[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 2721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00478]



[[Page 2721]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36377 (Sub-No. 2)]


BNSF Railway Company--Trackage Rights Exemption--Union Pacific 
Railroad Company

    BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), a Class I rail carrier, has filed a 
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7) for its 
acquisition of restricted, local, trackage rights over two rail lines 
owned by Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) between: (1) UP milepost 
93.2 at Stockton, Cal., on UP's Oakland Subdivision, and UP milepost 
219.4 at Elsey, Cal., on UP's Canyon Subdivision, a distance of 126.2 
miles; and (2) UP milepost 219.4 at Elsey, and UP milepost 280.7 at 
Keddie, Cal., on UP's Canyon Subdivision, a distance of 61.3 miles 
(collectively, the Lines).
    Pursuant to a written temporary trackage rights agreement, UP has 
agreed to grant restricted trackage rights to BNSF over the Lines. The 
purpose of this transaction is to permit BNSF to move empty and loaded 
unit ballast trains to and from the ballast pit at Elsey, which is 
adjacent to the Lines. The agreement provides that the trackage rights 
are temporary in nature and are scheduled to expire on December 31, 
2021.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ BNSF states that, because the trackage rights are for local 
rather than overhead traffic, it has not filed under the Board's 
class exemption for temporary overhead trackage rights under 49 CFR 
1180.2(d)(8). Instead, BNSF has filed under the trackage rights 
class exemption at 1180.2(d)(7). BNSF concurrently filed a petition 
for partial revocation of this exemption to permit these proposed 
trackage rights to expire at midnight on December 31, 2021, as 
provided in the agreement. The petition for partial revocation will 
be addressed in a subsequent decision.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The transaction may be consummated on or after January 27, 2021, 
the effective date of the exemption (30 days after the verified notice 
was filed).
    As a condition to this exemption, any employees affected by the 
acquisition of the trackage rights will be protected by the conditions 
imposed in Norfolk & Western Railway--Trackage Rights--Burlington 
Northern, Inc., 354 I.C.C. 605 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast 
Railway--Lease & Operate--California Western Railroad, 360 I.C.C. 653 
(1980).
    If the notice contains false or misleading information, the 
exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49 
U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to 
revoke will not automatically stay the effectiveness of the exemption. 
Petitions for stay must be filed no later than January 19, 2021 (at 
least seven days before the exemption becomes effective).
    All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36377 (Sub-No. 2), should 
be filed with the Surface Transportation Board via e-filing on the 
Board's website. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on 
BNSF's representative, Peter W. Denton, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, 1330 
Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036.
    According to BNSF, this action is categorically excluded from 
environmental review under 49 CFR 1105.6(c)(3) and from historic 
preservation reporting requirements under 49 CFR 1105.8(b)(3).
    Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.

    Decided: January 7, 2021.

    By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Eden Besera,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2021-00478 Filed 1-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P