizer moves in unit train service to make 
this request meaningful for the agency to monitor rail service to 
fertilizer shippers.\8\
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    \7\ For the same reasons, we are also proposing changes to 
Requests Nos. 1, 4, 5, and 6 to add fertilizer reporting.
    \8\ Although requests 1-3 are currently reported to AAR by six 
of the seven Class I railroads, and AAR makes this data publicly 
available, this reporting to AAR is voluntary. In the event that AAR 
changed its practices, the Board would lose access to this 
information, which is not otherwise available. Additionally, the 
data that AAR makes available to the public does not extend beyond 
the previous 53 weeks.
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    For purposes of incorporating fertilizer shipments into this 
request, and additional requests, below, the Board seeks input from 
stakeholders as to the relevant Standard Transportation Commodity Codes 
(STCCs) for fertilizers moving by rail, including those that typically 
move in unit train service. Initially, the Board proposes the following 
STCCs: 14-7XX-XX, 28-125-XX, 28-18X-XX, 28-19X-XX, 28-71X-XX, and 49-
18X-XX.
    For Requests No. 2 and No. 3, the Board proposes to retain these 
requests as proposed in the NPR. Terminal dwell and cars online are key 
indicators of railroad fluidity, and the requests mirror data that the 
Class I railroads report to AAR. Both railroad and shipper interests 
support the retention of these items. With respect to these and other 
requests, the Board addresses commenters' arguments for greater or 
lesser granularity below.

Request No. 4 (Dwell Time at Origin or Interchange--Unit Train)

    This metric seeks weekly average dwell time at origin or 
interchange location for loaded unit train shipments sorted by grain, 
coal, automotive, crude oil, ethanol, and all other unit trains.
    Railroad Interests. The railroads contend that the information 
required by this request would not provide additional insight, would be 
burdensome for the railroads to collect, and would not provide added 
benefits to the public or the Board. (AAR Comments 14-15, March 2, 
2015.) UP argues that the value of the data provided by the metric 
would be questionable because it does not account for operational 
differences between unit train shipments of different commodities on a 
single railroad or between different railroads. (UP Comments 3, 12-13, 
March 2, 2015.) UP contends that any comparisons would therefore be 
misleading because they would more likely reflect these operational 
differences than performance issues. (Id.) UP also opposes the addition 
of the interchange component. It explains that adding a measure of 
dwell time at interchange is problematic because of complex interchange 
arrangements between carriers and differences in how carriers measure 
elapsed time between two events such as when each carrier considers a 
train to be released and available, and because it could result in data 
that do not reflect actual service performance. (UP Comments 3, 14-15, 
March 2, 2015.)
    UP suggests normalizing, or standardizing, the data by presenting 
it in relation to the size and volume of each railroad rather than 
absolute values. UP argues that this would prevent misleading 
comparisons between railroads, avoid creating unjustified concerns, and 
allow the Board and stakeholders to develop a more meaningful baseline. 
(Id. at 6.)
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. WCTL, NGFA, and BASF all 
request that the Board add detail to this metric. NGFA argues that 
reporting by additional commodity type should be required. (NGFA 
Comments 7, March 2, 2015.) It recommends including destination dwell 
time in this metric. (Id.) NGFA also recommends requiring ``the weekly 
percentage of a rail carrier's local service design plan that has been 
fulfilled for all manifest traffic, broken down by business traffic 
category.'' (Id.) It argues that this would capture the actual percent 
of local industry switches versus plan for the week. (Id.) WCTL urges 
the Board to retain reporting of interchange times and require carriers 
to report dwell times at each railroad's 10 largest interchange 
locations and at individual interchanges for empty coal unit trains (in 
addition to loaded coal unit trains). (WCTL Comments 8, March 2, 2015; 
WCTL Mtg. Summary 3.) BASF requests that this metric include manifest 
trains. (BASF Mtg. Summary 2.)
    Revised Proposal. For Request No. 4, the Board proposes to delete 
the ``at interchange'' component of the NPR, which would align the 
request with the Interim Data Order. This change reflects railroads' 
comments that measuring the elapsed time at interchange would be 
difficult because railroads do not operate with a common understanding 
as to when a train is considered to be ``released'' or ``accepted'' at 
interchange or share common practices for measuring elapsed time at 
interchange. On further consideration, we believe that this additional 
information would not materially help the Board's monitoring of service 
performance in light of the other data that the Board would collect, 
such as dwell at origin, terminal dwell, trains holding, and cars that 
have not moved in two days or longer.

Request No. 5 (Trains Held Short of Destination or Interchange)

    This metric seeks to capture the weekly total number of loaded and 
empty trains held short of destination or scheduled interchange for 
longer than six consecutive hours, sorted by train type (intermodal, 
grain unit, coal unit, automotive unit, crude oil unit, ethanol unit, 
other unit, and all other) and by cause (crew, locomotive power, track 
maintenance, mechanical issue, or other (with explanation)).
    Railroad Interests. The railroads contend that the information 
required by this request would not provide additional insight, would be 
burdensome for the railroads to collect, and would not provide added 
benefits to the public or the Board. (AAR Comments 14, March 2, 2015; 
BNSF Comments 4, 5, 6-8, March 2, 2015.)

[[Page 27073]]

BNSF points out that the NPR's proposed metric differs from the one in 
the Interim Data Order by no longer using the ``snapshot'' approach and 
instead requiring that the railroad identify every instance during a 
week in which empty or loaded trains sit for at least six hours. (BNSF 
Comments 5, March 2, 2015.) BNSF and CSXT suggest that eliminating the 
snapshot approach would necessitate creating a new report that would 
require considerable resources and would not reflect a train held as 
the term is commonly understood in the railroad industry. (BNSF 
Comments 6, March 2, 2015; CSXT Comments 4-5, March 2, 2015.) CSXT 
comments that providing the ``cause'' of a train held would be 
problematic because it is subjective and must be manually entered. 
(CSXT Comments 5, March 2, 2015.) BNSF asserts that data regarding 
trains held may be misleading because a train may be held due to 
factors outside the railroad's control, or according to plan, and thus 
may not be indicative of a service disruption. (BNSF Comments 7, March 
2, 2015.) As with Request No. 4, UP suggests that the Board normalize 
this data request to account for differences between types of traffic 
and between carriers. (UP Comments 6, March 2, 2015.)
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. WCTL comments that the 
Board should clarify the ``other'' category and require a more detailed 
explanation of the causes for trains being held. (WCTL Comments 8-9, 
March 2, 2015; WCTL Mtg. Summary 3.) ACC also requests additional 
information for the underlying reasons why trains were held. (ACC 
Comments 2, March 2, 2015.) NGFA suggests the metric could be expanded 
to include a breakdown of the type of train by different commodities 
and unit train service. (NGFA Comments 7, March 2, 2015.)
    Revised Proposal. For Request No. 5, the Board proposes to 
eliminate the six-hour component of this metric. This modification 
would allow railroads to run a same-time snapshot each day to report 
the average numbers of trains holding by train type. This approach 
comports with the railroads' current practices for monitoring fluidity. 
The Board originally proposed the six-hour component in an effort to 
capture trains holding outside of their normal operating plan. However, 
the railroads emphasized that a six-hour hold may be consistent with a 
specific train's operating plan or a train could be instructed to hold 
for six hours or longer to alleviate congestion or otherwise improve 
overall network fluidity. As such, the Board believes that capturing a 
weekly average figure should provide insight into fluidity and allow 
the agency to detect aberrations, which may prompt further inquiry. For 
example, if a railroad averages 25 coal trains holding per day for 
eight consecutive weeks, but then the number spikes to 50 or more 
trains for two consecutive weeks, this could prompt the agency to seek 
further information. Additionally, we propose to add a line item for 
unit train shipments of fertilizer to this request for the reason 
stated above. See supra n.7. Again, the Board requests that parties 
comment on whether a sufficient volume of fertilizer moves in unit 
train service to make it meaningful data or recommend alternative 
proposals to gauge rail service to fertilizer shippers.
    With regard to reporting the cause for why a locomotive was held, 
some shipper interests advocated that we break down the ``other'' 
category into additional specific categories. (WCTL Comments 3, March 
2, 2015.) On the other hand, railroad interests explain that the 
assignment of cause is a manual and subjective process, which is 
initially performed by the dispatcher or a field-level employee based 
on limited information available at the time. Railroad interests 
therefore advocate for eliminating the reporting of causes for trains 
held. (BNSF Comments 6, March 2, 2015.) Upon further consideration, the 
Board believes that tracking causation remains important, but that the 
key issues for purposes of monitoring fluidity are availability of 
power and crew. Accordingly, the Board proposes to eliminate ``track 
maintenance'' and ``mechanical issue'' as categories of causes, but to 
retain ``other'' as a catch-all category.

