[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45144-45145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16089]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36500]


Canadian Pacific Railway Limited; Canadian Pacific Railway 
Company; Soo Line Railroad Company; Central Maine & Quebec Railway US 
Inc.; Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation; and Delaware & 
Hudson Railway Company, Inc. Control--Kansas City Southern; The Kansas 
City Southern Railway Company; Gateway Eastern Railway Company; and The 
Texas Mexican Railway Company

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Decision No. 22; notice of public hearing; revision of 
procedural schedule; page limit for final briefs.

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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board (Board) will hold a public 
hearing in this proceeding on September 28, 29, and 30, 2022. The 
hearing will be held in the Hearing Room of the Board's headquarters, 
located at 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001. All interested 
persons are invited to appear in person or via online video 
conferencing. Additionally, the Board will revise the procedural 
schedule and set a limit of 30 pages for final briefs.

DATES: The hearing will be held on September 28, 29, and 30, 2022, 
beginning at 9:30 a.m. EDT and ending around 5:30 p.m. EDT each day and 
will be open for public observation. The hearing also will be available 
for viewing on the Board's website. Persons may participate online 
using video conferencing. The Board will issue a subsequent decision 
with instructions for participation in, and public observation of, the 
hearing. Any person wishing to speak at the hearing shall file with the 
Board by September 14, 2022, a notice of intent to participate 
(identifying the entity, if any, the person represents, the proposed 
speaker, and whether they will appear in person or via video 
conferencing, and summarizing the key points the speaker intends to 
address). Each speaker will be allotted five minutes for their 
presentation unless they request otherwise in their notice of intent, 
in which case, the Board will consider the request for a different 
allotment. The notices of intent to participate are not required to be 
served on the parties of record; they will be posted to the Board's 
website when they are filed. Final briefs will be due after the public 
hearing, by October 14, 2022.

ADDRESSES: All filings pertaining to the public hearing should refer to 
Docket No. FD 36500 and/or appropriate subdockets and must be filed 
with the Surface Transportation Board either via e-filing on the 
Board's website or in writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, Washington, 
DC 20423-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Valerie Quinn at (202) 245-0283. 
Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal 
Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 29, 2021, Canadian Pacific 
Railway Limited (Canadian Pacific); Canadian Pacific Railway Company, 
and their U.S. rail carrier subsidiaries, Soo Line Railroad Company, 
Central Maine & Quebec Railway US Inc., Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern 
Railroad Corporation, and Delaware & Hudson Railway Company, Inc. 
(collectively, CP); and Kansas City Southern and its U.S. rail carrier 
subsidiaries, The Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCSR), Gateway 
Eastern Railway Company, and The Texas Mexican Railway Company 
(collectively, KCS) (CP and KCS collectively, Applicants), filed an 
application (Application) seeking Board approval for the acquisition of 
control by Canadian Pacific, through its indirect, wholly owned 
subsidiary Cygnus Merger Sub 2 Corporation, of Kansas City Southern, 
and through it, of KCSR and its railroad affiliates, and for the 
resulting common control by Canadian Pacific of its U.S. railroad 
subsidiaries, and KCSR and its railroad affiliates (Transaction). By 
decision served November 23, 2021, and published in the Federal 
Register on November 26, 2021 (86 FR 67,571), the Board accepted for 
consideration the primary Application filed in Docket No. FD 36500 and 
established a procedural schedule for the proceeding.\1\
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    \1\ The procedural schedule was amended by decision served on 
May 27, 2022. Canadian Pac. Ry.--Control--Kan. City S. (Decision No. 
18), FD 36500 et al. (STB served May 27, 2022).
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    By decision served July 1, 2022, and published in the Federal 
Register on

[[Page 45145]]

