[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