Request No. 6 (Cars Held at Origin or Destination)

    This metric requires the daily average number of loaded and empty 
cars, operating in normal movement and billed to an origin or 
destination, which have not moved in (a) more than 120 hours; and (b) 
more than 48 hours, but less than or equal to 120 hours, all sorted by 
service type (intermodal, grain, coal, crude oil, automotive, ethanol, 
or all other).
    Railroad Interests. The railroads contend that the information 
required by this request would not provide additional insight, would be 
burdensome for the railroads to collect, and would not provide added 
benefits to the public or the Board. (AAR Comments 14, March 2, 2015; 
BNSF Comments 4, 5, 6-8, March 2, 2015.) CSXT urges the Board to limit 
reporting to yard and terminal activity because ``train line of road 
velocity is the central interest outside of terminals,'' which should 
be sufficient to assess train operations (CSXT Comments 6-7, March 2, 
2015, emphasis original.) CSXT also indicates that it was not providing 
the Board with information showing cars held for 120 hours because it 
does not measure that data. (CSXT Mtg. Summary 3.) BNSF argues that, 
like a trains held metric, a cars held metric may reflect factors 
outside the railroad's control or a car may be held according to plan, 
and thus may not be indicative of a rail service disruption. (BNSF 
Comments 7, March 2, 2015.)
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. NGFA requests that the 
Board require reporting by additional commodity type. (NGFA Comments 7-
8, March 2, 2015.) BASF requests that this metric include manifest 
trains. (BASF Mtg. Summary 2.)
    Revised Proposal. For Request No. 6, the Board proposes to modify 
this request by requiring railroads to report only cars that have not 
moved in 48 hours or more. Both shippers and railroads comment that the 
``greater than 120-hour'' demarcation was superfluous because 
stationary cars generally become a concern at the 48 hour point, or 
sooner. Moreover, several railroads advise that they generally track 
this metric, either at the 36 or 48 hour point. By keeping the metric 
consistent with how the railroads actually track this information, the 
metric would not be overly burdensome. Additionally, the Board proposes 
to add a subcategory for cars moving in fertilizer service.

Request No. 7 (Grain Cars Loaded and Billed)

    This metric seeks to capture the weekly total number of grain cars 
loaded and billed, reported by State, and aggregated for the following 
STCCs: 01131 (barley), 01132 (corn), 01133 (oats), 01135 (rye), 01136 
(sorghum grains), 01137 (wheat), 01139 (grain, not elsewhere 
classified), 01144 (soybeans), 01341 (beans, dry), 01342 (peas, dry), 
and 01343 (cowpeas, lentils, or lupines). It also seeks reporting on 
the total cars loaded and billed in shuttle service (or dedicated train 
service) versus total cars loaded and billed in all other ordering 
systems, including private cars.
    Railroad Interests. The railroads contend that the information 
required by this request would not provide additional insight, would be 
burdensome for the railroads to collect, and would not provide added 
benefits to the public or the Board. (AAR Comments 14, March 2, 2015.) 
AAR argues that metrics related to grain and

[[Page 27074]]

specific regions were triggered by the ``unique economic and 
operational factors that emerged during 2013-2014'' and that there is 
no indication the same focus would be warranted for a potential future 
service disruption. (Id. at 15.) AAR stresses that the Board's focus 
``should be on the fluidity of the national system'' and that micro-
level, commodity-specific reporting may ``obscure rather than clarify 
how a particular railroad or . . . the rail industry's network as a 
whole is performing.'' (Id.)
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. NGFA requests that the 
Board require reporting to be further delineated by car type and to 
expand the listing of STCCs to which the metric applies. (NGFA Comments 
8, March 2, 2015.)
    Revised Proposal. For Request No. 7, the Board does not propose any 
changes to the NPR metric. This metric provides information that is 
useful in monitoring grain carloadings by service type on a state by 
state basis, and would be helpful in the event of future service 
issues.

Request No. 8 (Grain Car Orders)

    This metric seeks, for the same aggregated STCCs included in 
Request No. 7, a report by State for the following: (a) The total 
number of overdue car orders (a car order equals one car; overdue means 
not delivered within the delivery window); (b) the average number of 
days late for all overdue grain car orders; (c) the total number of new 
orders received during the past week; (d) the total number of orders 
filled during the past week; and (e) the number of orders cancelled, 
respectively, by shipper and railroad during the past week.
    Railroad Interests. The railroads contend that the information 
required by this request would not provide additional insight, would be 
burdensome for the railroads to collect, and would not provide added 
benefits to the public or the Board. (AAR Comments 14, March 2, 2015.) 
In particular, the railroads comment that they each have disparate 
commercial practices when it comes to shipping grain, and therefore 
this metric does not provide meaningful insight. CSX refers, in part, 
to car ordering through its ``BidCSX'' auction program, during peak 
season, and regular car ordering during the off-peak season. Unfilled 
regular car orders are expired on a weekly basis. (CSX Comment 4, Oct. 
22, 2014, EP 724 (Sub-No. 3).) NS states that it does not operate its 
grain network on the basis of car orders, at all. (NSR Comments at 4.) 
UP refers to a number of problems, including a mismatch between orders 
and order ``closing dates,'' aggregating different commercial programs 
into one metric, and, more fundamentally, the exclusion of unit train 
service, which is not based on car orders. (UP Comments 18-19.)
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. NGFA states that because 
railroads use different methodologies to define when a car order is 
received, the Board needs to provide a standardized approach. (NGFA 
Comments 8, March 2, 2015.) NGFA asserts that this will facilitate 
comparisons between railroads. (Id.) NGFA also argues that the Board 
should require reporting of whether the railroad placed or pulled cars 
that were ordered or cancelled due to a railroad spotting more cars 
than a facility requested. (Id.) Finally, NGFA suggests that the Board 
require a cars ordered metric for short line railroads that haul 
significant amounts of grain in order to avoid erroneous conclusions 
about Class I carriers that interchange with those short lines. (Id.)
    Revised Proposal. For Request No. 8, the Board seeks to continue 
receiving weekly information related to railroads' service to grain 
shippers, including how well railroads are meeting demand for grain 
cars and whether railroads are experiencing substantial backlogs of 
unfilled orders. However, it appears that the proposed request does not 
comport with railroads' commercial practices in serving their grain 
shipping customers. First, Request No. 8 seeks to capture ordering data 
pertaining to grain cars moving in carload (or manifest) service, yet 
the vast majority of grain traffic moves in unit train service (and as 
such, is captured elsewhere by other requests). And even for those cars 
that do move in unit train service, the unit train commercial offerings 
available to customers vary among carriers. For example, some railroads 
commit trainsets to specific customers for a defined period of time. 
During that period, the customers control the movement of their 
trainsets, and, depending on the commercial terms, can resell the 
trainsets to other shippers. The activity of these trainsets is not 
captured in the railroads' car ordering systems and thus would not be 
easily reportable for purposes of this metric.
    In addition, even for grain cars that do move in carload service, 
the focus of Request No. 8 still would not properly capture the car 
ordering data the Board intends to seek in the NPR, as railroads also 
maintain disparate ordering systems for carload shipments. 
Specifically, there is no uniformity among the Class Is as to how the 
number of new orders is derived, when an order becomes past due, or how 
to measure the number of days an order is overdue. (NSR Comments 4, 
March 2, 2015; UP Comments 18-19, March 2, 2015; CSXT Comments 4, Oct. 
22, 2014, EP 724 (Sub-No. 3).)
    Accordingly, the Board proposes a simpler approach by asking that 
railroads report running totals of grain car orders placed versus grain 
car orders filled by State for cars moving in manifest service. The 
Board also requests that the railroads report the number of unfilled 
orders that are 1-10 days overdue and 11+ days overdue, as measured 
from the due date for placement under the carrier's governing tariff. 
However, the Board expressly requests comments from stakeholders and 
railroads that would refine this metric regarding grain car order 
fulfillment so that the final rule will best achieve the Board's goal 
to effectively monitor service to grain shippers.

