[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 116 (Thursday, June 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36357-36358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13003]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. FD 36620]
OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund, Jaguar Transport Holdings, LLC,
and Jaguar Rail Holdings, LLC--Continuance in Control Exemption--
Kinston Railroad, LLC
OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund (OPTrust), Jaguar Transport Holdings,
LLC (JTH), and Jaguar Rail Holdings, LLC (JRH, and collectively with
OPTrust and JTH, Jaguar), all noncarriers, have filed a verified notice
of exemption
[[Page 36358]]
under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) to continue in control of Kinston Railroad,
LLC (KNR), a noncarrier, upon KNR's becoming a Class III rail carrier.
This transaction is related to a concurrently filed verified notice
of exemption in Kinston Railroad--Change in Operator Exemption--Kinston
& Snow Hill Railroad, Docket No. FD 36621. In that proceeding, KNR has
filed a verified notice of exemption pursuant to 49 CFR 1150.31 to
assume operation of approximately 5.7 miles of rail line currently
operated by Kinston & Snow Hill Railroad Co., Inc. (KSHR), and owned by
the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), extending
between milepost GTP-0.0 (and a connection at that location to a North
Carolina Railroad Company track) and milepost GTP-5.7 at the North
Carolina Global TransPark (the Line), near Kinston, in Lenoir County,
N.C. KNR will assume an existing lease of the Line, to be assigned to
KNR by KSHR with NCDOT's consent.
Jaguar states that it will continue in control of KNR upon KNR's
becoming a railroad common carrier. According to the verified notice,
OPTrust indirectly controls JTH, which directly controls JRH. JTH
currently controls, indirectly: five Class III railroads directly
controlled by JRH--Southwestern Railroad, Inc., Texas & Eastern
Railroad, LLC, Wyoming and Colorado Railroad, Inc. (WYCO) (which also
does business under the name Oregon Eastern Railroad), Missouri Eastern
Railroad, LLC, and Charlotte Western Railroad, LLC; two Class III
railroads indirectly controlled by JRH through WYCO--Cimarron Valley
Railroad, L.C., and Washington Eastern Railroad, LLC; and one Class III
railroad, West Memphis Base Railroad, L.L.C., which is indirectly
controlled by JTH through its subsidiary Jaguar Transport, LLC. The
lines of the rail carriers controlled by JTH and JRH are located in
Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.
Jaguar states that: (1) the Line does not connect with any other
rail lines operated by carriers controlled by Jaguar; (2) the
continuance in control transaction is not part of a series of
anticipated transactions that would connect the Line with any rail
lines controlled by Jaguar or that would connect any of those rail
lines with each other; and (3) the transaction does not involve a Class
I rail carrier. Therefore, the proposed transaction is exempt from the
prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49 CFR
1180.2(d)(2).
Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), the Board may not use its exemption
authority to relieve a rail carrier of its statutory obligation to
protect the interests of its employees. However, 49 U.S.C. 11326(c)
does not provide for labor protection for transactions under 49 U.S.C.
11324 and 11325 that involve only Class III rail carriers. Because this
transaction involves Class III rail carriers only, the Board, under the
statute, may not impose labor protective conditions for this
transaction.
The earliest this transaction may be consummated is June 30, 2022,
the effective date of the exemption (30 days after the verified notice
was filed). If the verified 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 to stay must be filed no later than June
23, 2022 (at least seven days before the exemption becomes effective).
All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36620, must be filed with
the Surface Transportation Board via e-filing on the Board's website or
in writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001. In
addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on Jaguar's
representative, Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 North
Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606-3208.
According to Jaguar, this action is excluded from environmental
review under 49 CFR 1105.6(c) and from historic preservation reporting
requirements under 49 CFR 1105.8(b).
Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.
Decided: June 13, 2022.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-13003 Filed 6-15-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P