30-day FRN

Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 189 / Friday, September 28, 2018 / Notices
An original and 10 copies of all
pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD
36217, must be filed with the Surface
Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW,
Washington, DC 20423–0001. In
addition, a copy of each pleading must
be served on SPVR’s counsel, Thomas F.
McFarland, Thomas F. McFarland, P.C.,
208 South LaSalle Street, Suite 1666,
Chicago, IL 60604–1228.
According to SPVR, no environmental
or historic documentation or report is
required pursuant to 49 CFR 1105.6(c)
and 1105.8(b).
Board decisions and notices are
available on our website at www.stb.gov.
Decided: September 25, 2018.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018–21181 Filed 9–27–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
30-Day Notice of Intent To Seek
Extension of Approval of Collections:
Rail Carrier Financial Reports
Surface Transportation Board.
Notice and request for
comments.

AGENCY:
ACTION:

As part of its continuing effort
to reduce paperwork burdens, and as
required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA), the Surface
Transportation Board (Board) gives
notice of its intent to request from the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approval without change of the
six existing collections described below.
The Board previously published a
notice about this collection in the
Federal Register (July 11, 2018). That
notice allowed for a 60-day public
review and comment period. No
comments were received.
DATES: Comments on these information
collections should be submitted by
October 29, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should
be identified as ‘‘Paperwork Reduction
Act Comments, Surface Transportation
Board: Rail Carrier Financial Reports.’’
These comments should be directed to
the Office of Management and Budget,
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Attention: Michael McManus,
Surface Transportation Board Desk
Officer: By email at oira_submission@
omb.eop.gov; by fax at (202) 395–1743;
or by mail to Room 10235, 725 17th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.
Please also direct comments to Chris
Oehrle, PRA Officer, Surface

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SUMMARY:

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Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW,
Washington, DC 20423–0001, or to pra@
stb.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
further information regarding these
collections, contact Pedro Ramirez at
(202) 245–0333 or pedro.ramirez@
stb.gov. Assistance for the hearing
impaired is available through the
Federal Information Relay Service
(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments
are requested concerning each
collection as to (1) whether the
particular collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the 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. Submitted comments will
be included and/or summarized in the
Board’s request for OMB approval.
Subjects: In this notice, the Board is
requesting comments on the following
information collections:
Description of Collection 1
Title: Quarterly Report of Revenues,
Expenses, and Income—Railroads (Form
RE&I).
OMB Control Number: 2140–0013.
Form Number: Form RE&I.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time per Response: Six
hours.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 168 hours
annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: None identified. Filings are
submitted electronically to the Board.
Needs and Uses: This collection is a
report of railroad operating revenues,
operating expenses and income items. It
is also a profit and loss statement,
disclosing net railway operating income
on a quarterly and year-to-date basis for
current and prior years. See 49 CFR
1243.1. The Board uses the information
in this report to ensure competitive,
efficient, and safe transportation
through general oversight programs that
monitor and forecast the financial and
operating condition of railroads, and
through regulation of railroad rate and
service issues and rail restructuring
proposals, including railroad mergers,

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consolidations, acquisitions of control,
and abandonments. Information from
these reports is used by the Board, other
federal agencies, and industry groups to
monitor and assess industry growth and
operations, detect changes in carrier
financial stability, and identify trends
that may affect the national
transportation system. Some of the
information from these reports is
compiled by the Board in our quarterly
Selected Earnings Data Report, which is
published on the Board’s website,
https://www.stb.gov/stb/industry/econ_
reports.html. The information contained
in these reports is not available from
any other source.
Description of Collection 2
Title: Quarterly Condensed Balance
Sheet—Railroads (Form CBS).
OMB Control Number: 2140–0014.
Form Number: Form CBS.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time per Response: Six
hours.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 168 hours
annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: None identified. Filings are
submitted electronically to the Board.
Needs and Uses: This collection
shows the balance, quarterly and
cumulative, for the current and prior
year of the carrier’s assets and liabilities,
gross capital expenditures, and revenue
tons carried. See 49 CFR 1243.2. The
Board uses the information in this
report to ensure competitive, efficient,
and safe transportation through general
oversight programs that monitor and
forecast the financial and operating
condition of railroads, and through
specific regulation of railroad rate and
service issues and rail restructuring
proposals, including railroad mergers,
consolidations, acquisitions of control,
and abandonments. Information from
these reports is used by the Board, other
federal agencies, and industry groups to
assess industry growth and operations,
detect changes in carrier financial
stability, and identify trends that may
affect the national transportation
system. Revenue ton-miles, which are
reported in these reports, are compiled
and published by the Board in its
quarterly Selected Earnings Data Report,
which is published on the Board’s
website, https://www.stb.gov/stb/
industry/econ_reports.html. The
information contained in these reports
is not available from any other source.