Request No. 9 (Coal Carloadings)

    Under Request No. 9, railroads would no longer be required to 
provide data comparing actual coal loadings against their service plans 
(as required by the Interim Data Order), but instead, to report the 
total number of coal unit train loadings (by production region) on a 
weekly basis.
    Railroad Interests. The railroads contend that the information 
required by this request would not provide additional insight, would be 
burdensome for the railroads to collect, and would not provide added 
benefits to the public or the Board. (AAR Comments 14, March 2, 2015.) 
In response to arguments from parties asking the Board to return to a 
performance versus plan component, several railroads noted that plans 
for coal loadings are not static, but rather are fluid, reflecting 
utility customers' generation decisions, conditions at the mine, 
equipment availability, unplanned outages, and commercial issues, among 
other factors. (UP Reply 8, April 29, 2015; NSR Mtg. Summary 1; BNSF 
Mtg. Summary 4.)
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. WCTL argues for the Board 
to continue using the performance versus plan component that is used in 
the Interim Data Order. WCTL states that the elimination of the 
comparison to plan in the NPR diminishes the usefulness of the data 
point by making it difficult to evaluate whether the railroads are 
keeping up with demand. (WCTL Comments 9, March 2, 2015; WCTL Mtg. 
Summary 3.) NGFA again requests that the Board require reporting by 
additional

[[Page 27075]]

commodity and traffic categories. (NGFA Comments 8-9, March 2, 2015.) 
NGFA also requests that the Board require reporting on velocity and 
cycle time by corridor for grains and oilseeds shipped by unit train 
and by relevant corridor for other commodities that ship by unit train. 
(Id. at 9.)
    Revised Proposal. For Request No. 9, the Board proposes to modify 
this request by reverting back to what is currently reported in the 
Interim Data Order, which requires railroads to report actual coal 
loadings against their service plan. Railroads would be permitted the 
flexibility to report in terms of carloads or trains. The Board 
recognizes the concerns railroads have regarding this request, given 
the numerous factors involved in developing fluid monthly or weekly 
loading plans for coal traffic.\9\ The Board believes, however, that 
there is value in having coal loadings reported against plan for 
purposes of ascertaining whether railroads are meeting their own 
expectations regarding the needs of their utility customers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ These factors include customer demand, mine production and 
capacity, railroad fluidity and resource availability, and 
contractual commitments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Requests No. 10 (Grain Unit Train Performance), No. 11 (Originated 
Carloads by Commodity Group), and No. 12 (Car Order Fulfillment Rate by 
Car Type)

    The Board proposes three additional metrics not included in the 
NPR.
    New Request No. 10 would continue a requirement in the Interim Data 
Order under which BNSF and CP report average grain shuttle (or 
dedicated grain train) trips per month (TPM), by region. Under Request 
No. 10 carriers would be required to include this data in their first 
report of each month, covering the previous calendar month.\10\ TPM 
should be reported on an average basis--for example, if a particular 
train set makes three origin to destination moves and another train set 
makes five origin to destination moves during the same calendar month, 
the railroad's average would be four TPM. Class I railroads other than 
BNSF and CP have indicated that their operations do not permit this 
reporting, for various reasons.\11\ Accordingly, the Board anticipates 
issuing a waiver decision with the final rules that would permit other 
Class I railroads to satisfy their obligations under Request No. 10 by 
reporting average grain unit train TPM for their total system, 
including this data in their first report of each month, covering the 
previous calendar month. Such reports would not include planned TPM or 
data by region. For purposes of reporting under this item, other Class 
I railroads would report for all grain unit train movements, regardless 
of whether or not they maintain a grain shuttle or dedicated train 
program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ We note that BNSF has been reporting this data broken out 
by week; BNSF may continue to do so, if it chooses, but it would 
only be required to report figures for the previous calendar month.
    \11\ See, e.g., UP Comments 2, Oct. 22, 2014, EP 724 (Sub-No. 3) 
(``Item 9 asks for data on `plan versus performance' for round trips 
on grain shuttle trains by region. Union Pacific cannot comply with 
this request because it does not have a `plan' for round trips on 
grain shuttles. As more fully explained in Union Pacific's filings 
in Ex Parte 665 (Sub-No. 1), movement of our shuttle trains is 
determined by our customers, not by Union Pacific.''); CSXT Comments 
4, Oct. 22, 2014, EP 724 (Sub-No. 3) (``CSX grain trains do not 
operate as a `shuttle' nor do they operate in `loops' between 
origins and destinations. As requested by the customer, a train-set 
will be placed and will be transported to destination anywhere on 
CSX, or to a CSX interline connection. CSX does not recognize sub-
regions within its service territory.'')
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    New Request No. 11 would require the Class I railroads to report 
weekly originated carloads by major commodity group and intermodal 
units, as proposed by multiple Class I railroads. The Board believes 
that having this information on a weekly basis will better allow it to 
track demand and volume growth or decline on the rail network and to 
correlate other metrics. The Class I railroads presently report this 
information to AAR and many make it available on their Web sites. 
Consequently, the reporting burden is minimal. However, the Board also 
proposes that the railroads break out an additional commodity category 
for ``fertilizer.'' As noted above, the Board seeks stakeholder 
guidance on the primary fertilizer STCCs.
    New Request No. 12 would require Class I railroads to report their 
weekly car order fulfillment rates by major car type. Fulfillment 
should be stated as a percentage of cars due to be placed during the 
reporting week versus cars actually or constructively placed. The car 
types to be reported are for railroad owned or leased open hoppers, 
covered hoppers, gondolas, auto racks, center-beam, boxcars, flatcars, 
and tank cars. The Board believes that this request will provide the 
agency with an understanding of railroads' service to broad classes of 
industries which routinely ship products via specific car types (for 
example, grain moves primarily in covered hopper cars, so looking at 
the car fulfillment rates for covered hopper cars would give grain 
shippers some indication of how their service compares to other grain 
shippers). Additionally, this request would allow railroad customers to 
monitor their order fulfillment against their broader peer group.

