Disclosure of Rail Interchange Commitments

Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 172 / Thursday, September 5, 2013 / Rules and Regulations

ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES

On page 48003, in the first column,
before the heading ‘‘Intergovernmental
Review,’’ add a new heading, Waiver of
Delayed Effective Date under the
Congressional Review Act, and the
following three paragraphs:
These final priorities, requirements,
definitions, and selection criteria have
been determined to be a major rule for
purposes of the Congressional Review
Act (CRA) (5 U.S.C. 801, et seq.).
Generally, under the CRA, a major rule
takes effect 60 days after the date on
which the rule is published in the
Federal Register. Section 808(2) of the
CRA, however, provides that any rule
which an agency for good cause finds
(and incorporates the finding and a brief
statement of reasons therefore in the
rule issued) that notice and public
procedure thereon are impracticable,
unnecessary, or contrary to the public
interest, shall take effect at such time as
the Federal agency promulgating the
rule determines.
These final priorities, requirements,
definitions, and selection criteria are
needed to implement the Race to the
Top—District program and run the
competition in FY 2013. The
Department must make awards no later
than December 31, 2013, or the funds
will lapse. To ensure that we do so, the
Department established October 3, 2013,
as the deadline by which applicants
must submit their applications. This
will give applicants sufficient time to
submit high-quality applications (58
days), peers sufficient time to conduct a
thorough and rigorous review of
applications (approximately 45 days),
and the Department sufficient time to
make awards (approximately 40 days).
An effective date 60 days after
publication would fall after October 3,
and the priorities, requirements,
definitions, and selection criteria would
not be effective at the time applications
are due. Given the large number of
applications we expect, the need to
provide peers with sufficient time for
review, and the need to allow sufficient
time for the Department to make
awards, a later due date for applications
is not practicable. Accordingly, there is
good cause to waive the delayed
effective date under the Congressional
Review Act.
Dated: August 30, 2013.
Arne Duncan,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2013–21640 Filed 9–4–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

VerDate Mar<15>2010

14:09 Sep 04, 2013

Jkt 229001

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
49 CFR Parts 1121, 1150, and 1180
[Docket No. EP 714]

Information Required in Notices and
Petitions Containing Interchange
Commitments
AGENCY:

Surface Transportation Board,

DOT.
ACTION:

Final rules.

On November 1, 2012, the
Board issued a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPR) proposing rules that
would establish additional disclosure
requirements for notices and petitions
for exemption where the underlying
lease or line sale includes an
interchange commitment. Based on the
comments received and further
evaluation, the Board now adopts as
final the proposed rules, with
modifications that reduce the amount of
information required to be submitted.
The final rules are set forth below.
DATES: Effective date: These rules will
be effective on October 5, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Amy C. Ziehm at (202) 245–0391.
Assistance for the hearing impaired is
available through the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at
(800) 877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board
modifies its existing rules regarding
notices and petitions for acquisition
exemption in which an underlying sale
or lease agreement includes an
interchange commitment with the
addition of certain filing requirements.
Additional information is contained in
the Board’s decision served on
September 5, 2013. To obtain a copy of
this decision, visit the Board’s Web site
at http://www.stb.dot.gov. Copies of the
decision may also be purchased by
contacting the Board’s Office of Public
Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and
Compliance and (202) 245–0238.
SUMMARY:

Paperwork Reduction and Regulatory
Flexibility
In the NPR, published in the Federal
Register at 77 FR 66165 on November 2,
2012, the Board sought comments
pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501–3549, and
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) regulations at 5 CFR 1320.11,
regarding: (1) Whether the collection of
information as modified in the proposed
rule and further described in Appendix
B, is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the