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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 189 / Friday, September 28, 2018 / Notices

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Description of Collection 3
Title: Report of Railroad Employees,
Service and Compensation (Wage Forms
A and B).
OMB Control Number: 2140–0004.
Form Number: Wage Form A; and
Wage Form B.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time per Response: No
more than 3 hours per quarterly report
and 4 hours per annual summation.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly,
with an annual summation.
Total Annual Hour Burden: No more
than 112 hours annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: None identified. Filings are
submitted electronically to the Board.
Needs and Uses: This collection
shows the number of employees, service
hours, and compensation, by employee
group (e.g., executive, professional,
maintenance-of-way and equipment,
and transportation), of the reporting
railroads. See 49 CFR pt. 1245. The
information is used by the Board to
forecast labor costs and measure the
efficiency of the reporting railroads. The
information is also used by the Board to
evaluate proposed regulated
transactions that may impact rail
employees, including mergers and
consolidations, acquisitions of control,
purchases, and abandonments. Other
federal agencies and industry groups,
including the Railroad Retirement Board
(RRB), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS),
and Association of American Railroads
(AAR), use the information contained in
the reports to monitor railroad
operations. Certain information from
these reports is compiled and published
on the Board’s website, https://
www.stb.gov/stb/industry/econ_
reports.html. The information contained
in these reports is not available from
any other source.
Description of Collection 4
Title: Monthly Report of Number of
Employees of Class I Railroads (Wage
Form C).
OMB Control Number: 2140–0007.
Form Number: STB Form C.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time per Response: 1.25
hours.
Frequency of Response: Monthly.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 105 hours
annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: None identified. Filings are
submitted electronically to the Board.

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Needs and Uses: This collection
shows, for each reporting carrier, the
average number of employees at midmonth in the six job-classification
groups that encompass all railroad
employees. See 49 CFR pt. 1246. The
information is used by the Board to
forecast labor costs and measure the
efficiency of the reporting railroads. The
information is also used by the Board to
evaluate the impact on rail employees of
proposed regulated transactions,
including mergers and consolidations,
acquisitions of control, purchases, and
abandonments. Other federal agencies
and industry groups, including the RRB,
BLS, and AAR, use the information
contained in these reports to monitor
railroad operations. Certain information
from these reports is compiled and
published on the Board’s website,
https://www.stb.gov/stb/industry/econ_
reports.html. The information contained
in these reports is not available from
any other source.
Description of Collection 5
Title: Annual Report of Cars Loaded
and Cars Terminated.
OMB Control Number: 2140–0011.
Form Number: Form STB–54.
Type of Review: Extension with
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time per Response: Four
hours.
Frequency of Response: Annual.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 28 hours
annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: None identified. Filings are
submitted electronically to the Board.
Needs and Uses: This collection
reports the number of cars loaded and
cars terminated on the reporting
carrier’s line. See 49 CFR pt. 1247.
Information in this report is entered into
the Board’s Uniform Rail Costing
System (URCS), which is a cost
measurement methodology. URCS,
which was developed by the Board
pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 11161, is used as
a tool in rail rate proceedings, in
accordance with 49 U.S.C. 10707(d), to
calculate the variable costs associated
with providing a particular service. The
Board also uses URCS to carry out more
effectively other of its regulatory
responsibilities, including: Acting on
railroad requests for authority to engage
in Board-regulated financial
transactions such as mergers,
acquisitions of control, and
consolidations, see 49 U.S.C. 11323–
11324; analyzing the information that
the Board obtains through the annual
railroad industry waybill sample, see 49
CFR pt. 1244; measuring off-branch

