[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8025-8027]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02569]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD


30-Day Notice of Intent To Seek Extension of Approval of 
Collection: Statutory Authority To Preserve Rail Service

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, 
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the 
Surface Transportation Board (Board) gives

[[Page 8026]]

notice of its intent to request from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approval without change of the existing collection, 
Preservation of Rail Service, OMB Control No. 2140-0022, as described 
below.

DATES: Comments on this information collection should be submitted by 
March 9, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be identified as ``Paperwork 
Reduction Act Comments, Surface Transportation Board, Statutory 
Authority to Preserve Rail Service.'' Written comments for the proposed 
information collection should be submitted via www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. This information collection can be accessed by selecting 
``Currently under Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the 
search function. As an alternative, written comments may be directed to 
the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Michael J. McManus, Surface 
Transportation Board Desk Officer: via email at 
[email protected]; by fax at (202) 395-1743; or by mail to 
Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.
    Please also direct all comments to Chris Oehrle, PRA Officer, 
Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-
0001, or to [email protected]. When submitting comments, please refer to 
``Statutory Authority to Preserve Rail Service.'' For further 
information regarding this collection, contact Mike Higgins at (866) 
254-1792 (toll-free) or 202-245-0238, or by emailing [email protected]. 
Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board previously published a notice 
about this collection in the Federal Register (87 FR 69074 (Nov. 17, 
2022)). That notice allowed for a 60-day public review and comment 
period. No comments were received.
    Comments are requested concerning each collection as to (1) whether 
the particular collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the 
collection has practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the Board's 
burden estimates; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of 
the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, when appropriate. Submitted comments will be included and 
summarized in the Board's request for OMB approval.
    Subject: In this notice, the Board is requesting comments on the 
extension of the following information collection:

Description of Collection

    Title: Preservation of Rail Service.
    OMB Control Number: 2140-0022.
    STB Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Extension without change.
    Respondents: Affected shippers, communities, or other interested 
persons seeking to preserve rail service over rail lines that are 
proposed or identified for abandonment, and railroads that are required 
to provide information to the offeror or applicant: Approximately 15.
    Frequency: On occasion, as follows:

                    Table--Number of Yearly Responses
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Estimated annual
                                                         average number
                    Type of filing                     of filings  (2019-
                                                             2022)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offer of Financial Assistance (and related filings)..                  1
Request for Public Use Condition.....................                  1
Feeder Line Application..............................                  1
Trail Use Request (with extensions)..................                 13
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    Total Burden Hours (annually including all respondents): 185 hours 
(total of estimated hours per response x number of responses for each 
type of filing).

                                       Table--Estimated Total Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Estimated annual
                                                         average number of   Number of hours    Total estimated
                     Type of filing                        filings (2019-      per response       burden hours
                                                               2021)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offer of Financial Assistance (and related filings)....                  1                 46                 46
Request for Public Use Condition.......................                  1                  4                  4
Feeder Line Application................................                  1                 70                 70
Trail Use Request (with extensions)....................                 13                  5                 65
                                                        --------------------------------------------------------
    Total burden hours.................................  .................  .................                185
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    Total ``Non-hour Burden'' Cost: While the collections are submitted 
electronically to the Board, respondents are sometimes required to send 
consultation letters to various other governmental agencies. Copies of 
these letters are part of an environmental and historic report that 
must be filed with this collection (unless waived by the Board). 
Because some of these other agencies may require hard copy letters, 
there may be some limited mailing costs, which staff estimates in total 
to be approximately $1,800.00.
    Needs and Uses: The Surface Transportation Board is, by statute, 
responsible for the economic regulation of common carrier freight 
railroads and certain other carriers operating in the United States. 
Under the laws the Board administers, persons seeking to preserve

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rail service may file pleadings before the Board to acquire or 
subsidize a rail line for continued service, or to impose a trail use 
or public use condition.
    When a line is proposed for abandonment, affected shippers, 
communities, or other interested persons may seek to preserve rail 
service by filing with the Board: an offer of financial assistance 
(OFA) to subsidize or purchase a rail line for which a railroad is 
seeking abandonment (49 U.S.C. 10904), including a request for the 
Board to set terms and conditions of the financial assistance; a 
request for a public use condition (Sec.  10905); or a trail use 
request (16 U.S.C. 1247(d)). Similarly, when a line is placed on a 
system diagram map identifying it as an anticipated or potential 
candidate for abandonment, affected shippers, communities, or other 
interested persons may seek to preserve rail service by filing with the 
Board a feeder line application to purchase the identified rail line 
(Sec.  10907). Additionally, the railroad owning the rail line subject 
to abandonment must, in some circumstances, provide information to the 
applicant or offeror.
    As to trail use, the STB will issue a CITU or NITU to a prospective 
trail sponsor who seeks an interim trail use agreement with the rail 
carrier of the rail line that is being abandoned. The CITU/NITU permits 
parties to negotiate for an interim trail use agreement. The parties 
may also agree to an extension of the negotiating period. If parties 
reach an agreement, then they must jointly notify the Board of that 
fact and of any modification or vacancy of the agreement. There is a 
one-year period for any initial interim trail use negotiating period 
(with potential extensions).
    The Board makes this submission because, under the PRA, a federal 
agency that conducts or sponsors a collection of information must 
display a currently valid OMB control number. A collection of 
information, which is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c), 
includes agency requirements that persons submit reports, keep records, 
or provide information to the agency, third parties, or the public. 
Under 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), federal agencies are required to 
provide, prior to an agency's submitting a collection to OMB for 
approval, a 60-day notice and comment period through publication in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, 
including each proposed extension of an existing collection of 
information.

    Dated: February 2, 2023.
Raina White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2023-02569 Filed 2-6-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P