PO 00000

Frm 00029

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

54589

Board, including whether the collection
has practical utility; (2) the accuracy of
the Board’s burden estimates; (3) ways
to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information collected; and
(4) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on the
respondents, including the use of
automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
when appropriate. We received
comments regarding the Board’s burden
estimates and have addressed them in
the full decision.
The proposed rule modifications were
submitted to OMB for review as
required under the PRA, 44 U.S.C.
3507(d), and 5 CFR 1320.11. No
substantive comments were received
from OMB. Unless renewed, OMB
approval for this collection expires
August 31, 2014. The OMB control
number is 2140–0016. The display of a
currently valid OMB control number for
this collection is required by law. Under
the PRA and 5 CFR 1320.11, an agency
may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, a
collection of information unless the
collection displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980
(RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601–612, generally
requires a description and analysis of
new rules that would have a significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Under
§ 605(b), an agency is not required to
perform an initial or final regulatory
flexibility analysis if it certifies that the
proposed or final rules will not have a
‘‘significant impact on a substantial
number of small entities.’’ In accordance
with § 605(b), we certify that the final
rules will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities.1 The basis for
this determination is as follows.
The regulations adopted here will
affect all railroads filing notices and
petitions for exemption for sales and
leases that contain interchange
commitments. The filing railroad (or
respondent) is typically a small rail
carrier. Between May 2008, when the
Board began requiring the disclosure of
interchange commitments in notices
and petitions for exemption, and the
date of this decision, a total of 12
notices or petitions for exemption for
1 The Small Business Administration’s (SBA)
Office of Size Standards develops the numerical
definition of a small business. See 13 CFR 121.201.
The SBA has established a size standard for rail
transportation, stating that a line-haul railroad is
considered small if its number of employees is
1,500 or less, and that a short line railroad is
considered small if its number of employees is 500
or less. Id. (industry subsector 482).

E:\FR\FM\05SER1.SGM

05SER1

54590

Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 172 / Thursday, September 5, 2013 / Rules and Regulations

leases that contain interchange
commitments were filed that would
have been affected by these regulations,
or 2.4 petitions per year. Nevertheless,
in an abundance of caution, the Board
estimates that a total of four small rail
carriers, out of a total of approximately
560 small Class II and III rail carriers,
will file such notices or petitions per
year, and thus will be affected by these
additional reporting requirements. We
further estimate that the additional time
required by each rail carrier respondent
to comply with these additional
reporting requirements is no more than
eight hours. Most of the information
sought by the Board under these final
rules is information that the filing
railroad would likely already have as a
result of due diligence it completed in
the course of its contract negotiations.
With respect to the requirement that the
filer provide an estimate of the
difference in the sale or lease price of
the transaction with and without the
interchange commitment, the Board
seeks a good faith estimate to fulfill this
requirement. If the filing railroad does
not have an estimate of the difference in
price as a result of contract negotiations,
it can request that information in
writing from the incumbent carrier and
submit to the Board the incumbent
carrier’s response with its initial notice
or petition. Therefore, the Board
certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that these
rules will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities within the
meaning of the RFA.
This action will not significantly
affect either the quality of the human
environment or the conservation of
energy resources.
List of Subjects
49 CFR Part 1121
Administrative practice and
procedure, Railroads.
49 CFR Part 1150
Administrative practice and
procedure, Railroads.

ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES

49 CFR Part 1180
Administrative practice and
procedure, Railroads, Reporting and
record keeping requirements.
Decided: August 29, 2013.
By the Board, Chairman Elliott, Vice
Chairman Begeman, and Commissioner
Mulvey. Vice Chairman Begeman dissented
with a separate expression.
Vice Chairman Begeman, dissenting:
I did not object to the Board’s Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking when it was issued last
November, because I believed the Board
could benefit from hearing the views of
interested parties on whether changes were

VerDate Mar<15>2010

14:09 Sep 04, 2013

Jkt 229001

needed to improve the Board’s existing rules
on interchange commitments. Unfortunately,
the record fails to convince me that these
new requirements offer meaningful
improvements over the Board’s existing
rules, nor, importantly, that the usefulness of
the additional information outweighs the
extra reporting burdens being imposed on
small businesses here. This is especially true
since it remains unclear how the Board will
even use the additional information, if at all.
Therefore, I dissent from the Board’s
decision.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.

For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, the Surface Transportation
Board amends parts 1121, 1150, and
1180 of title 49, chapter X, of the Code
of Federal Regulations as follows:
PART 1121—RAIL EXEMPTION
PROCEDURES
1. The authority citation for part 1121
continues to read as follows:

■

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 10502 and 10704.

2. Amend § 1121.3 by revising the
paragraph heading to paragraph (d),
paragraphs (d)(1) introductory text, and
(d)(1)(ii), and by adding paragraphs
(d)(1)(iii) through (viii) to read as
follows:

■

§ 1121.3

Content.