Chicago

    The NPR asks that the Class I railroads operating at the Chicago 
gateway jointly report the following performance data elements for the 
reporting week: (1) Average daily car volume in the following Chicago 
area yards: Barr, Bensenville, Blue Island, Calumet, Cicero, Clearing, 
Corwith, Gibson, Kirk, Markham, and Proviso for the reporting week; and 
(2) average daily number of trains held for delivery to Chicago sorted 
by receiving carrier for the reporting week. Moreover, the request 
required Class I railroad members of the CTCO to provide certain 
information regarding the CTCO Alert Level status and protocols.
    Railroad Interests. CP argues that obtaining a number of operating 
metrics from the Belt Railway Company of Chicago (BRC) and the Indiana 
Harbor Belt Railroad (IHB) would provide a more complete picture of 
operational fluidity in Chicago and the health of the network. (CP 
Comments 3, March 2, 2015.) CP elaborated that, given the experience in 
the winter of 2013-14, it recognizes that the Board has a legitimate 
interest in understanding the congestion in Chicago and that BRC and 
IHB are the heart of the Chicago terminal. CP added that reporting 
changes in the Chicago terminal's operating level is useful. (CP Mtg. 
Summary 2).
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. Shippers and stakeholders 
generally agree that a focus on Chicago is important. (NITL Comments 4, 
March 2, 2015; USDOT Reply 7; WCTL Comments 7 n.6, March 2, 2015.) NITL 
suggests that the Board include dwell time in the Chicago metrics and 
develop appropriate and specific metrics for BRC and IHB. (NITL 
Comments 4-5, March 2, 2015.) NGFA suggests that the Board expand the 
Chicago data to include cars idled for more than 48 hours in a Chicago 
area yard for origin, destination, and interchange traffic. (NGFA 
Comments 9, March 2, 2015.) CMAP made a number of requests for 
additional data specific to the Chicago terminal. (CMAP Mtg. Summary 1-
2.)
    Revised Proposal. As the Board noted in the Interim Data Order, 
railroads cited congestion in Chicago as one significant cause of 
network service problems. While congestion in the area was particularly 
acute during the winter of 2013-14, it has been a recurring problem at 
this crucial network hub. Chicago is an important hub in national rail 
operations, and extreme congestion there has an impact on rail service 
in the Upper Midwest and beyond. Most

[[Page 27076]]

participants either endorse the current reporting of Chicago metrics or 
did not provide comments. However, CMAP and CP propose to significantly 
augment the granularity of reporting. For example, CMAP suggests that 
the Board require reporting of speed and transit times for federally 
supported Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency 
Program corridors, including information on train length, crosstown 
transit times through the Chicago terminal, and the number of 
intermodal container lifts at key Chicago terminals. (CMAP Mtg. Summary 
1-2.) CP, in turn, suggests that the Board should request from BRC and 
IHB weekly reports including: The number of cars arrived per day; 
number of cars humped or processed per day; number of cars re-humped or 
reprocessed per day; number of cars pulled per day, number of trains 
departed each day by railroad; average terminal dwell; average 
departure yard dwell; and percentage of trains departed on-time each 
day by railroad. (CP Comments 3, March 2, 2015.)
    The Board appreciates the recommendations provided by CMAP and CP 
to further augment the Board's monitoring of the Chicago gateway. 
Therefore, we invite comment on how such reporting could be provided by 
the BRC and IHB with the least amount of burden to these carriers. We 
also seek views on whether such reporting would be better handled on a 
temporary basis in the event of an emerging service issue.

Infrastructure Reporting

    The NPR requires that each Class I railroad, on a quarterly basis, 
report on major work-in-progress rail infrastructure projects, 
including location by State, planned completion date for each project, 
percentage complete for each project at the time of reporting, and 
project description and purpose.
    Railroad Interests. AAR and several railroads request clarification 
of the terms ``project,'' ``qualifying projects,'' ``project purpose,'' 
``percentage complete,'' ``maintenance-of-way,'' and ``planned 
completion date.'' (AAR Comments 17-18, March 2, 2015; BNSF Comments 
10-12, March 2, 2015; UP Comments 19-20, March 2, 2015.) They also 
submit that the Board should consider altering the infrastructure 
request to an annual narrative report and periodic updates. (AAR 
Comments 17-18, March 2, 2015; BNSF Comments 10, March 2, 2015; AAR 
Mtg. Summary 2.) UP argues that limiting the projects on which the 
railroad must report would reduce repetition between reports and 
relieve some burden on the reporting railroads. (UP Comments 20, March 
2, 2015.) UP also states that the proposed reporting date (the first 
Tuesday of each quarter) often falls before the date it closes its 
books and suggests the third Tuesday of each quarter to avoid this 
problem. (Id. at 21.) CP opposes providing project-specific information 
or requirements that could inhibit the railroad's ability to adjust its 
capital spending decisions. (CP Comments 4, March 2, 2015.)
    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. WCTL suggests that the 
Board review planned infrastructure projects with an eye toward meeting 
long-term common carrier obligations. (WCTL Comments 10, March 2, 
2015.) BASF considers the requirement reasonable and valuable. (BASF 
Mtg. Summary 2.)
    Revised Proposal. The Board proposes to significantly modify the 
previously proposed version of 1250.3(d), which seeks information 
related to major infrastructure projects. As the railroads point out, 
much of the information called for in this request is available to the 
public through presentations to investors, outreach at industry 
conferences, in marketing materials, in trade press and media reports, 
and through financial filings. To the extent that reporting of this 
information would allow the Board to identify congestion or service 
issues arising from major infrastructure projects, railroads also point 
out that their customers are typically made aware of potential 
disruptions and traffic delays through regular email updates and 
information available on railroad Web sites, which describe maintenance 
and capital projects in real-time or near real-time. Some railroads 
also raise confidentiality and competitive concerns about reporting on 
customer-specific projects and long term strategic projects such as 
land acquisitions. (BNSF Comments 11, March 2, 2015.) Railroads also 
object to this request, asserting that many of the terms, such as 
``planned completion date,'' ``percentage complete,'' and ``project 
description and purpose'' are subjective and ambiguous. As an 
alternative, railroads suggest that this information could be provided 
to the Board through the Chairman's annual ``Peak Season'' letter or in 
another manner that would not subject them to additional regulatory 
obligations.
    Based on the comments received, this request is being revised to 
require annually a description of significant rail infrastructure 
projects that will be commenced during the current calendar year, and a 
six-month update on those projects. Railroads are instructed to respond 
in a narrative form to briefly describe each project, its purpose, 
location, and projected date of completion. Reports are to be filed on 
March 1 of each year and updated on September 1. The Board proposes to 
define a significant project as one with a budget of $75 million or 
more. Our goal is to establish a dollar figure threshold that captures 
significant projects for all six of the Class I carriers, recognizing 
variations in size and capital budgets. Parties should comment on 
whether a different threshold is more appropriate.

Other Recommendations

    Railroad Interests. AAR and many of the Class I railroads argue 
that the NPR is overbroad and should be streamlined to include fewer 
and less granular metrics. They state that more granular metrics may 
not be helpful in the long run as an indicator of carrier performance. 
(AAR Comments 1, 9-10, 15, March 2, 2015; CSXT Comments 3-4, March 2, 
2015; UP Comments 3, March 2, 2015.) They argue that too much 
granularity may obscure information showing how a railroad or the 
industry is performing and that the focus should be on the fluidity of 
the national system. (AAR Comments 15, March 2, 2015; BNSF Comments 4-
5, March 2, 2015; CP Comments 1-2, March 2, 2015; UP Comments 3-5, 
March 2, 2015.) As an alternative to permanent granular reporting, NSR 
argues that commodity- or region-specific reporting should be used in 
response to performance issues and then be phased out as performance 
improves. (NSR Comments 2-3, March 2, 2015.)
    The railroad interests also assert that the Board must examine 
service issues within the context of the entire supply chain. (CP 
Comments 1-2, March 2, 2015; UP Comments 1, March 2, 2015; UP Reply 3-
4, 4-6.) They argue that factors throughout the supply chain can cause 
or compound rail service issues. As such, they argue, a railroad's 
responsibility for service problems may be limited, in any given 
situation. (CP Comments 2, March 2, 2015.)
    The railroads emphasize that they currently provide considerable 
service information to their customers, the public, and the Board on 
their Web sites and through the AAR. They argue that the existing 
information allows the Board and the public to monitor service issues, 
performance, and system fluidity. (AAR Comments 12-13, March 2, 2015; 
UP Comments 7-8, March 2, 2015; BNSF Reply 2.)
    UP states that a data reporting rule is not necessary for the Board 
to perform its functions properly. (UP Comments