July 7, 2022 (87 FR 40,576), the Board accepted for consideration the 
responsive applications filed in Docket Nos. FD 36500 (Sub-Nos. 1-4) by 
Canadian National Railway Company and its rail carrier affiliate, 
Illinois Central Railroad Company (ICRR) (collectively, CN),\2\ and FD 
36500 (Sub-No. 5) by Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR).\3\ \4\
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    \2\ In Docket Nos. FD 36500 (Sub-No. 1), FD 36500 (Sub-No. 2), 
FD 36500 (Sub-No. 3), and FD 36500 (Sub-No. 4), CN seeks, as a 
condition to any approval of the proposed Transaction, approval of 
ICRR's acquisition of KCS's line between Kansas City, Mo., and 
Springfield and East St. Louis, Ill., and other related relief. (CN 
Amended Responsive Appl. 6-7.)
    \3\ In Docket No. FD 36500 (Sub-No. 5), as a condition to any 
approval of the proposed Transaction, NSR seeks certain contingent 
trackage rights for overhead movement on KCS's line between the 
connection of KCS with the Meridian Speedway, at Shreveport, La., 
and the Wylie Intermodal Terminal, in Wylie, Tex. (NSR Amended 
Responsive Appl. 4, 9.)
    \4\ This decision embraces: Docket No. FD 36500 (Sub-No. 1), 
Illinois Central Railroad--Acquisition of a Line of Railroad Between 
Kansas City, Mo., & Springfield & East St. Louis, Ill.--Kansas City 
Southern Railway; Docket No. FD 36500 (Sub-No. 2), Illinois Central 
Railroad--Trackage Rights Between Airline Junction, Mo., & 
Grandview, Mo.--Kansas City Southern Railway; Docket No. FD 36500 
(Sub-No. 3), Canadian National Railway--Control--Gateway Eastern 
Railway; Docket No. FD 36500 (Sub-No. 4), Illinois Central 
Railroad--Assignment of KCS Trackage Rights Between Rock Creek 
Junction, Mo., & Airline Junction, Mo.--Union Pacific Railroad; and 
Docket No. FD 36500 (Sub-No. 5), Norfolk Southern Railway--Trackage 
Rights--Kansas City Southern. Canadian Pac. Ry.--Control--Kan. City 
S. (Decision No. 11), FD 36500 (STB served Nov. 23, 2021).
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    Section 11324(a) of title 49 of the U.S. Code requires the Board in 
a control proceeding to ``hold a public hearing unless the Board 
determines that a public hearing is not necessary in the public 
interest.'' In Decision No. 11, FD 36500, the Board stated that it 
would decide whether to conduct a public hearing after the record had 
been more fully developed. Decision No. 11, FD 36500, slip op. at 18 
n.13. Based on the comments that have been submitted, the Board finds 
that a public hearing, which will provide the Board an opportunity to 
directly question the Applicants and other interested persons about the 
issues that have been raised, is in the public interest. See Decision 
No. 18, FD 36500 et al., slip op. at 4 n.3 (noting the likelihood of a 
public hearing given the complexity of the proposed Transaction and the 
many issues raised by it and the responsive applications). 
Environmental and historic preservation issues will be addressed 
through the ongoing environmental review process being conducted by the 
Board's Office of Environmental Analysis. During the public hearing, 
the Board will not consider issues being addressed through the 
environmental review process.
    Under the current procedural schedule, final briefs are due by 
September 20, 2022, prior to any public hearing. Decision No. 18, FD 
36500 et al., slip op. at 4. However, the Board finds that it would be 
beneficial to receive final briefs after the public hearing and will 
amend the procedural schedule to have final briefs due by October 14, 
2022. As such, October 14, 2022, will be considered the close of the 
record.\5\ Additionally, the page limit for final briefs will be set at 
30 pages.\6\
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    \5\ Additionally, in response to an inquiry from the public, the 
Board clarifies that, as indicated in the Appendix to Decision No. 
18, FD 36500 et al., submissions permitted to be filed by August 11, 
2022, are limited to rebuttals in support of responsive, including 
inconsistent, applications.
    \6\ The Board previously stated that it would determine the page 
limits for final briefs after the record had been more fully 
developed. Decision No. 11, FD 36500, slip op. at 17 n.12.
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    Prior to the hearing date, the Board will issue a decision setting 
a schedule of appearances with specific allotments of time for 
presentations. Each speaker will be allotted five minutes for their 
presentation unless they request otherwise in their notice of intent, 
in which case, the Board will consider the request for a different 
allotment. Speakers should be prepared to keep their comments succinct 
to ensure an opportunity for questions by the Board and for all 
interested persons to be heard. The schedule will also provide, among 
other things, that Applicants will speak first, and that they may 
choose to reserve part of their time for a closing statement. Speakers 
at the hearing are encouraged to use their time to call attention to 
the points they believe to be particularly important. The purpose of 
the hearing is not to restate the written submissions, but to summarize 
and emphasize the key points of a party's case or a speaker's position, 
and to provide an opportunity for the speaker to respond to questions 
the Board may have regarding the matters at issue.
    Board Releases and Transcript Availability: Decisions and notices 
of the Board, including this notice, are available on the Board's 
website at www.stb.gov. The Board will issue a separate notice 
containing the schedule of appearances, as well as instructions for 
participating in and observing the hearing. A recording of the hearing 
and a transcript will be posted on the Board's website when they become 
available.
    It is ordered:
    1. A public hearing will be held on September 28, 29, and 30, 2022, 
beginning at 9:30 a.m. EDT and ending around 5:30 p.m. EDT each day, in 
the Hearing Room of the Board's headquarters, located at 395 E Street 
SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001.
    2. By September 14, 2022, any person wishing to speak at the 
hearing shall file with the Board a notice of intent to participate: 
(i) identifying the entity, if any, the person represents, the proposed 
speaker, and whether the speaker will appear in person or via video 
conferencing, and (ii) summarizing the key points the speaker intends 
to address.
    3. Notices of intent to participate will be posted to the Board's 
website and need not be served on parties of record, any hearing 
participants, or other commenters.
    4. Final briefs will be due by October 14, 2022.
    5. Final briefs are limited to no more than 30 pages.
    6. This decision is effective on its service date.
    7. This decision will be published in the Federal Register.

    Decided: July 22, 2022.

    By the Board, Board Members Fuchs, Hedlund, Oberman, Primus, and 
Schultz.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-16089 Filed 7-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P