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costs in railroad abandonment
proceedings, in accordance with 49 CFR
1152.32(n); developing the ‘‘rail cost
adjustment factors,’’ in accordance with
49 U.S.C. 10708; and conducting
investigations and rulemakings. This
collection is compiled and published on
the Board’s website, https://
www.stb.gov/stb/industry/econ_
reports.html. There is no other source
for the information contained in this
report.
Description of Collection 6
Title: Quarterly Report of Freight
Commodity Statistics (Form QCS).
OMB Control Number: 2140–0001.
Form Number: Form QCS.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time per Response: One
hour.1
Frequency of Response: Quarterly,
with an annual summation.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 35 hours
annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: None identified. Filings are
submitted electronically to the Board.
Needs and Uses: This collection,
which is based on information
contained in carload waybills used by
railroads in the ordinary course of
business, reports car loadings and total
revenues by commodity code for each
commodity that moved on the railroad
during the reporting period. See 49 CFR
pt. 1248. Information in this report is
entered into the Board’s URCS, the uses
of which are explained under Collection
Number 5. This collection is compiled
and published on the Board’s website,
https://www.stb.gov/stb/industry/econ_
reports.html. There is no other source
for the information contained in this
report.
Under the PRA, a federal agency that
conducts or sponsors a collection of
information must display a currently
valid OMB control number. A collection
of information, which is defined in 44
U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c),
includes agency requirements that
persons submit reports, keep records, or
provide information to the agency, third
parties, or the public. Section 3507(b) of
the PRA requires, concurrent with an
agency’s submitting a collection to OMB
for approval, a 30-day notice and
comment period through publication in
the Federal Register concerning each
proposed collection of information.
1 The 60-day notice indicated that the estimated
time per report was 0.25 hours, but staff has
adjusted its estimate to one hour. Therefore, the
total burden hours are adjusted from 8.75 hours
annually to 35 hours in this notice.

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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 189 / Friday, September 28, 2018 / Notices
Dated: September 25, 2018.
Jeff Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018–21138 Filed 9–27–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. FD 36218; Docket No. FD
36219]

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Gregory B. Cundiff, Connie Cundiff,
CGX, Inc. and Ironhorse Resources,
Inc.—Continuance in Control
Exemption—San Pedro Valley
Holdings, LLC in Cochise County,
Ariz.; Gregory B. Cundiff, Connie
Cundiff, CGX, Inc. and Ironhorse
Resources, Inc.—Continuance in
Control Exemption—San Pedro Valley
Railroad, LLC in Cochise County, Ariz.
In Docket No. FD 36218, Gregory B.
Cundiff, Connie Cundiff, CGX, Inc.
(CGX), and Ironhorse Resources, Inc.
(IHR),1 (collectively, applicants) filed a
verified notice of exemption under 49
CFR 1180.2(d)(2) for CGX to continue in
control of San Pedro Valley Holdings,
LLC (SPVH), upon SPVH’s becoming a
Class III rail carrier.
This transaction is related to a
concurrently filed verified notice of
exemption in San Pedro Valley
Holdings, LLC—Acquisition
Exemption—San Pedro & Southwestern
Railroad in Cochise County, Ariz.,
Docket No. FD 36216. In that
proceeding, SPVH seeks an exemption
under 49 CFR 1150.31 to acquire two
rail lines owned by the San Pedro and
Southwestern Railroad Company: (1)
From point of connection to Union
Pacific Railroad (UP) at milepost
1033.25 at or near Benson, to milepost
1040.15 at or near St. David, a distance
of 6.9 miles in Cochise County, Ariz.;
and (2) from point of connection to UP
at milepost 1074 at or near Wilcox, to
all tracks at Wilcox Yard, a total of 8,281
feet or 1.57 miles, in Cochise County
(collectively, the Lines). The Lines total
approximately 8.47 miles.
In Docket No. FD 36219, applicants
filed a verified notice of exemption
under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) for IHR to
continue in control of San Pedro Valley
Railroad, LLC (SPVR), upon SPVR’s
becoming a Class III rail carrier. This
transaction is related to a concurrently
filed verified notice of exemption in San
Pedro Valley Railroad—Operator
Exemption—San Pedro Valley Holdings,
LLC in Cochise County, Ariz., Docket
1 CGX, a noncarrier holding company, owns
IHR—also a noncarrier holding company. CGX is
owned in equal parts by the Gregory B. Cundiff
Trust and the Connie Cundiff Trust, both of which
are noncarrier individual trusts.

