[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 101 (Thursday, May 23, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45729-45730]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11337]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. EP 748]


Indexing the Annual Operating Revenues of Railroads

    The Surface Transportation Board (the Board) is publishing the 
annual inflation-adjusted index and deflator factors for 2023. The 
deflator factors are used by the railroads to adjust their gross annual 
operating revenues for classification purposes. This indexing 
methodology ensures that railroads are classified based on real 
business expansion and not on the effects of inflation. Classification 
is important because it determines the extent to which individual 
railroads must comply with the Board's reporting requirements.
    The Board's deflator factors are based on the annual average of the 
Producer Price Index (PPI) industry data for line-haul railroads 
developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).\1\
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    \1\ Starting in this year's decision, the reference to the 
series for the Railroad Freight Price Index has been changed to 
match BLS's terminology (PPI industry data for line-haul railroads) 
for ease of identifying the information.
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    The Board's deflator factor is used to deflate revenues for 
comparison with established revenue thresholds.

                                         Railroad Revenue Thresholds \2\
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                          Year                                 Factor            Class I            Class II
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2019 \3\...............................................             0.4952        504,803,294         40,384,263
2020 \4\...............................................             1.0000        900,000,000         40,400,000
2021...................................................             0.9535        943,898,958         42,370,575
2022...................................................             0.8721      1,032,002,719         46,325,455
2023...................................................             0.8541      1,053,709,560         47,299,851
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DATES: The inflation-adjusted indexes and deflator factors are 
effective January 1, 2023.
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    \2\ In Montana Rail Link, Inc., & Wisconsin Central Ltd., Joint 
Petition for Rulemaking with Respect to 49 CFR part 1201, 8 I.C.C.2d 
625 (1992), the Board's predecessor, the Interstate Commerce 
Commission, raised the revenue classification level for Class I 
railroads from $50 million (1978 dollars) to $250 million (1991 
dollars), effective for the reporting year beginning January 1, 
1992. The Class II threshold was also raised from $10 million (1978 
dollars) to $20 million (1991 dollars). In Montana Rail Link, Inc.--
Petition for Rulemaking--Classification of Carriers, EP 763 (STB 
served Apr. 5, 2021), the revenue classification level for Class I 
railroads was raised from $250 million (1991 dollars) to $900 
million (2019 dollars), and the Class II threshold was converted and 
rounded from $20 million (1991 dollars) to $40.4 million (2019 
dollars), effective for the reporting year beginning January 1, 
2020.
    \3\ The 2019 values reflect those in Indexing the Annual 
Operating Revenues of Railroads, EP 748 (STB served June 10, 2020).
    \4\ The 2020 and subsequent values are based on the thresholds 
established in Docket No. EP 763, and the deflator factor is 
referenced to the new base year of 2019. As the PPI industry data 
for line-haul railroads remained the same from 2019 to 2020, the 
annual deflator factor for 2020 was 1.0000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pedro Ramirez at (202) 245-0333. If 
you require an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 
please call (202) 245-0245.
    Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.



[[Page 45730]]


    Decided:

    By the Board, Kristen Monaco, Ph.D., Director, Office of 
Economics.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2024-11337 Filed 5-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P