[[Page 27077]]

21, March 2, 2015.) AAR cautions that ongoing data collection should be 
limited to information that is necessary for the Board to properly 
perform its statutory responsibilities. (AAR Comments 9, March 2, 
2015.) It states that because of the Board's limited authority to 
remedy certain service disruptions, many of the costs and burdens 
outweigh the benefits of the NPR. (Id. at 10.) CSXT advocates for 
creating a voluntary set of rules, asserting that a flexible, voluntary 
framework would suffice for the information the Board seeks and it 
would also reduce the burden to the railroads. (CSXT Comments 3-4, 7, 
March 2, 2015.)
    Finally, AAR and the railroads expressed concern about parties' use 
of the data to make comparisons between railroads, commodity groups, or 
geographic regions. (AAR Comments 15, March 2, 2015; CSXT Comments 3-4, 
March 2, 2015; UP Reply 6-7, March 2, 2015; KCS Mtg. Summary 1; UP Mtg. 
Summary 1.) They contend that different commodities and customer groups 
are served differently, and that comparisons of performance either 
cannot be made or are not valid unless they account for such 
distinctions. (AAR Comments 15, March 2, 2015; UP Comments 6-7, March 
2, 2015.) CSXT states that comparing carriers against each other should 
not be the goal and could be counterproductive since each system is 
unique. CSXT further asserts that what matters is the trend on each 
carrier. (CSXT Comments 3-4, March 2, 2015.) \12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ AAR also recommends that the Board clarify whether the 
carriers should file through the normal formal filing process and by 
emailing the Board's Office of Public Affairs, Governmental Affairs, 
and Compliance (OPAGAC) (as is currently done), or only by emailing 
OPAGAC. (AAR Comments 19, March 2, 2015.) The Board has clarified 
that carriers should file their reports only with OPAGAC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Shipper Interests and Other Stakeholders. Shipper interests and 
other stakeholders generally requested greater granularity and more 
metrics, including metrics that would be segregated by geography and 
commodity, which they argue would provide insight and transparency into 
railroad performance. (NGFA Comments 4, March 2, 2015; USDOT Reply 1-2; 
WCTL Reply 1-2; NGFA Reply 7-12; NGFA Mtg. Summary 1.) They suggest 
that data be uniform across railroads to facilitate comparisons. (TTMS 
Comments 4, March 2, 2015; NGFA Comments 3-4, 5, March 2, 2015.) ACC 
suggests that the Board establish criteria to facilitate the 
modification or addition of future data requests on then-current 
service issues. (ACC Comments 2, March 2, 2015.) TFI asks the Board to 
make clear that if commodities are excluded in the final rule, data 
about those commodities are not precluded from being collected in 
response to future performance issues. (TFI Comments 8, March 2, 2015.) 
NGFA asks the Board to require Canadian providers to separately 
delineate Canadian service. (NGFA Comments 5-6, March 2, 2015.) WCTL 
requests additional coal data in the trains held metric, more 
information about coal trainsets, data about restrictions on equipment 
and crews, and cycle times over key corridors. (WCTL Comments 11-13, 
March 2, 2015; WCTL Mtg. Summary 1-2.) ACC requests resource counts 
(such as locomotive and crew counts) by region. (ACC Comments 1-2, 
March 2, 2015.) NITL asks the Board to require data broken down further 
by key corridors and additional data about manifest service and 
fertilizer. (NITL Comments 5-7, March 2, 2015.) TFI seeks to ensure 
that railroads are not favoring other commodities over fertilizer and 
asks for metrics similar to the proposed grain-specific metrics. (TFI 
Comments 2-4, 6, 8, March 2, 2015; TFI Mtg. Summary 1; TFI Comments 1, 
Dec. 23, 2015.) Senator Thune recommends that the final rule include 
several metrics the railroads are currently reporting under the Interim 
Data Order. (Thune Comments 1-2.)
    USDA requests that the Board add weekly carloadings for major 
commodities and collect information about railcar auction markets. 
(USDA Comments 4-5, March 2, 2015; USDA Mtg. Summary 1-2.) NGFA urges 
the Board to include a measure of local service, such as industry spot 
and pull reports, as well as scheduled curfew hours that may cause 
stoppages. (NGFA Comments 5, 10, March 2, 2015.) TTMS suggests that the 
board include railroad ``dash board'' data. (TTMS Comments 4, March 2, 
2015.) HRC suggests that the Board consider adding percent of car 
orders filled, percent of cars placed versus percent of cars ordered 
in, and number of missed switches. (HRC Mtg. Summary, Ex. 1 at 13.) ARC 
argues that the Board must require reporting for trains other than unit 
trains and states that rail service must evolve to meet the changing 
face of the agricultural commodity mix by meeting smaller shipment/
shipper priorities. (ARC Comments 6-7, 9-10, March 2, 2015.) Finally, 
USDA and NGFA comment that the Board should create a user friendly data 
portal for rail performance data on its Web site. (USDA Comments 5, 
March 2, 2015; NGFA Comments 5, March 2, 2015.)
    McFarland and MacDougall submitted comments regarding the meeting 
summaries posted on the Board's Web site. (McFarland and MacDougall 
Comments 3-6, Dec. 23, 2015.)
    Revised Proposal. As stated earlier, the changes to the Board's 
proposed rules reflect the robust discussion to date regarding what 
data would be most beneficial to collect and monitor. Although not 
every suggested change is contained in our revised proposal, the 
general themes behind many of those proposals have informed our 
decision-making. We address those themes below.
    We are not persuaded at this stage that we need additional, more 
granular performance data. Some shipper parties advocated for a number 
of additional metrics, but they have not sufficiently explained why or 
how their recommendations would materially enhance the Board's ability 
to monitor rail service, as compared to Interim Data Order or NPR. At 
this point, the Board believes that the burden of more granular metrics 
outweighs their value as a tool for identifying regional or national 
system-wide problems. Should more granular data become necessary due to 
emerging service issues, the Board has the authority to request such 
information on a case-by-case and as-needed basis. On the other hand, 
the railroad comments make clear that the industry would prefer less 
granularity. We believe that the Board has struck a reasonable balance 
between these competing concerns in our supplemental proposal.
    The Board also received comments requesting reporting by short line 
railroads and requiring Canadian railroads to report on their 
operations in Canada. Although short lines play an indispensable role 
in the Nation's freight rail network, commenters have not shown that 
reporting of short line service data would materially enhance the STB's 
perspective on system fluidity. As a practical matter, service problems 
of national or regional significance tend to emerge on Class I 
railroads, rather than on short line railroads. Additionally, the Board 
is concerned about the burden that reporting requirements would place 
on short line carriers, which often do not have the resources available 
to Class I carriers. As discussed earlier, we do seek comment on CP's 
request to require reporting from certain Chicago-area belt lines. With 
regard to Canadian railroads' operations in Canada, the Board is 
necessarily governed by its statutory jurisdictional limitations.
    Some commenters seek improvements regarding the availability of 
service data

