[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 116 (Friday, June 14, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50661-50662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13159]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36767]


Grupo M[eacute]xico, S.A.B. de C.V.--Acquisition of Control 
Exemption--Copper Basin Railway, Inc.

    Grupo M[eacute]xico, S.A.B. de C.V. (GM), a noncarrier holding 
company, has filed a verified notice of exemption pursuant to 49 CFR 
1180.2(d)(2) for after-the-fact authority to acquire control of Copper 
Basin Railway, Inc. (CBRY), a Class III rail carrier that owns and 
operates a rail line in Arizona.\1\ According to a supplemental filing 
by GM, CBRY's line consists of a 54.6-mile main line between Magma 
Junction, at milepost 948.9, and Winkleman, at milepost 1003.5; a four-
mile branch line from Ray Junction, at milepost 987.8, to Ray; and a 
two-mile branch line from Hayden

[[Page 50662]]

Junction, at milepost 1000.2, to Hayden Smelter.
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    \1\ By decision served April 4, 2024, in another proceeding, the 
Board directed GM[eacute]xico Transportes, S.A.B. de C.V. (GMXT), a 
subsidiary of GM and the applicant in that proceeding, to clarify 
the status of CBRY given the apparent absence of authorization for 
GM to acquire common control of more than one rail carrier when it 
acquired CBRY. See GM[eacute]xico Transportes, S.A.B. de C.V.--
Acquis. of Control Exemption--CG Ry., FD 36701, slip op. at 3 (STB 
served Apr. 4, 2024). The April 2024 decision in Docket No. FD 36701 
noted that a filing by GMXT and GM in a 2017 exemption proceeding 
identified CBRY as a Class III carrier controlled by GM, and that GM 
had been expected at that time to promptly seek authorization for 
common control if such authority were required. Id. (citing Grupo 
M[eacute]xico, S.A.B. de C.V.--Control Exemption--Fla. E. Coast 
Holdings Corp., FD 36109, slip op. at 1 n.2 (STB served May 9, 
2017)).
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    The verified notice states that, through an indirect, wholly owned 
subsidiary named ASARCO LLC (ASARCO), GM acquired a 100% ownership 
interest in CBRY in 2006.\2\ According to the verified notice, at the 
time of the transaction GM also controlled (through its subsidiary 
GMXT) Texas Pacifico Transportation, Ltd. (Pacifico), a Class III rail 
carrier operating in the State of Texas. Thereafter, in 2017, GM 
acquired control of Florida East Coast Railway, LLC (FECR), a Class II 
rail carrier that owns and operates approximately 351 miles of main 
line track, as well as additional branch, switching, and other 
secondary track, along the east coast of Florida. See Grupo 
M[eacute]xico, S.A.B. de C.V.--Control Exemption--Fla. E. Coast 
Holdings Corp., FD 36109 (STB served May 9, 2017). The verified notice 
certifies that GM and its subsidiaries have not entered into any 
agreement with respect to the transaction that includes a provision 
that may limit future interchange with a third-party connecting 
carrier.
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    \2\ According to the verified notice, prior to that transaction, 
ASARCO held a 45% interest in CBRY, with the remaining 55% held by 
Rail Partners II, LLC, a now-defunct Florida limited liability 
corporation.
    Public and confidential versions of the agreement under which GM 
acquired full ownership of CBRY were filed with the verified notice. 
The confidential version was submitted under seal concurrently with 
a motion for protective order, which was granted by a decision 
served on May 13, 2024.
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    GM represents that none of the railroads in the GM corporate family 
connect with each other; that no further transactions are planned that 
would create a connection between any GM railroads; and that no GM-
controlled railroad is a Class I carrier. GM further states that for 
the same reasons, GM's acquisition of control of CBRY qualified for an 
exemption at the time of the transaction and has remained qualified at 
every point in time since then. The transaction is therefore exempt 
from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323 pursuant to 49 
CFR 1180.2(d)(2).
    The earliest this exemption may become effective is June 28, 2024 
(30 days after the verified notice was filed).\3\
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    \3\ Because GM supplemented its verified notice of exemption on 
May 29, 2024, that date is deemed the filing date of the verified 
notice.
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    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. In addition to two Class III 
rail carriers (CBRY and Pacifico), this after-the-fact notice of a 
continuance-in-control exemption involves a Class II rail carrier, 
FECR. Accordingly, the transaction is subject to the labor protection 
requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11326(b) and Wisconsin Central Ltd.--
Acquisition Exemption--Lines of Union Pacific Railroad, 2 S.T.B. 218 
(1997).
    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 June 21, 2024 
(at least seven days before the exemption becomes effective).
    All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36767, 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 
GM's representative, Charles A. Spitulnik, Kaplan, Kirsch & Rockwell, 
LLP, 1634 I (Eye) Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006.
    According to GM, 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: June 11, 2024.

    By the Board, Mai T. Dinh, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Regena Smith-Bernard,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2024-13159 Filed 6-13-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P