[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 1, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12272-12273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03949]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36099; Docket No. FD 36100; Docket No. FD 36101; Docket 
No. FD 36102]


Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Company--Trackage Rights--
Consolidated Rail Corporation, CSX Transportation, Inc., and Norfolk 
Southern Railway Company; CSX Transportation, Inc.--Trackage Rights--
Consolidated Rail Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company; 
Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Trackage Rights--Consolidated Rail 
Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc.; and Consolidated Rail 
Corporation--Trackage Rights--CSX Transportation, Inc. and Norfolk 
Southern Railway Company

    The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Company (IHB), Consolidated Rail 
Corporation (Conrail), CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), and Norfolk 
Southern Railway Company (NSR) (collectively, the Parties) have 
submitted four combined verified notices of exemption in these four 
dockets pursuant to the class exemption at 49 CFR 1180.27(d)(7) for 
trackage rights over rail lines and ancillary trackage owned by 
Conrail, CSXT, and NSR in the vicinity of Gibson and Ivanhoe, Ind., and 
Calumet Park, Ill. The trackage rights are pursuant to a written 
trackage rights agreement (Agreement) to be entered into among IHB, 
Conrail, CSXT, and NSR.\1\
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    \1\ The Parties state that, pursuant to 49 CFR 1180.6(a)(7), a 
copy of the executed Agreement will be filed with the Board within 
10 days of its execution. A redacted copy of the Agreement was filed 
with the notices of exemption. An unredacted copy also was filed 
under seal along with a motion for protective order pursuant to 49 
CFR 1104.14(b). That motion will be addressed in a separate 
decision.

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[[Page 12273]]

