supporting statement - Form REI - 2021 extension (to ROCIS)

2140-0013
September 2021

SUPPORTING STATEMENT - QUARTERLY REVENUE,
EXPENSE AND INCOME REPORT, RE&I

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. Class I (large) railroads are
required to file Quarterly Report Revenues, Expenses, and Income (RE&I), pursuant to authority
under 49 U.S.C. §§ 11145 and 11162-64 and the Board’s regulations at 49 C.F.R. § 1243.1. The
Quarterly RE&I Report discloses net railway operating income on a quarterly and year-to-date
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 the RE&I report
to ensure competitive and efficient 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,
consolidations, acquisitions of control, and abandonments. Information from this report may be
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. Timely individual carrier information, as well as the
accumulation of meaningful data from the seven Class I railroads, is needed in the Board’s
decision-making process.
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 $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: Each Class I carrier is required to file the RE&I
report quarterly.
(3) Annual hour burden per respondent: Based on information provided by the
railroad industry, we estimate a per-respondent-railroad burden of no more than 24 hours (six
hours per quarter). 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. This report is
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 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 compiled and published 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