2140-0023 Supporting Statement 2023 -- Statutory Licencing (to ROCIS)

2140-0023
October 2023
Expires: 11/30/23
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
FOR REQUEST OF OMB APPROVAL
UNDER THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT AND 5 C.F.R. § 1320
The Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) requests a three-year extension of
approval for the Board’s collections from those seeking statutory licensing authority (OMB
Control Number: 2140-0023).
A. Justification.
1. Why the collection is necessary. The Surface Transportation Board is, by statute,
responsible for the economic regulation of common carrier freight railroads and certain other
carriers operating in the United States. As mandated by Congress, parties seeking to construct,
acquire, or operate a line of railroad, and railroads seeking to abandon or to discontinue
operations over a line of railroad or, in the case of two or more railroads, to consolidate their
interests through merger or a common-control arrangement (together, rail authority), are required
to file an application for prior approval and authority with the Board. See 49 U.S.C. §§ 1090103; 11323-26.
In addition to the application process, Congress directed the Board to provide exemptions
from the application process whenever it finds that application of a statutory provision is
unnecessary to carry out transportation policy and either (1) the transportation is limited in scope
or (2) an application is not necessary to protect shippers. See 49 U.S.C. § 10502. Pursuant to its
exemption authority, the Board has minimized the burden on filers by issuing rules that allow
parties to file a notice of exemption or petition for exemption in lieu of an application.
As part of the process (and as previously approved under OMB Control No. 2140-0016),
a carrier or other party that acquires (through sale or lease) a rail line is required to submit a copy
of any agreement that contains a rail interchange commitment as well as other information about
the interchange commitment. See 49 C.F.R. §§ 1121.3(d), 1150.33(h), 1150.43(h), 1180.4(g)(4).
This allows the Board to monitor the use of rail interchange commitments in proposed
transactions.
The collection by the Board of these applications, petitions for exemption, notices of
exemption, and related information enables the Board to meet its statutory duty to regulate the
referenced rail transactions. See 49 U.S.C. § 1321.
The table below shows the statutory and regulatory provisions under which the Board
requires this collection.

Table – Statutory and Regulatory Provisions
Certificate Required
Statutory Provision
Regulations
Construct, Acquire, or
49 U.S.C. § 10901
49 C.F.R. pt. 1150
Operate Railroad Lines
Short Line purchases
49 U.S.C. § 10902
49 C.F.R. § 1150.41-45
by Class II and Class
III Rail Carriers
Abandonments and
49 U.S.C. § 10903
49 C.F.R. pt. 1152
Discontinuances
Railroad Acquisitions, 49 U.S.C. §§ 11323-26 49 C.F.R. pt. 1180
Trackage Rights, and
Leases
Rail Interchange
49 U.S.C. § 1321
49 C.F.R. § 1121.3(d)
Commitments
49 C.F.R. § 1150.33(h)
49 C.F.R. § 1150.43(h)
49 C.F.R. § 1180.4(g)(4)

2. How the collection will be used. When a party (usually a railroad or a party wishing
to become a railroad) seeks rail authority (a benefit) from the Board, it must file an application,
petition for exemption, or notice of exemption. The Board reviews each filing and decides
whether the requester has met the statutory and regulatory requirements to receive or obtain the
requested rail authority.
When an application or petition for exemption is filed, the Board will either grant or deny
the requested rail authority after significant analysis. When a notice of exemption is filed, as
discussed in section 5 below, the Board generally limits its review to whether the procedural
requirements of its regulations are met. The information the Board collects regarding
interchange commitments (which may limit the future interchange of traffic with third parties)
aids it in determining whether a proposed transaction is appropriate for the exemption process or,
on the other hand, whether it raises competitive issues and requires additional scrutiny.
3. Extent of automated information collection. These documents may be e-filed on the
Board’s website, located at www.stb.gov. The public may also access these filings on the
Board’s website.
4. Identification of duplication. The information requested does not duplicate any other
information available to the Board or the public. Each application, petition, notice, or agreement
is unique.
5. Effects on small business. This information collection does not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. While most of the estimated 80
respondents are small businesses, the exemptions available to small business filers require a
relatively limited amount of time and expense for drafting and filing. In many cases, parties may
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file a notice of exemption with the Board, and, if procedurally proper, the notice of the filing is
published in the Federal Register by the Board. Shortly after publication, the filer typically
obtains the requested authority automatically. Alternatively, parties may file a petition for
exemption. The petition for exemption allows for more scrutiny and opportunity for opposition
than a notice of exemption, but generally is less burdensome than the application process.
Today, the clear majority of parties seek rail authority through an exemption, and most
exemptions are sought through the notice-of-exemption process. Filers also may seek a waiver
of filing fees due to hardship.
6. Impact of less frequent collections. Under the statute, the Board is required to
regulate the transactions covered by this collection. Without this collection, the Board could not
fulfill its statutory responsibilities.
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 notice
providing a 60-day comment period regarding this collection. See 88 Fed. Reg. 52237 (Aug. 7,
2023). No comments were received. A 30-day notice was published concurrently with this
submission to Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 88 Fed. Reg. 71922 (Oct. 18, 2023).
9. Payments or gifts to respondents. The Board does not provide any payment or gift to
respondents.
10. Assurance of confidentiality. Although most of the information collected, as
described above, is available to the public, some of the information collected may be protected
and treated as confidential. At times, parties requesting authority under 49 U.S.C. §§ 10901-03
and 11323-26 may wish to file commercially sensitive information. To protect such information,
parties may mark documents or portions of documents as “confidential” or “highly confidential.”
See 49 C.F.R. § 1104.14. The Board limits access to confidential information to shippers or
other affected parties who demonstrate a need for the information and ensure that the documents
will be kept confidential. See 49 C.F.R. §§ 1121.3(d); 1150.33 (h); 1150.43(h); 1180.4(g)(4).
11. Justification for collection of sensitive information. No sensitive information of a
personal nature is requested.
12. Estimation of burden hours for respondents. 7,300 hours. The estimated annual
labor burden for potential respondents is based on information provided by the railroad industry
and its representatives (fewer than 10) and generally depends on the type of filing and the
transaction. As discussed above, a respondent may use an application, petition for exemption, or
notice of exemption to seek rail authority. The application traditionally has entailed the most
burden hours, the petition the next-most, and the notice of exemption – the least burdensome
way to seek rail authority – the fewest.
As provided in Table 1 – Annual Average Number of Responses for FY 2020-2022 below,
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respondents filed seven applications, 15 petitions for exemption, 88 notices of exemption, and
five interchange commitments annually based on an actual three-year average (FY 2020-2022) of
filings. When multiplied by the number of hours for each type of filing, as provided in Table 2 –
Estimated Number of Hours Per Response below, the estimated annual burden hours are 7,300
hours (sum of estimated hours per response X number of responses for each type of filing), as
shown in Table 3 – Total Estimated Annual Burden Hours.
Number of respondents: 85
Frequency: On occasion
Table 1 – Annual Average Number of Responses for FY 2020-2022
Average number of filings per year under
49 U.S.C. 10901-03 and 11323-26
7
15
88
5