*

*
*
*
*
(d) Interchange Commitments. (1) The
filing party must certify whether or not
a proposed acquisition or operation of a
rail line involves a provision or
agreement that may limit future
interchange with a third-party
connecting carrier, whether by outright
prohibition, per-car penalty, adjustment
in the purchase price or rental, positive
economic inducement, or other means
(‘‘interchange commitment’’). If such a
provision exists, the following
additional information must be
provided (the information in paragraphs
(d)(1)(ii), (iv), (vii) of this section may be
filed with the Board under 49 CFR
1104.14(a) and will be kept confidential
without need for the filing of an
accompanying motion for a protective
order under 49 CFR 1104.14(b)):
*
*
*
*
*
(ii) A confidential, complete version
of the document(s) containing or
addressing that provision or agreement;
(iii) A list of shippers that currently
use or have used the line in question
within the last two years;
(iv) The aggregate number of carloads
those shippers specified in paragraph
(d)(1)(iii) of this section originated or
terminated (confidential);
(v) A certification that the filing party
has provided notice of the proposed

PO 00000

Frm 00030

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

transaction and interchange
commitment to the shippers identified
in paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of this section;
(vi) A list of third party railroads that
could physically interchange with the
line sought to be acquired or leased;
(vii) An estimate of the difference
between the sale or lease price with and
without the interchange commitment
(confidential);
(viii) A change in the case caption so
that the existence of an interchange
commitment is apparent from the case
title.
*
*
*
*
*
PART 1150—CERTIFICATE TO
CONSTRUCT, ACQUIRE, OR OPERATE
RAILROAD LINES
3. The authority citation for part 1150
continues to read as follows:

■

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 721(a), 10502, 10901,
and 10902.

4. Amend § 1150.33 by revising the
paragraph heading to paragraph (h),
paragraphs (h)(1) introductory text, and
(h)(1)(ii), and by adding paragraphs
(h)(1)(iii) through (viii) to read as
follows:

■

§ 1150.33 Information to be contained in
notice—transactions that involve creation
of Class III carriers.

(h) Interchange Commitments. (1) The
filing party must certify whether or not
a proposed acquisition or operation of a
rail line involves a provision or
agreement that may limit future
interchange with a third-party
connecting carrier, whether by outright
prohibition, per-car penalty, adjustment
in the purchase price or rental, positive
economic inducement, or other means
(‘‘interchange commitment’’). If such a
provision exists, the following
additional information must be
provided (the information in paragraphs
(h)(1)(ii), (iv), (vii) of this section may be
filed with the Board under 49 CFR
1104.14(a) and will be kept confidential
without need for the filing of an
accompanying motion for a protective
order under 49 CFR 1104.14(b)):
*
*
*
*
*
(ii) A confidential, complete version
of the document(s) containing or
addressing that provision or agreement;
(iii) A list of shippers that currently
use or have used the line in question
within the last two years;
(iv) The aggregate number of carloads
those shippers specified in paragraph
(h)(1)(iii) of this section originated or
terminated (confidential);
(v) A certification that the filing party
has provided notice of the proposed
transaction and interchange

E:\FR\FM\05SER1.SGM

05SER1

ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES

Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 172 / Thursday, September 5, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
commitment is apparent from the case
title.
*
*
*
*
*

commitment to the shippers identified
in paragraph (h)(1)(iii) of this section;
(vi) A list of third party railroads that
could physically interchange with the
line sought to be acquired or leased;
(vii) An estimate of the difference
between the sale or lease price with and
without the interchange commitment
(confidential);
(viii) A change in the case caption so
that the existence of an interchange
commitment is apparent from the case
title.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 5. Amend § 1150.43 by revising the
paragraph heading to paragraph (h),
paragraphs (h)(1) introductory text, and
(h)(1)(ii), and by adding paragraphs
(h)(1)(iii) through (viii) to read as
follows:

■

§ 1150.43 Information to be contained in
notice for small line acquisitions.

