[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 231 (Friday, December 2, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 74205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26276]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36649]


Illinois Western Railroad Company--Operation Exemption--in 
Greenville, Ill.

    Illinois Western Railroad Company (ILW), a noncarrier, has filed a 
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to operate 
approximately thirteen hundred feet of existing trackage owned by the 
City of Greenville (City), extending from a connection with CSX 
Transportation, Inc., into the Alan E. Gaffner Industrial Park 
(formerly the Howard M. Wolf Business Park), in Greenville, Bond 
County, Ill. (the Greenville Track). The Greenville Track does not have 
mileposts.
    This transaction is related to a concurrently filed verified notice 
of exemption in 3i RR Holdings GP LLC--Control Exemption--Effingham 
Railroad, Docket No. FD 36650, in which 3i RR Holdings GP LLC, 3i 
Holdings Partnership L.P., 3i RR Intermediate Holdings LLC, 3i RR LLC, 
Regional Rail Holdings, LLC, Regional Rail Sub Holdings LLC, and 
Regional Rail, LLC, seek to control ILW upon ILW's becoming a Class III 
rail carrier, and to control two other Class III rail carriers.
    According to the verified notice, ILW has conducted switching 
operations on the Greenville Track since 1996, but its notice of 
exemption filed that year to operate the Greenville Track was dismissed 
as not being within the Board's authority. See Ill. W. R.R.--Change in 
Operator Exemption--City of Greenville, Ill., FD 32853 (STB served Jan. 
30, 1996). ILW states that, in connection with the pending sale of ILW 
and two rail carriers, it is seeking to establish and resolve its 
status as a rail carrier, consistent with the Board's 1997 decision in 
Effingham Railroad--Petition for Declaratory Order--Construction at 
Effingham, Ill., 2 S.T.B. 606 (1997), aff'd sub nom. United 
Transportation Union v. STB, 183 F.3d 606 (7th Cir. 1999). ILW further 
states that operations on the Greenville Track will continue under the 
current iteration of an operating agreement with the City, which was 
entered into in 2016.\1\
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    \1\ Public and confidential versions of the operating agreement 
were filed with the verified notice. The confidential version was 
submitted under seal concurrent with a motion for protective order, 
which is addressed in a separate decision.
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    ILW certifies that its projected annual revenue will not exceed $5 
million and that the proposed transaction will not result in ILW's 
becoming a Class I or II rail carrier. ILW states that the operating 
agreement between it and the City contains no restriction on ILW 
interchanging traffic with any rail carriers.
    The earliest this transaction may be consummated is December 18, 
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 for stay must be filed no later than December 9, 
2022.
    All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36649, 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. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on 
ILW's representative, Michael J. Barron, Jr., Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 
North Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606-3208.
    According to ILW, this action is categorically 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: November 29, 2022.

    By the Board, Mai T. Dinh, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Raina White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-26276 Filed 12-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P