    In Docket No. FD 36099, Conrail, CSXT, and NSR have agreed to grant 
IHB local and overhead trackage rights: (1) Over CSXT's Kensington 
Branch (a/k/a East-West Line), between CSXT milepost 259.4 at the 
Ivanhoe intersection in Gary, Ind., and Conrail milepost 266.6 at the 
intersection of Alice Avenue in Calumet City, Ill., including ancillary 
trackage; (2) over NSR's Danville Branch (a/k/a the Indiana Harbor 
Line), between milepost 0.0 at the intersection of Block Avenue in East 
Chicago, Ind., and milepost 6.30 +/- at the intersection of Little 
Calumet River in Hammond, Ind., including ancillary trackage; (3) over 
Conrail's Dune Park Branch, between milepost 1.80 at the Ivanhoe 
intersection in Gary, Ind., and milepost 4.63 at the intersection of 
Chase Street in Gary, Ind., including ancillary trackage; (4) over 
Conrail's Kensington Branch, between Conrail milepost 266.6 at the 
intersection of Alice Avenue in Calumet City, Ill., and milepost 270.6 
at the intersection of 124th Street in East Chicago, Ind., including 
ancillary trackage; (5) over Conrail's Cast Armour Lead (between the 
intersections of Dickey Road and Canal Street in East Chicago, Ind.) 
and Harbison Walker Lead (between the intersections of Indiana Harbor 
Canal and Kennedy Avenue in East Chicago, Ind.); and (6) over Conrail's 
Gibson Yard (between Howard Avenue and Kennedy Avenue in Hammond, 
Ind.), Gibson Transfer Yard (between Kennedy Avenue and Ivanhoe 
intersection in Gary, Ind.), and Michigan Avenue Yard (between Michigan 
Avenue and 144th Street in East Chicago, Ind.) (the Rail 
Properties).\2\ The purpose of the trackage rights is to allow IHB to 
continue to operate the Rail Properties with updated compensation and 
other terms. IHB will have the same rights to supervise, dispatch, and 
maintain the Rail Properties as it has had in the past. Conrail, CSXT, 
and NSR will retain the rights to operate on the properties they own 
and, at their election, the same rights to supervise, maintain, and 
dispatch the trackage involved as Conrail retained when it owned all 
the Rail Properties.\3\
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    \2\ According to the Parties, IHB, which is 51%-owned by 
Conrail, has previously operated under 99-year trackage rights 
agreements with predecessors in interest of Conrail, dated April 9, 
1906 (1906 Agreement) and September 30, 1913 (1913 Agreement). Under 
those agreements, IHB has supervised, maintained, and dispatched the 
Rail Properties. Under the same agreements, Conrail retained the 
right to operate, and, at its election, to supervise, maintain, and 
dispatch the same lines. Pursuant to a transaction agreement 
approved by the Board in CSX Corp.--Control & Operating Leases/
Agreements--Conrail, Inc., 3 S.T.B. 196 (1998), portions of the IHB-
operated properties owned by Conrail were allocated to New York 
Central Lines LLC and Pennsylvania Lines, LLC, and subsequently to 
CSXT and NSR. See CSX Corp.--Control & Operating Leases/Agreements--
Conrail, Inc., 7 S.T.B. 205 (2003). As part of the approved 
transaction, CSX Corporation and Norfolk Southern Corporation 
entered into an agreement (the IHB Agreement) that gave CSXT and NSR 
full, joint, and equal use of the Rail Properties, including 
trackage rights over those properties. See CSX Corp., 3 S.T.B. at 
228-229 (including the Rail Properties among the ``Other Areas with 
Special Treatment'' that are ``subject to special arrangements that 
provide for a sharing of routes or facilities to a certain 
extent''). The 1906 Agreement and 1913 Agreement expired by their 
terms, respectively, in 2005 and 2012.
    \3\ Conrail has no current operations on the Rail Properties, 
but it has always had the right to operate on its own properties. 
CSXT and NSR have operations over the properties they own and, under 
the IHB Agreement, they have the right to operate over the remainder 
of the Rail Properties.
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    In Docket Nos. FD 36100, 36101, and 36102, Conrail, CSXT, and NSR 
will grant each other local and overhead trackage rights over each 
other's lines and ancillary trackage described above. The purpose of 
these trackage rights is to: (1) Recognize the rights of CSXT and NSR 
for full, joint, and equal operations over the Rail Properties, 
including trackage rights, as authorized by the IHB Agreement, (2) 
grant Conrail equivalent trackage rights over CSXT's and NSR's lines, 
and (3) provide common terms for such trackage rights operations.
    The Parties state that the Agreement does not contain interchange 
commitments.
    The transaction may be consummated on March 15, 2017, the effective 
date of the exemptions (30 days after the combined verified notices 
were filed).
    As a condition to these exemptions, any employees affected by the 
trackage rights will be protected by the conditions imposed in Norfolk 
& Western Railway--Trackage Rights--Burlington Northern, Inc., 354 
I.C.C. 605 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast Railway--Lease & 
Operate--California Western Railroad, 360 I.C.C. 653 (1980).
    These notices are filed under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7). If the notices 
contain false or misleading information, the exemptions are void ab 
initio. Petitions to revoke the exemptions under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may 
be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to revoke will not 
automatically stay the effectiveness of the exemptions. Petitions for 
stay must be filed by March 8, 2017 (at least seven days before the 
exemptions become effective).
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket No. 
FD 36099, et al., must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board, 
395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of 
each pleading must be served on Joel Cornfeld, Indiana Harbor Belt 
Railroad Company, 2721 161st Street, Hammond, IN 46323-1099; Robert M. 
Jenkins III, Mayer Brown LLP, 1999 K Street NW., Washington, DC 20006-
1101; Paul R. Hitchcock, CSX Transportation, Inc., 500 Water Street, 
Jacksonville, FL 32202; and David L. Coleman, Norfolk Southern Railway 
Company, Three Commercial Place, Norfolk, VA 23510.
    According to the Parties, this action is categorically excluded 
from environmental review under 49 CFR 1105.6(c).
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
WWW.STB.GOV.

    Decided: February 23, 2017.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Raina S. Contee,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-03949 Filed 2-28-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P