[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 85 (Monday, May 5, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19067-19068]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-07751]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. FD 36790 (Sub-No. 1)]
Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Trackage Rights Exemption--CSX
Transportation, Inc.
By petition filed on September 30, 2024, Norfolk Southern Railway
Company (NSR) requests that the Board permit the trackage rights
granted to it under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7) in Docket No. FD 36790 to
expire under the terms agreed to by NSR and the grantor of the rights,
CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT).
As explained in NSR's verified notice of exemption in Docket No. FD
36790, CSXT has agreed to grant NSR trackage rights over an
approximately 95-mile CSXT rail line between Falls, Pa., at or near CP
River, CSXT milepost QA 2, and Baltimore, Md., including all necessary
trackage within CSXT's Bayview Yard, and between the western end of
CSXT's Bayview Yard (MP BAL 0.0 ) and a connection at MP
BAL 0.5 (the Lines). NSR Verified Notice of Exemption 3,
Norfolk S. Ry.--Trackage Rts. Exemption--CSX Transp., Inc., FD 36790.
NSR further stated that the new trackage rights arrangement is intended
to permit NSR to reroute traffic over the Lines while CSXT's Howard
Street Tunnel (HST) in Baltimore is closed for a project that includes
clearing the HST for double-stack rail passage. Id.
In its petition, NSR asks the Board to partially revoke the
exemption as necessary to permit the trackage rights to expire as
agreed to by the parties. (NSR Pet. 2.) NSR argues that granting this
petition would promote the rail transportation policy at 49 U.S.C.
10101, would be consistent with the limited scope of the transaction,
and would not have an adverse effect on shippers. (NSR Pet. 3-4.) In
addition, NSR asserts that the Board has granted similar petitions for
partial revocation to permit temporary trackage rights to expire. (NSR
Pet. 4.)
Discussion and Conclusions
Although NSR and CSXT have expressly agreed on the duration of the
proposed trackage rights, trackage rights approved under the class
exemption at 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7) typically remain effective
indefinitely, regardless of any contract provisions. At times, however,
the Board has taken action to allow such rights to expire after a
limited time rather than lasting in perpetuity, based on the parties'
agreement. See, e.g., BNSF Ry.--Trackage Rts. Exemption--Union Pac.
R.R., FD 36377 (Sub-No. 9) (STB served Oct. 8, 2024) (allowing trackage
rights under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7) to expire).
Permitting the trackage rights to expire as agreed to by the
parties would eliminate the need for NSR to separately seek
discontinuance authority at a later date, thereby minimizing the need
for federal regulatory control (49 U.S.C. 10101(2)), reducing
regulatory barriers to entry into and exit from the rail industry (49
U.S.C. 10101(7)), and allowing for the expeditious handling and
resolution of this transaction (49 U.S.C. 10101(15)). Moreover, doing
so would not result in an abuse of market power, as the termination
will be permitted to occur only upon resumption of NSR's service
through the HST, effectively undoing the temporary rerouting of NSR's
rail traffic as overhead on the Lines.\1\ Therefore, the Board will
grant the petition and permit the trackage rights exempted in Docket
No. FD 36790 to expire upon completion of the HST project, reopening of
the HST, and resumption of NSR's movement of rail traffic through the
HST. NSR will be directed to notify the Board within five days of the
resumption of its service through the HST following completion of the
project.
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\1\ Because the proposed transaction would not result in an
abuse of market power, the Board need not determine whether it is
limited in scope. See 49 U.S.C. 10502(a).
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To provide the statutorily mandated protection to any employee
adversely affected by the discontinuance of trackage rights, the Board
will impose the employee protective conditions set forth in Oregon
Short Line Railroad--Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch Between Firth &
Ammon, in Bingham & Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979).
This action is categorically excluded from environmental review
under 49 CFR 1105.6(c).
It is ordered:
[[Page 19068]]
1. NSR's petition to permit expiration of the trackage rights in
Docket No. FD 36790 per the agreement of the parties is granted.
2. As discussed above, the trackage rights in Docket No. FD 36790
are permitted to expire, subject to the employee protective conditions
set forth in Oregon Short Line, upon completion of the HST project,
reopening of the HST, and resumption of NSR's movement of rail traffic
through the HST.
3. Within five days of NSR's resumption of service through the HST
following completion of the project, NSR shall file with the Board a
notice to that effect.
4. Notice of this decision will be published in the Federal
Register.
5. This decision is effective on May 30, 2025. Petitions for stay
must be filed by May 12, 2025. Petitions for reconsideration must be
filed by May 20, 2025.
Decided: April 29, 2025.
By the Board, Board Members Fuchs, Hedlund, Primus, and Schultz.
Zantori Dickerson,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2025-07751 Filed 5-2-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P