Supporting Statement - Form STB-54 - 2018 extension (to ROCIS)

2140-0011

September 2018

SUPPORTING STATEMENT – FORM STB-54

ANNUAL REPORT OF CARS LOADED AND CARS TERMINATED)

A. Justification:

1. (a) Why the collection is necessary. The Surface Transportation Board (Board) has broad statutory authority to provide economic regulatory oversight of railroads, addressing such matters as rates; service; the construction, acquisition and abandonment of rail lines; carrier mergers; and interchange of traffic among carriers (49 U.S.C. §§ 10101-11908). Under 49 U.S.C. § 11145, the Board may require regulated carriers to submit financial and statistical data and reports that the Board needs to carry out its mission. The collection in Form STB-54, carrier annual reports of the number of cars loaded and cars terminated on the reporting carrier’s line, is required under 49 C.F.R. pt. 1247. Information reported in this form is entered into the Uniform Railroad Costing System (URCS), which is a cost-measurement methodology. The Board is requesting an extension without modification of this information collection, which will otherwise expire on October 31, 2018.

2. How the collection will be used. URCS, which was developed by the Board pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §§ 11161-62, is used in rail rate proceedings as a tool to calculate the variable costs of providing a particular rail service in accordance with 49 U.S.C. § 10707(d). The Board also uses URCS to analyze the information that it obtains through the annual railroad waybill sample, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §§ 1321, 10707, 11144-45 and 49 C.F.R. pt. 1244, and in railroad abandonment proceedings to measure off-branch costs (see 49 U.S.C. § 10904(a); 49 C.F.R. § 1152.32(n)). Additionally, many other federal agencies and industry groups depend on Form STB-54 for information regarding the number of cars loaded and terminated on the reporting carrier’s line.

3. Extent of automated information collection. The railroads submit this report electronically in Excel spreadsheet format.

4. Identification of duplication. The information requested does not duplicate any other information available to the Board or the public.

5. Effects on small business. No small entities will be affected by the collection of this information. This reporting requirement applies only to Class I railroads, which have operating revenues in excess of $250 million (1991 dollars) (adjusted for inflation using 2017 data, the revenue threshold for a Class I rail carrier is $463,860,933). The Board has adopted an indexing methodology that will ensure that regulated carriers are classified based on real business expansion, rather than the effects of inflation.

6. Impact of less frequent collections. The Board cannot fulfill its statutory responsibilities without annual information on the number of cars loaded and cars terminated on the reporting carrier’s line.

7. Special circumstances. No special circumstances apply to this collection.

8. Compliance with 5 C.F.R. § 1320.8. As required, the Board published a Federal Register notice on July 11, 2018, providing a 60-day comment period regarding this collection. 83 Fed. Reg. 32,180. No comments were received. As required, a Federal Register notice providing an additional 30-day comment period is being published simultaneously with this submission.

9. Payments or gifts to respondents. The Board does not provide any payment or gift to respondents.

10. Assurance of confidentiality. All information collected through this report is available to the public.

11. Justification for collection of sensitive information. There are no questions of a sensitive nature with respect to the information collected.

12. Estimation of burden hours for respondents. The following information pertains to the estimate of burden hours associated with this collection:

(1) Number of respondents: Seven

(2) Frequency of response: Each Class I carrier is required to file the annual STB-54 report.

(3) Annual hour burden per respondent and total annual hour burden for all respondents: Based on information provided by the railroad industry, it is estimated that it takes no more than four man-hours each time this report is prepared. The total annual burden hours for all seven respondents was estimated at no more than 28 hours (seven respondents x four hours each). This estimate includes the time needed to gather the information and edit, review, type, and proofread the data

13. Other costs to respondents: No non-hour costs for operation, maintenance, or purchase of services associated with this collection have been identified. This report is submitted to the agency electronically.

14. Estimated costs to the Board: We estimate that it takes one hour (analyst at $62.24 per hour, including benefits) to review each of the seven filings per year, two hours (GS 14/9 at $90.57 per hour, including benefits) to enter the data into URCS, and one hour (auditor at $90.57 per hour, including benefits) to post the reports on the website, resulting in a total annual cost of $333.95.

15. Changes in burden hours. No change in burden hours is requested. The Board is requesting an extension without modification.

16. Plans for tabulation and publication: These reports are submitted in the form of Excel spreadsheets. These annual carrier reports are posted on the Board’s website at http://www.stb.gov/stb/industry/econ_reports.html.

17. Display of expiration date for OMB approval. No exception is sought. The control number and expiration date for this collection appear on the form.

18. Exceptions to Certification Statement. Not applicable

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods: Not applicable