Supporting Statement - Form CBS - 2021 extension (to ROCIS)

2140-0012
September 2021
SUPPORTING STATEMENT – QUARTERLY
CONDENSED BALANCE SHEET, FORM CBS

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 Board requires all Class I (large) railroads to file Quarterly Condensed Balance Sheet
(CBS) reports. 49 C.F.R. § 1243.2. This collection shows the balance, at the end of each
quarter, of the carrier’s assets and liabilities (for the current and prior year); the carrier’s gross
capital expenditures (on a quarterly and cumulative basis for the current and prior year); and the
carrier’s revenue tons carried (on a quarterly and cumulative basis for the current and prior year).
The Board is requesting an extension without modification of this information collection, which
will otherwise expire on November 30, 2021.
2. How the collection will be used. The Board uses the information in this report to
ensure competitive and efficient 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, as well as rail restructuring proposals, including railroad
mergers, consolidations, acquisitions of control, and abandonments. Information from the
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 Nation’s transportation system.
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 more than $900,000,000. The threshold value for Class I railroads is based on the new
thresholds established in Docket No. EP 763, which also provided for a deflator factor referenced
to the new base year of 2019.

6. Impact of less frequent collections. Without quarterly reporting for this collection, the
Board’s ability to fulfill its statutory responsibilities would be diminished.
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 June 28, 2021, providing a 60-day comment period regarding this collection.
86 Fed. Reg. 34,109. No comments were received. As also 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. This collection contains no
information of a sensitive nature.
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: Quarterly
(3) Annual hour burden per respondent: Based on information provided
by the railroad industry, we estimate a per-respondent-railroad burden of not more than
24 hours (6 hours per quarter). This collection, which is based on data compiled by
respondents to make internal business decisions, is available from the carriers’ records
and will not otherwise increase the accounting burden. The total annual burden hours for
all seven carriers are estimated at not more than 168 hours.
13. Other costs to respondents: No non-hour costs for operation, maintenance, or
purchase of services associated with this collection have been identified. Reports are
submitted to the agency electronically.
14. Estimated costs to the Board: We estimate that it takes ten hours (analyst)
annually to compile selected data from these reports and to review the compilations, and
an additional two hours (auditor) to post the results on the website (Class I Freight
Railroads, Selected Earnings Data).
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 and are posted on the Board’s website at
https://prod.stb.gov/reports-data/economic-data/.
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