[[Page 27078]]

on the Board's Web site. The Board presently makes the service data 
available on a specific Web page and has also developed a live master 
spreadsheet that is updated each week and can be downloaded by 
stakeholders.\13\ The Board anticipates further improvements to data 
availability as it enhances Web site functionality going forward.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ See EP 724--Rail Service Issues Reports, http://www.stb.dot.gov/stb/railserviceissues/rail_service_reports.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CSXT questions the need for a permanent weekly reporting rule at 
all, and AAR questions whether the cost and burdens of the NPR outweigh 
the benefits when the Board has a limited ability to remedy a service 
disruption. We believe the need and justification for a permanent 
reporting rule is clear. The Board has the authority to require reports 
by rail carriers (49 U.S.C. 1321, 11145), and has an interest in 
ensuring transparency and accountability, improving rail service (19 
U.S.C. 10101(4)), and has the responsibility under a variety of 
statutory provisions for monitoring the adequacy of service by rail 
carriers (49 U.S.C. 11123, 10907). Notably, railroads have the 
responsibility to provide service on reasonable request (49 U.S.C. 
11101) and to provide safe and adequate car service (49 U.S.C. 11121). 
The permanent reporting proposed here would aid the Board and industry 
stakeholders in identifying whether railroads are adequately meeting 
those statutory requirements. In particular, the permanent collection 
of performance data on a weekly basis would allow continuity of the 
current reporting and improve the Board's ability to identify and help 
resolve future regional or national service disruptions more quickly, 
as well as determine whether more granular data is needed. Transparency 
would also benefit rail shippers and other stakeholders by helping them 
to better plan operations and make informed decisions based on 
publically available, near real-time data, and their own analysis of 
performance trends over time.
    The railroads expressed a general concern that the data not be used 
to compare railroads against one another. The Board is confident that 
stakeholders recognize that there are significant differences between 
the railroads as to geography, network, customer base, traffic volumes, 
resources, operating practices, and business philosophy. In collecting 
data pursuant to the Interim Data Order and as proposed in this 
rulemaking, the Board's main objective is to be able to identify trends 
and monitor potential service issues on individual Class I railroads.
    In seeking public comments, the Board requests that interested 
stakeholders evaluate the utility of each revised data request, offer 
specific proposed modifications, and/or propose other requests that 
would assist the Board and the public in gaining complete and accurate 
near real-time assessment of the performance of Class I railroads.
    Regulatory Flexibility Act. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 
(RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601-612, generally requires a description and analysis 
of new rules that would have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. In drafting a rule, an agency is 
required to: (1) Assess the effect that its regulation will have on 
small entities; (2) analyze effective alternatives that may minimize a 
regulation's impact; and (3) make the analysis available for public 
comment. 601-604. In its notice of proposed rulemaking, the agency must 
either include an initial regulatory flexibility analysis, 603(a), or 
certify that the proposed rule would not have a ``significant impact on 
a substantial number of small entities.'' 605(b). The impact must be a 
direct impact on small entities ``whose conduct is circumscribed or 
mandated'' by the proposed rule. White Eagle Coop. v. Conner, 553 F.3d 
467, 480 (7th Cir. 2009).
    The rules proposed here would not have a significant economic 
impact upon a substantial number of small entities, within the meaning 
of the RFA. The reporting requirements would apply only to Class I rail 
carriers, which, under the Board's regulations, have annual carrier 
operating revenues of $250 million or more in 1991 dollars (adjusted 
for inflation using 2014 data, the revenue threshold for a Class I rail 
carrier is $475,754,803). Class I carriers generally do not fall within 
the Small Business Administration's definition of a small business for 
the rail transportation industry.\14\ Therefore, the Board certifies 
under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this proposed rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
within the meaning of the RFA. A copy of this decision will be served 
upon the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small 
Business Administration, Washington, DC 20416.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ The Small Business Administration's Office of Size 
Standards has established a size standard for rail transportation, 
pursuant to which a line-haul railroad is considered small if its 
number of employees is 1,500 or less, and a short line railroad is 
considered small if its number of employees is 500 or less. 13 CFR 
121.201 (industry subsector 482).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Paperwork Reduction Act. Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501-3549, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
regulations at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(3), the Board seeks comments regarding: 
(1) Whether the collection of information in the proposed rule, and 
further described in this section, is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the 
collection has practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the Board's 
burden estimates; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information collected; and (4) 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. Information pertinent to these issues is 
included below. The collection in this proposed rule will be submitted 
to OMB for review as required under 44 U.S.C. 3507(d) and 5 CFR 
1320.11.
    The additional information below is included to assist those who 
may wish to submit comments pertinent to review under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act:

Description of Collection

    Title: Rail Service Data Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 2140-XXXX.
    STB Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: New collection.
    Respondents: Class I railroads (on behalf of themselves and the 
Chicago Transportation Coordination Office (``CTCO'')).
    Number of Respondents: Seven.
    Estimated Time per Response: The proposed rules seek three related 
responses, as indicated in the table below.

                   Table--Estimated Time per Response
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Estimated
                                                               time per
                     Type of responses                         response
                                                               (hours)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weekly.....................................................            3
Semiannually...............................................            3
On occasion................................................            3
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Frequency: The frequencies of the three related collections sought 
under the proposed rules are set forth in the table below.

[[Page 27079]]



                      Table--Frequency of Responses
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Type of responses                  Frequency of responses
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weekly.....................................  52/year.
Semiannually...............................  2/year.
On occasion................................  2/year.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Total Burden Hours (annually including all respondents): The 
recurring burden hours are estimated to be no more than 1,182 hours per 
year, as derived in the table below. In addition, there are some one-
time, start-up costs of approximately 2 hours for each respondent 
filing a quarterly report that must be added to the first year's total 
burden hours. To avoid inflating the estimated total annual hourly 
burden, the two-hour start-up burden has been divided by three and 
spread over the three-year approval period. Thus, the total annual 
burden hours for each of the three years are estimated at no more than 
1,186.67 hours per year.

                                      Table--Total Burden Hours (per Year)
                                   [Excluding 2-hour one time start up burden]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Estimated time
           Type of responses                Number of     per response    Frequency of responses   Total yearly
                                           respondents       (hours)                               burden hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weekly.................................               7               3  52/year................           1,092
Semiannually...........................               7               3  2/year.................              42
On occasion............................               1               3  2/year.................               6
                                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total..............................  ..............  ..............  .......................           1,182
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Total ``Non-hour Burden'' Cost: None identified. Reports will be 
submitted electronically to the Board.
    Needs and Uses: The new information proposed here would aid the 
Board in identifying rail service issues, determining if more granular 
data would be appropriate, and working toward improving service when 
necessary. Transparency would also benefit rail shippers and other 
stakeholders by helping them to better plan operations and make 
informed decisions based on publicly available, near real-time data, 
and their own analysis of performance trends over time.
    Retention Period: Information in this report will be maintained in 
the Board's files for 10 years, after which it is transferred to the 
National Archives.

Summary of Revised Proposal

    Having considered all written and oral comments on the NPR, the 
Board seeks to revise the proposed metrics. Accordingly, the Board is 
issuing this SNPR to seek supplemental public comments on proposed new 
regulations to be codified at 49 CFR 1250.1-1250.3 to require Class I 
rail carriers, Class I carriers operating in the Chicago gateway, and 
the CTCO, through its Class I members, to submit to the Board weekly 
reports on railroad performance. The table below provides a brief 
description of the differences between this revised proposal and the 
NPR, which were explained in detail above.

