[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 206 (Wednesday, October 26, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 64835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23322]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. EP 771]


Report: Alternatives to URCS

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board (Board) seeks written public 
comments on the independent report prepared by Laurits R. Christensen 
Associates, Inc. (Christensen Associates), entitled, Alternatives to 
URCS. The report may be accessed via the Board's website at 
www.stb.gov.

DATES: Comments are due by February 23, 2023. Replies to comments are 
due by May 24, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments and replies may be filed with the Board either via 
e-filing on the Board's website at www.stb.gov, or in writing addressed 
to: Surface Transportation Board, Attn: Docket No. EP 771, 395 E Street 
SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001. Filings will be posted to the Board's 
website.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Boyles at (202) 245-0336. 
Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal 
Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board is authorized, under 49 U.S.C. 
11161, to maintain cost accounting rules for rail carriers. In 1989, 
the Board's predecessor, the Interstate Commerce Commission, adopted 
the Uniform Railroad Costing System (URCS) as its general purpose 
costing system. Adoption of the Unif. R.R. Costing Sys. as a Gen. 
Purpose Costing Sys. for All Regul. Costing Purposes, 5 I.C.C.2d 894 
(1989). The Board uses URCS for a variety of regulatory functions. URCS 
is used in rate reasonableness proceedings as part of the initial 
market dominance determination, and at later stages is used in parts of 
the Board's determination as to whether the challenged rate is 
reasonable, and, when warranted, the maximum rate prescription. URCS is 
also used to, among other things, develop variable costs for making 
cost determinations in abandonment proceedings, to provide the railroad 
industry and shippers with a standardized costing model, to cost the 
Board's Carload Waybill Sample to develop industry cost information, 
and to provide interested parties with basic cost information regarding 
railroad industry operations.
    In 2020 the Board commissioned Christensen Associates to perform a 
study and write a report to identify and evaluate alternatives to URCS 
that could be used as a replacement general purpose costing methodology 
to generate railroad-specific variable costs for regulatory purposes. 
That report has been completed and is posted on the Board's website at 
https://www.stb.gov/reports-data/reports-studies/ and in this docket. 
The Board now seeks public comments and replies from all interested 
persons on the report's recommendations. The Board has not made any 
determinations on whether it will propose changes to its general 
purpose costing system. Given the preliminary and exploratory nature of 
this request for comments, the Board will not release supporting 
materials, such as the Confidential Carload Waybill Sample data or 
underlying workpapers developed by Christensen Associates, at this 
time. Should the Board move forward with a proposal to modify its 
general purpose costing system, a further opportunity for comment will 
be provided.
    It is ordered:
    1. Comments are due by February 23, 2023; reply comments are due by 
May 24, 2023.
    2. Notice of this decision will be published in the Federal 
Register.
    3. This decision is effective on its service date.

    Decided: October 21, 2022.

    By the Board, Mai T. Dinh, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-23322 Filed 10-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P