[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55300-55301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14640]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36789]


Patriot Rail Company LLC, SteelRiver Transport Ventures LLC, 
Global Diversified Infrastructure Fund (North America) LP, First State 
Infrastructure Managers (International) Limited, and Mitsubishi UFJ 
Financial Group, Inc.--Continuance in Control Exemption--Front Range 
Railroad LLC

    Patriot Rail Company LLC, SteelRiver Transport Ventures LLC, Global 
Diversified Infrastructure Fund (North America) LP, First State 
Infrastructure Managers (International) Limited, and Mitsubishi UFJ 
Financial Group, Inc. (collectively, Applicants), all noncarriers, have 
filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) to 
continue in control of Front Range Railroad, LLC (FRRL), upon FRRL's 
becoming a Class III rail carrier.
    This transaction is related to a verified notice of exemption filed 
concurrently in Front Range Railroad--Operation Exemption--Line in 
Adams County, Colo., Docket No. FD 36789, in which FRRL seeks to 
operate as a rail carrier over approximately 0.51 miles (approximately 
2,700 feet) of track located in Bennett, Adams County, Colo.
    According to the verified notice, Applicants currently control 
existing Class III rail carriers (Patriot Short Lines) in 21 states.\1\
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    \1\ Although Applicants state that they currently control 31 
existing Class III rail carriers (Verified Notice 2 & n.2), they 
include 32 individual carriers in the list of carriers that they 
control (id. at 3-5).
    The verified notice lists the railroads and the location of 
their operations as follows: (1) Alabama & Florida Railway Co., Inc. 
d/b/a Ripley & New Albany Railroad Co.--Alabama and Mississippi; (2) 
Columbia & Cowlitz Railway, LLC--Washington; (3) Decatur Junction 
Railway Co. LLC--Illinois; (4) Delta Southern Railroad, Inc.--
Louisiana; (5) DeQueen and Eastern Railroad, LLC--Arkansas; (6) 
Elkhart & Western Railroad Co. LLC--Indiana; (7) Fort Smith Railroad 
Co. LLC--Arkansas; (8) The Garden City Western Railway LLC--Kansas; 
(9) Georgia Northeastern Railroad Company LLC--Georgia; (10) Georgia 
Southern Railway Co. LLC--Georgia; (11) Gettysburg & Northern 
Railroad Co. LLC--Pennsylvania; (12) Golden Triangle Railroad, LLC--
Mississippi; (13) Indiana Southwestern Railway Co. LLC--Indiana; 
(14) Kendallville Terminal Railway Co. LLC--Indiana; (15) Keokuk 
Junction Railway Co. LLC--Iowa and Illinois; (16) Keokuk Union Depot 
Company LLC (KUD)--Iowa; (17) Kingman Terminal Railroad, LLC--
Arizona; (18) Lakeshore Terminal Railroad LLC--Indiana; (19) 
Louisiana and North West Railroad Company, LLC--Arkansas and 
Louisiana; (20) Merced County Central Valley Railroad LLC--
California; (21) Michigan Southern Railroad Company (in Indiana and 
Ohio, d/b/a Napoleon Defiance and Western Railway)--Indiana, 
Michigan, and Ohio; (22) Mississippi Central Railroad Co. LLC--
Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama; (23) Pioneer Industrial Railway 
Co. LLC--Illinois; (24) Rarus Railway, LLC d/b/a Butte, Anaconda & 
Pacific Railway Co.--Montana; (25) Sacramento Valley Railroad, LLC--
California; (26) Salt Lake, Garfield and Western Railway Company--
Utah; (27) Temple & Central Texas Railway, LLC--Texas; (28) 
Tennessee Southern Railroad Company, LLC--Tennessee and Alabama; 
(29) Texas Oklahoma & Eastern Railroad, LLC--Oklahoma; (30) Utah 
Central Railway Company, LLC--Utah; (31) Vandalia Railroad Company--
Illinois; (32) West Belt Railway LLC--Missouri (collectively, 
Patriot Short Lines). Applicants state that it is unclear whether 
KUD is a rail carrier subject to the Board's jurisdiction and they 
have included KUD in this list out of an abundance of caution.
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    The verified notice indicates that: (1) the Line does not connect 
with any of the Patriot Short Lines; (2) Applicants do not intend to 
undertake any transactions to connect any of the Patriot Short Lines to 
each other or to the Line; and (3) the proposed transaction does not 
involve a Class I rail carrier. Therefore, the transaction is exempt 
from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49 CFR 
1180.2(d)(2).
    The transaction may be consummated on or after July 18, 2024, the 
effective

[[Page 55301]]

date of the exemption (30 days after the verified notice was filed).
    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. However, 49 U.S.C. 11326(c) 
does not provide for labor protection for transactions under 49 U.S.C. 
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 rail 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 to stay must be filed no later than July 11, 2024.
    All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36789, 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 
Applicants' representative, Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 
29 North Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606-3208.
    According to the verified notice, 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: June 28, 2024.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Eden Besera,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2024-14640 Filed 7-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P