  Table 1--Summary of Changes in the Data Requests Between the NPR and
                                  SNPR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  NPR                        Proposed changes in SNPR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday to Saturday reporting week with   Adopt a Saturday through Friday
 reports to be filed the following        reporting week with reports to
 Tuesday.                                 be filed the following
                                          Wednesday.
Unit trains are defined as comprising    Allow carriers to report unit
 60 or more railcars of the same or       train data based on their
 similar type, carrying a single          assignment of train codes in
 commodity in bulk.                       the ordinary course of
                                          business.
(1) System-average train speed for       Add line items for system
 intermodal, grain unit, coal unit,       average and fertilizer unit.
 automotive unit, crude oil unit,
 ethanol unit, manifest, and all other.
(2) Weekly average terminal dwell time   No proposed changes.
 for each carrier's system and its 10
 largest terminals.
(3) Weekly average cars online for       No proposed changes.
 seven car types, other, and total.
(4) Weekly average dwell time at origin  Delete the interchange location
 or interchange for loaded unit train     component and modify the list
 shipments sorted by grain, coal,         of train types to which the
 automotive, crude oil, ethanol, and      request would apply, including
 all other unit trains.                   the addition of fertilizer
                                          unit.
(5) Weekly total number of loaded and    Delete the six hour component.
 empty trains held short of destination  Delete all other from the list
 or scheduled interchange for longer      of train types.
 than six hours by train type            Add fertilizer unit and
 (intermodal, grain unit, coal unit,      manifest to the list of train
 automotive unit, crude oil unit,         types.
 ethanol unit, other unit, and all       Reduce list of causes to crew,
 other) and by cause (crew, locomotive    locomotive power, or other.
 power, track maintenance, mechanical    Instruct railroads to run a
 issue, or other).                        same-time snapshot of trains
                                          holding each day and then
                                          calculate the average for the
                                          reporting week.
(6) Daily average number of loaded and   Delete the > 120 hours
 empty cars operating in normal           requirement.
 movement, which have not moved in >     Modify the > 48 but <= 120
 120 hours and > 48 but <= 120 hours,     hours requirement to >= 48
 sorted by service type and measured by   hours.
 a daily same-time snapshot.
(7) Weekly total number of grain cars    No proposed changes.
 loaded and billed, by State, for
 certain Standard Transportation
 Commodity Codes (STCCs). Also include
 total cars loaded and billed in
 shuttle service versus all other
 ordering systems.
(8) For the STCCs delineated in Request  Modify to require reporting of
 No. 7, total overdue car orders,         weekly running totals of grain
 average days late, total new orders in   car orders in manifest service
 the past week, total orders filled in    submitted versus grain car
 the past week, number of orders          orders filled, and for
 cancelled in the past week.              unfilled orders, the number of
                                          car orders that are 1-10 days
                                          past due and 11 or more days
                                          past due.

[[Page 27080]]

 
(9) Weekly total coal unit train         Return to the form of prior
 loadings or car loadings by coal         Request No. 10 in the Interim
 production region.                       Data Order and require actual
                                          coal loadings against railroad
                                          service plans.
(10)...................................  Add new Request No. 10
                                          requesting grain shuttle (or
                                          dedicated grain train) trips
                                          per month.
(11)...................................  Add new Request No. 11
                                          requesting the weekly
                                          originated carloads by 23
                                          commodity categories.
(12)...................................  Add new Request No. 12
                                          requesting car order
                                          fulfillment percentage for the
                                          reporting week by 10 car
                                          types.
Chicago. Class Is operating in Chicago   No proposed changes. Seeking
 must jointly report each week: Average   comment on whether to require
 daily car volume in certain yards, and   additional reporting as
 average daily number of cars held for    requested by CP and CMAP.
 delivery to Chicago sorted by
 receiving carrier. Class I railroad
 members of the CTCO must provide
 certain information regarding the CTCO
 Alert Level status and protocols.
Infrastructure. A quarterly report on    Modify to require an annual
 major work-in-progress rail              report of significant rail
 infrastructure projects, including       infrastructure projects that
 location by State, planned completion    will be commenced during that
 date for each project, percentage        calendar year, and a six-month
 complete for each project at the time    update on those projects. The
 of reporting, and project description    report is to be in a narrative
 and purpose.                             form briefly describing each
                                          project, its purpose,
                                          location, and projected date
                                          of completion. The Board
                                          proposes to define a
                                          significant project as one
                                          with a budget of $75 million
                                          or more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 1250

    Administrative practice and procedure, Railroads, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    It is ordered:
    1. The Petition for Reconsideration is denied.
    2. Comments on the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking are 
due by May 31, 2016. Reply comments are due by June 28, 2016.
    3. A copy of this decision will be served upon the Chief Counsel 
for Advocacy, Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration.
    4. Notice of this decision will be published in the Federal 
Register.
    5. This decision is applicable on its service date.

    Decided: April 29, 2016.

    By the Board, Chairman Elliott, Vice Chairman Miller, and 
Commissioner Begeman.
Tia Delano,
Clearance Clerk.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Surface 
Transportation Board proposes to amend title 49, chapter X, subchapter 
D, of the Code of Federal Regulations by adding part 1250 to read as 
follows:

PART 1250--RAILROAD PERFORMANCE DATA REPORTING

Sec.
1250.1 Reporting requirements.
1250.2 Railroad performance data elements.

    Authority:  49 U.S.C. 1321 and 11145.


Sec.  1250.1  Reporting requirements.

    (a) Each Class I railroad is required to report to the Board on a 
weekly basis, the performance data set forth in Sec.  1250.2(a)(1) 
through (12), except for Sec.  1250.2(a)(10) which shall be reported 
with the first report of each month. The Class I railroads operating at 
the Chicago gateway are required to jointly report on a weekly basis 
the performance data set forth in Sec.  1250.2(b)(1) and (2). The 
reports required under Sec.  1250.2(b)(1) and (2) may be submitted by 
the Association of American Railroads (AAR). The data must be reported 
to the Board between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday of 
each week, covering the previous reporting week (12:01 a.m. Saturday to 
11:59 p.m. Friday), except for Sec.  1250.2(a)(10), which covers the 
previous calendar month. In the event that a particular Wednesday is a 
Federal holiday or falls on a day when STB offices are closed for any 
other reason, then the data should be reported on the next business day 
when the offices are open. The data must be emailed to 
[email protected] in Excel format, using an electronic 
spreadsheet made available by the Board's Office of Public Assistance, 
Governmental Affairs, and Compliance (OPAGAC). Each week's report must 
include data only for that week, and should not include data for 
previous weeks. Each reporting railroad shall provide an explanation of 
its methodology for deriving the data with its initial filing. Unless 
otherwise provided, the data will be publicly available and posted on 
the Board's Web site.
    (b) For reporting under Sec.  1250.2(c)(1) and (2), changes in the 
Alert Level status or the protocol of service contingency measures 
shall be reported by email to the Director of the Office of Public 
Assistance, Governmental Affairs and Compliance and 
[email protected].
    (c) For reporting under Sec.  1250.2(d), the narrative report 
should be submitted via email to the Director of the Office of Public 
Assistance, Governmental Affairs and Compliance and 
[email protected].


Sec.  1250.2  Railroad performance data elements.

    (a) Each Class I railroad must report the following performance 
data elements for the reporting week. However, with regard to 
paragraphs (a)(7) and (8) of this section, Kansas City Southern Railway 
Company is not required to report information by State, but instead 
shall report system-wide data.
    (1) System-average train speed for the overall system and for the 
following train types for the reporting week. Train speed should be 
measured for line-haul movements between terminals. The average speed 
for each train type should be calculated by dividing total train-miles 
by total hours operated.
    (i) Intermodal;
    (ii) Grain unit;
    (iii) Coal unit;
    (iv) Automotive unit;
    (v) Crude oil unit;
    (vi) Ethanol unit;
    (vii) Manifest;
    (viii) Fertilizer unit;
    (ix) System.
    (2) Weekly average terminal dwell time, measured in hours, 
excluding cars on run-through trains (i.e., cars that arrive at, and 
depart from, a terminal on the same through train) for the carrier's 
system and its 10 largest terminals in terms of railcars processed. 
Terminal dwell is the average time a car resides at a specified 
terminal location expressed in hours.