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No. FD 36217, in which SPVR seeks an
exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to
assume operations over the Lines.
According to applicants, CGX will
continue in control of SPVH upon
SPVH’s becoming a Class III rail carrier
and will remain in control of the
following Class III carriers: Crystal City
Railroad, Inc; Lone Star Railroad, Inc.;
Rio Valley Railroad, Inc.; and
Mississippi Tennessee Holdings, Inc.
Applicants state that IHR will continue
in control of SPVR upon SPVR’s
becoming a Class III rail carrier and will
remain in control of the following Class
III carriers: Texas Railroad Switching,
Inc.; Rio Valley Switching Company;
Mississippi Tennessee Railroad, LLC;
Southern Switching Company;
Gardendale Railroad, Inc.; Caney Fork &
Western Railroad; and Santa Teresa
Southern Railroad.
The earliest these transactions may be
consummated is October 17, 2018, the
effective date of the exemptions (30
days after the verified notices were
filed).2 CGX and IHR state that they
intend to consummate the transactions
no sooner than 30 days after the filing
of the notices of exemption.
Applicants state that: (1) The
properties to be acquired by SPVH and
operated by SPVR, and the properties of
the rail carriers controlled by CGX and
IHR do not connect with each other; (2)
the proposed continuances in control
are not part of a series of anticipated
transactions that would connect the
carriers with each other or any railroad
in their corporate families; and (3) the
transactions do not involve a Class l rail
carrier. Therefore, the transactions are
exempt from the prior approval
requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49
CFR 1180.2(d)(2).
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. Section 11326(c), however,
does not provide for labor protection for
transactions under Sections 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 carriers.
If the notices contain false or
misleading information, the exemptions
are void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the
exemptions under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)
may be filed at any time. The filing of
2 The verified notices of exemption in Docket
Nos. FD 36218 and FD 36219 originally were filed
on August 30, 2018, but were supplemented on
September 17, 2018, to clarify the common control
of the entities involved in the transactions.
Therefore, September 17 is deemed the verified
notices’ filing date.

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a petition to revoke will not
automatically stay the effectiveness of
the exemptions. Petitions for stay must
be filed no later than October 10, 2018
(at least seven days before the
exemptions become effective).
An original and 10 copies of all
pleadings, referring to Docket Nos. FD
36218 and FD 36219, must be filed with
the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E
Street SW, Washington, DC 20423–0001.
In addition, a copy of each pleading
must be served on the applicants’
counsel, Thomas F. McFarland, Thomas
F. McFarland, P.C., 208 South LaSalle
Street, Suite 1666, Chicago, IL 60604–
1228.
According to applicants, these actions
are categorically excluded from
environmental review under 49 CFR
1105.6(c) and from historic reporting
under 49 CFR 1105.8(b).
Board decisions and notices are
available on our website at www.stb.gov.
Decided: September 25, 2018.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018–21184 Filed 9–27–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 1261]

New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation—Adverse
Abandonment—Saratoga and North
Creek Railway in Town of Johnsburg,
NY
On September 10, 2018, the New York
State Department of Environmental
Conservation (the Department) filed an
application under 49 U.S.C. 10903
requesting that the Surface
Transportation Board (the Board)
authorize the third-party, or adverse,
abandonment of Saratoga and North
Creek Railway (SNCR) over
approximately 29.71 miles of rail line
extending between milepost NC 0.0 at
North Creek, NY, and its terminus at
milepost NC 29.71 near the former
Tahawus Mine (Tahawus Line or the
Line). The Line traverses United States
Postal Service Zip Codes 12842, 12843,
12851, 12852, 12853, and 12857.
According to the Department, the Line
was built by the United States during
the Second World War to facilitate the
transportation of strategic materials
from a former mine owned and operated
by NL Industries. In 2012, SNCR
obtained Board authority to operate over
the Tahawus Line, which it had
purchased from NL Industries the year

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