[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65881-65882]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25879]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD


30-Day Notice of Intent To Seek Extension of Approval: Class I 
Railroad Annual Report

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the 
Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) gives notice of its intent 
to seek approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an 
extension of the collection of Class I Railroad Annual Reports, 
described below. The Board previously published a notice about this 
collection in the Federal Register on September 12, 2019. That notice 
allowed for a 60-day public review and comment period. No comments were 
received.

DATES: Comments on this information collection should be submitted by 
December 30, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be identified as ``Paperwork 
Reduction Act Comments, Surface Transportation Board: Class I Railroad 
Annual Report.'' These comments should be directed to the Office of 
Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Attention: Michael J. McManus, Surface Transportation Board Desk 
Officer: by email at [email protected]; by fax at (202) 395-
1743; or by mail to Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 
20503. Please also direct comments to Chris Oehrle, PRA Officer, 
Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-
0001, or to [email protected]. For further information regarding this 
collection, contact Pedro Ramirez at (202) 245-0333 or 
[email protected]. Assistance for the hearing impaired is available 
through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments are requested concerning: (1) The 
accuracy of the Board's burden estimates; (2) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; (3) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on the 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, when appropriate; and (4) 
whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the 
collection has practical utility.

Description of Collection

    Title: Class I Railroad Annual Report.
    OMB Control Number: 2140-0009.
    Form Number: R-1.
    Type of Review: Extension without change.
    Respondents: Class I railroads.
    Number of Respondents: Seven.
    Estimated Time per Response: No more than 250 hours per response. 
This estimate includes time spent reviewing instructions; searching 
existing data sources; gathering and maintaining the data needed; 
completing and reviewing the collection of information; and converting 
the data from the carrier's individual accounting system to the Board's 
Uniform System of Accounts, which ensures that the information will be 
presented in a consistent format across all reporting railroads. In 
prior years, the estimate was higher, but many of these functions have 
become automated and more routine through the respondents' software 
programming. Thus, the time per response has been reduced, with 
additional technological efficiencies anticipated in the future.
    Frequency of Response: Annual.
    Total Annual Hour Burden: No more than 1,750 hours annually.
    Total Annual ``Non-Hour Burden'' Cost: \1\ The respondent carriers 
are required by statute to submit a copy of the annual report, signed 
under oath. See 49 U.S.C. 11145. A hard copy of the report is mailed to 
the agency at an estimated cost of $4.00 per respondent, resulting in a 
total annual non-burden-hour cost of $28.00 for all seven respondents. 
No other non-hour costs for operation, maintenance, or purchase of 
services associated with this collection have been identified, as: (a) 
This collection will not impose start-up costs on respondents; and (b) 
an additional copy of the report in Excel format is submitted to the 
agency electronically.
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    \1\ In this notice, the Board is adding the ``non-hour burden'' 
costs that were inadvertently left out of the 60-day notice related 
to this collection in the total annual amount of $28.
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    Needs and Uses: Annual reports are required to be filed by Class I 
railroads under 49 U.S.C. 11145. The reports show operating expenses 
and operating statistics of the carriers. Operating expenses include 
costs for right-of-way and structures, equipment, train and yard 
operations, and general and administrative expenses. Operating 
statistics include such items as car-miles, revenue-ton-miles, and 
gross ton-miles. These reports are used by the Board, other Federal 
agencies, and industry groups to monitor and assess railroad industry 
growth, financial stability, traffic, and operations, and to identify 
industry changes that may affect national transportation policy. 
Information from these reports is also entered into the Uniform 
Railroad Costing System (URCS), which is the Board's general-purpose 
costing methodology. URCS, which was developed by the Board pursuant to 
49 U.S.C. 11161, is used as a tool in rail rate proceedings (in 
accordance with 49 U.S.C. 10707(d)) to calculate the variable costs 
associated with providing a particular service. The Board also uses 
information from this collection to more effectively carry out other 
regulatory responsibilities, including: Acting on railroad requests for 
authority to engage in Board-regulated financial transactions such as 
mergers, acquisitions of control, and consolidations, see 49 U.S.C. 
11323-24; analyzing the information that the Board obtains through the 
annual railroad industry waybill sample, see 49 CFR 1244; measuring 
off-branch costs in railroad abandonment proceedings, in accordance 
with 49 CFR 1152.32(n); developing the ``rail cost adjustment 
factors,'' in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 10708; and conducting 
investigations and rulemakings.
    Under the PRA, a federal agency that conducts or sponsors a 
collection of information must display a currently valid OMB control 
number. A collection of information, which is defined in 44 U.S.C. 
3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c), includes agency requirements that persons 
submit reports, keep records, or provide information to the agency, 
third parties, or the public. Section 3507(b) of the PRA requires, 
concurrent with an agency's submitting a collection to OMB for 
approval, a 30-day notice and comment period through publication in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information.


[[Page 65882]]


    Dated: November 25, 2019.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2019-25879 Filed 11-27-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P