[[Page 27081]]

    (3) Weekly average cars on line by the following car types for the 
reporting week. Each railroad is requested to average its daily on-line 
inventory of freight cars. Articulated cars should be counted as a 
single unit. Cars on private tracks (e.g., at a customer's facility) 
should be counted on the last railroad on which they were located. 
Maintenance-of-way cars and other cars in railroad service are to be 
excluded.
    (i) Box;
    (ii) Covered hopper;
    (iii) Gondola;
    (iv) Intermodal;
    (v) Multilevel (Automotive);
    (vi) Open hopper;
    (vii) Tank;
    (viii) Other;
    (ix) Total.
    (4) Weekly average dwell time at origin for the following train 
types: Grain unit, coal unit, automotive, crude oil unit, ethanol unit, 
fertilizer unit, all other unit trains, and manifest. For the purposes 
of this data element, dwell time refers to the time period from release 
of a unit train at origin until actual movement by the receiving 
carrier. For manifest trains, dwell time refers to the time period from 
when the train is released at the terminal until actual movement by the 
railroad.
    (5) The weekly average number of trains holding per day sorted by 
train type (intermodal, grain unit, coal unit, automotive unit, crude 
oil unit, ethanol unit, fertilizer unit, other unit, and manifest) and 
by cause (crew, locomotive power, or other). Railroads are instructed 
to run a same-time snapshot of trains holding each day, and then to 
calculate the average for the reporting week.
    (6) The weekly average of loaded and empty cars, operating in 
normal movement and billed to an origin or destination, which have not 
moved in 48 hours or more sorted by service type (intermodal, grain, 
coal, crude oil, automotive, ethanol, fertilizer, or all other). In 
order to derive the averages for the reporting week, carriers are 
requested to run a same-time snapshot each day of the reporting week, 
capturing cars that have not moved in 48 hours or more. The number of 
cars captured on the daily snapshot for each category should be added, 
and then divided by the number of days in the reporting week, typically 
seven days. In deriving this data, carriers should include cars in 
normal service anywhere on their system, but should not include cars 
placed at a customer facility, in constructive placement, placed for 
interchange to another carrier, in bad order status, in storage, or 
operating in railroad service (e.g., ballast).
    (7) The weekly total number of grain cars loaded and billed, 
reported by State, aggregated for the following Standard Transportation 
Commodity Codes (STCCs): 01131 (barley), 01132 (corn), 01133 (oats), 
01135 (rye), 01136 (sorghum grains), 01137 (wheat), 01139 (grain, not 
elsewhere classified), 01144 (soybeans), 01341 (beans, dry), 01342 
(peas, dry), and 01343 (cowpeas, lentils, or lupines). ``Total grain 
cars loaded and billed'' includes cars in shuttle service; dedicated 
train service; reservation, lottery, open and other ordering systems; 
and private cars. Additionally, separately report the total cars loaded 
and billed in shuttle service (or dedicated train service), if any, 
versus total cars loaded and billed in all other ordering systems, 
including private cars.
    (8) For the aggregated STCCs in paragraph (a)(7) of this section, 
report by State the following:
    (i) Running total of orders placed;
    (ii) The running total of orders filled;
    (iii) For orders which have not been filled, the number of orders 
that are 1-10 days past due and 11+ days past due, as measured from 
when the car was due for placement under the railroad's governing 
tariff. Railroads are instructed to report data for railroad-owned or 
leased cars that will move in manifest service.
    (9) Weekly average coal unit train loadings or carloadings versus 
planned loadings for the reporting week by coal production region. 
Railroads have the option to report unit train loadings or carloadings, 
but should be consistent week over week.
    (10) The average grain shuttle or dedicated grain train trips per 
month (TPM), for the total system and by region, versus planned TPM, 
for the total system and by region, included in the first report of 
each month, covering the previous calendar month.
    (11) Weekly originated carloads by the following commodity 
categories:
    (i) Chemicals;
    (ii) Coal;
    (iii) Coke;
    (iv) Crushed stone, sand, and gravel;
    (v) Farm products except grain;
    (vi) Fertilizer (STCC Codes: 14-7XX-XX, 28-125-XX, 28-18X-XX, 28-
19X-XX, 28-71X-XX, and 49-18X-XX);
    (vii) Food and kindred products;
    (viii) Grain mill products;
    (ix) Grain;
    (x) Iron and steel scrap;
    (xi) Lumber and wood products;
    (xii) Metallic ores;
    (xiii) Metals;
    (xiv) Motor vehicles and equipment;
    (xv) Non metallic minerals;
    (xvi) Petroleum products;
    (xvii) Primary forest products;
    (xviii) Pulp, paper, and allied products;
    (xix) Stone, clay, and glass products;
    (xx) Waste and scrap materials;
    (xxi) All other;
    (xxii) Containers;
    (xxiii) Trailers.
    (12)(i) Car order fulfillment percentage for the reporting week by 
car type:
    (A) Box;
    (B) Covered hopper;
    (C) Center-beam;
    (D) Gondola;
    (E) Flatcar;
    (F) Intermodal;
    (G) Multilevel (automotive);
    (H) Open hopper;
    (I) Tank car;
    (J) Other.
    (ii) Car order fulfillment should be stated as the percentage of 
cars due to be placed during the reporting week, as determined by the 
governing tariff, versus cars actually and on constructive placement.
    (b) The Class I railroads operating at the Chicago gateway (or AAR 
on behalf of the Class I railroads operating at the Chicago gateway) 
must jointly report the following performance data elements for the 
reporting week:
    (1) Average daily car volume in the following Chicago area yards: 
Barr, Bensenville, Blue Island, Calumet, Cicero, Clearing, Corwith, 
Gibson, Kirk, Markham, and Proviso for the reporting week; and
    (2) Average daily number of trains held for delivery to Chicago 
sorted by receiving carrier for the reporting week. The average daily 
number should be derived by taking a same time snapshot each day of the 
reporting week, capturing the trains held for each railroad at that 
time, and then adding those snapshots together and dividing by the days 
in the reporting week. For purposes of this request, ``held for 
delivery'' refers to a train staged by the delivering railroad short of 
its scheduled arrival at the Chicago gateway at the request of the 
receiving railroad, and that has missed its scheduled window for 
arrival.

    Note to paragraph (b):  If Chicago terminal yards not identified 
in paragraph (b)(1) of this section are included in the Chicago 
Transportation Coordination Office's (CTCO) assessment of the 
fluidity of the gateway for purposes of implementing service 
contingency measures, then the data requested in paragraph (b)(1) of 
this section shall also be reported for those yards.

    (c) The Class I railroad members of the CTCO (or one Class I 
railroad member of the CTCO designated to file on behalf of all Class I 
railroad members, or AAR) must:

[[Page 27082]]

    (1) File a written notice with the Board when the CTCO changes its 
operating Alert Level status, within one business day of that change in 
status.
    (2) If the CTCO revises its protocol of service contingency 
measures, file with the Board a detailed explanation of the new 
protocol, including both triggers and countermeasures, within seven 
days of its adoption.
    (d) Class I railroads are instructed to submit annually a 
description of significant rail infrastructure projects that will be 
commenced during the current calendar year, and a six month update on 
those projects. Initial reports are to be filed on March 1 and updated 
on September 1. Railroads are requested to report in a narrative form 
that briefly describes each project, its purpose, location (State/
counties), and projected date of completion. ``Significant project'' is 
defined as a project with anticipated expenditures of $75 million or 
more over the life of the project. In the event that March 1 or 
September 1 is a Federal holiday or falls on a day when STB offices are 
closed for any other reason, then the report should be submitted on the 
next business day when the offices are open.

[FR Doc. 2016-10442 Filed 5-4-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P