Type of filing
Applications
Petitions*
Notices*
Interchange commitments

Table 2 – Estimated Hours per Response
Number of hours per response under
49 U.S.C. 10901-03 and 11323-26
575
75
25
10

Type of filing
Applications
Petitions*
Notices*
Interchange commitments

Table 3 – Total Estimated Annual Burden Hours
Total annual
burden hours
Applications
4,025
Petitions*
1,125
Notices*
2,200
Interchange commitments
50
Total annual burden hours
7,300
* Under section 10502, petitions for exemption and notices of exemption are permitted in lieu of
an application.
Type of filing

Hours per
response
575
75
25
10

Annual number of
filings
7
15
88
5

However, the actual hourly burden to respondents will depend on the facts and complexity of
each situation in which they seek rail authority.
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13. Other costs to respondents. Because Board collections are submitted electronically
to the Board, there is no cost for filing with the Board. However, for some filings, respondents
are sometimes required to send consultation letters to various other governmental agencies.
Copies of these letters are part of an environmental and historic report that must be filed with this
collection (unless waived by the Board). Because some of these other agencies may require hard
copy letters, there may be some limited mailing costs, which staff estimates in total to be
approximately $2,100.
14. Estimated costs to the Board. The estimated cost to the Board has recently been
reevaluated and increased. When a party (usually a railroad or a party wishing to become a
railroad) seeks rail authority (a benefit) from the Board, it must file an application, petition for
exemption, or notice of exemption. The Board has two groups of staff for review of applications,
petition for exemption, or notice of exemption.
a) MILSS staff are generally the first group of Board staff who review and process
applications, petition for exemption or notice of exemptions. They are at the GS-12 Step
04 grade. Table 1 provides the estimated hours and cost of MILSS staff.
Table 1 – Estimated Hours and Cost of STB MILSS Staff
Estimated Hours Number of
Type of Filing
of Review per
Reviewers
Complaint
Review and
Processing of
Application Filings
4
3
Review and
Processing of Petitions
2
3
for Exemption
Review and
Processing of Notices of
2
3
Exemption
Total Staff
Hours

Frequency of Total Staff
Reviews
Hours

7

84

15

90

88

528
702

Office of Proceedings staff are the next group who review the applications, petitions for
exemption and notice of exemptions. They are at the GS-14 Step 04 grade. Table 2 provides the
estimated hours and cost of OP staff.
Table 2 – Estimated Burden Hours & Cost of STB OP Staff
Type of Filing
Estimate Hours
Number of
Frequency of Total Staff
of Review per
Reviewers
Reviews
Hours
Complaint
5

Review of
Application filings

11

5

7

385

Review of
Petitions for Exemption

5

5

15

375

5

5

88

2,200

Review and
Processing of Notices of
Exemption
Total Staff

2,960

Hours
15. Changes in burden hours. This is an existing collection, which is being adjusted to
update the burdens and costs based on the actual number of recent filings, using a recent threeyear average. Based on the difference between the currently applicable three-year average
(2020-2022) and the previously used three-year average (using 2017-2019), the estimated
number of applications increased by four filings, petitions increased by three, notices decreased
by 15, and interchange commitments increased by one. Additionally, the estimated number of
burden hours increased for all types of filings with applications increasing by 51 hours, petitions
by 17, notices by six, and interchange commitments by two. As a result of the estimated
distribution and hourly burden changes, there is a net hourly burden increase of approximately
3,043 burden hours.
16. Plans for tabulation and publication. The information in this collection that is not
confidential will be posted on the Board’s website, located at www.stb.gov. However, as
discussed above, when these filings contain confidential information, only a public, redacted
version is published on the Board’s website.
17. Display of expiration date for OMB approval. The new expiration date for this
collection will be published in the Federal Register when the collection is approved by OMB.
18. Exceptions to Certification Statement. Not applicable.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.
Not applicable.

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