Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 67 (Friday, April 5, 2024)

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 67 (Friday, April 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24078-24079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07294]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36525]


Savage Companies--Continuance in Control Exemption--Savage, 
Bingham & Garfield Railroad Company and Savage Tooele Railroad Company

    Savage Companies (Savage) has filed a verified notice of exemption 
pursuant to 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) to continue in control of two non-
connecting rail carriers--Savage, Bingham & Garfield Railroad Company 
(SBG), a Class III rail carrier, and Savage Tooele Railroad Company 
(STR), a noncarrier--upon STR becoming a Class III rail carrier.\1\
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    \1\ By decision served September 30, 2021, the Board ordered 
this docket held in abeyance pending supplementation of the record 
and further Board action. Savage supplemented the record on October 
19, 2021. Issuance of today's notice terminates the abeyance.
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    This transaction is related to two later-filed petitions for 
exemption. In the first, Savage Tooele Railroad--Construction & 
Operation Exemption--Line of Railroad in Tooele County, Utah, Docket 
No. FD 36616, STR is seeking Board authority to construct and operate 
approximately 11 miles of rail line in Tooele County, Utah. In the 
second, Union Pacific Railroad Company sought and received Board 
authority in Union Pacific Railroad--Operation Exemption--in Tooele 
County, Utah, FD 36741 (STB served Feb. 13, 2024), to reinstitute 
common carrier service over approximately 1.04 miles of line in Tooele 
County, Utah.\2\
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    \2\ This transaction is also related to a since-withdrawn 
verified notice of exemption in Savage Tooele Railroad--Acquisition 
& Operation Exemption in Tooele County, Utah--Union Pacific 
Railroad, Docket No. FD 36524. On May 26, 2022, the Board granted 
STR's motion to withdraw that notice, as STR discovered that the 
line it sought to acquire had been abandoned in 1983. STR 
subsequently sought authority to construct and operate a new line in 
Docket No. FD 36616.
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    Savage states that it will continue in control of SBG and STR upon 
STR becoming a Class III rail carrier. According to the verified 
notice, Savage owns and controls SBG and STR through a series of 
subsidiary holding companies, with Savage as the ultimate parent 
company. Savage has 81%

[[Page 24079]]

control of a first-tier subsidiary named Savage Enterprises Holdings, 
LLC, which in turns owns 100% of a second-tier subsidiary named Savage 
Enterprises Intermediate, LLC, which in turn owns 100% of a third-tier 
subsidiary named Savage Enterprises, LLC. SBG and STR are wholly owned 
subsidiaries of Savage Enterprises, LLC, and are thus fourth-tier 
subsidiaries of Savage.
    The exemption will become effective on May 1, 2024.
    Savage represents that: (1) the lines of STR and SBG will not 
connect with one another; (2) the continuance in control transaction is 
not part of a series of anticipated transactions that would result in 
such a connection; and (3) the proposed transaction does not involve a 
Class I carrier. Therefore, the 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. Section 11326(c), however, does 
not provide for labor protection for transactions under sections 11324 
and 11325 that involve only Class III rail carriers. Accordingly, the 
Board may not impose labor protective conditions here because all of 
the carriers involved are Class III carriers.
    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 April 24, 
2024 (at least seven days before the exemption becomes effective).
    All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36525, 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, one copy of each pleading must be served on 
Thomas W. Wilcox, Law Office of Thomas W. Wilcox, LLC, 1629 K Street 
NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006.
    According to Savage, this action is categorically excluded from 
environmental review under 49 CFR 1105.6(c) and from historic reporting 
requirements under 49 CFR 1105.8(b).
    Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.

    Decided: April 2, 2024.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Brendetta Jones,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2024-07294 Filed 4-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P