§ 1180.4

(h) Interchange Commitments. (1) The
filing party must certify whether or not
a proposed acquisition or operation of a
rail line involves a provision or
agreement that may limit future
interchange with a third-party
connecting carrier, whether by outright
prohibition, per-car penalty, adjustment
in the purchase price or rental, positive
economic inducement, or other means
(‘‘interchange commitment’’). If such a
provision exists, the following
additional information must be
provided (the information in paragraphs
(h)(1)(ii), (iv), (vii) of this section may be
filed with the Board under 49 CFR
1104.14(a) and will be kept confidential
without need for the filing of an
accompanying motion for a protective
order under 49 CFR 1104.14(b)):
*
*
*
*
*
(ii) A confidential, complete version
of the document(s) containing or
addressing that provision or agreement;
(iii) A list of shippers that currently
use or have used the line in question
within the last two years;
(iv) The aggregate number of carloads
those shippers specified in paragraph
(h)(1)(iii) of this section originated or
terminated (confidential);
(v) A certification that the filing party
has provided notice of the proposed
transaction and interchange
commitment to the shippers identified
in paragraph (h)(1)(iii) of this section;
(vi) A list of third party railroads that
could physically interchange with the
line sought to be acquired or leased;
(vii) An estimate of the difference
between the sale or lease price with and
without the interchange commitment
(confidential);
(viii) A change in the case caption so
that the existence of an interchange

VerDate Mar<15>2010

14:09 Sep 04, 2013

Jkt 229001

54591

commitment is apparent from the case
title.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2013–21548 Filed 9–4–13; 8:45 am]

PART 1180—RAILROAD ACQUISITION,
CONTROL, MERGER,
CONSOLIDATION PROJECT,
TRACKAGE RIGHTS, AND LEASE
PROCEDURES
6. The authority citation for part 1180
continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 553 and 559; 11 U.S.C.
1172; 49 U.S.C. 721, 10502, 11323–11325.

7. Amend § 1180.4 by revising the
paragraph heading to (g)(4) paragraphs
(g)(4)(i) introductory text, and
(g)(4)(i)(B), and by adding paragraphs
(g)(4)(i)(C) through (H) to read as
follows:

■

Procedures.

Frm 00031

Fmt 4700

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 121018563–3148–02]
RIN 0648–XC851

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Greenland Turbot in
the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Management Area
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; modification of
a closure.
AGENCY:

(g) * * *
(4) Transactions imposing
interchange commitments.
(i) If a proposed acquisition or
operation of a rail line involves a
provision or agreement that may limit
future interchange with a third-party
connecting carrier, whether by outright
prohibition, per-car penalty, adjustment
in the purchase price or rental, positive
economic inducement, or other means
(‘‘interchange commitment’’), the
following additional information must
be provided (the information in
paragraphs (g)(4)(i)(B), (D), (G) of this
section may be filed with the Board
under 49 CFR 1104.14(a) and will be
kept confidential without need for the
filing of an accompanying motion for a
protective order under 49 CFR
1104.14(b)):
*
*
*
*
*
(B) A confidential, complete version
of the document(s) containing or
addressing that provision or agreement;
(C) A list of shippers that currently
use or have used the line in question
within the last two years;
(D) The aggregate number of carloads
those shippers specified in paragraph
(g)(4)(i)(C) of this section originated or
terminated (confidential);
(E) A certification that the filing party
has provided notice of the proposed
transaction and interchange
commitment to the shippers identified
in paragraph (g)(4)(i)(C) of this section;
(F) A list of third party railroads that
could physically interchange with the
line sought to be acquired or leased;
(G) An estimate of the difference
between the sale or lease price with and
without the interchange commitment
(confidential);
(H) A change in the case caption so
that the existence of an interchange

PO 00000

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

Sfmt 4700

NMFS is opening directed
fishing for Greenland turbot in the
Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Management Area
(BSAI). This action is necessary to fully
use the 2013 initial total allowable catch
(ITAC) of Greenland turbot in the Bering
Sea subarea of the BSAI.
DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local
time (A.l.t.), September 1, 2013, through
2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2013.
Comments must be received at the
following address no later than 4:30
p.m., A.l.t., September 16, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this document, identified by 2012–
0210, by any of the following methods:
• Electronic Submission: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20120210, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
• Mail: Address written comments to
Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O.
Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668.
Instructions: Comments must be
submitted by one of the above methods
to ensure that the comments are
received, documented, and considered
by NMFS. Comments sent by any other
method, to any other address or
individual, or received after the end of
the comment period, may not be
considered. All comments received are
SUMMARY:

E:\FR\FM\05SER1.SGM

05SER1