Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 243 / Monday, December 20, 2004 / Notices 76029

1CSXT presently holds a 50% ownership interest 

in the rail line from Columbus to Newark (the C&N 

Subdivision). The balance of the ownership interest 

in this line is held by the State of Ohio, and both 

CUOH and CSXT currently hold operating rights 

over the C&N Subdivision. See Caprail I–

Acquisition Exemption—Consolidated Rail 

Corporation, Finance Docket No. 31961 (Sub-No. 1), 

Ohio Department of Transportation—Lease 

Exemption—Caprail I Lines in Ohio, Finance 

Docket No. 31961 (Sub-No. 2), and Columbus & 

Ohio River Railroad Company—Lease and 

Operation Exemption—Ohio Department of 

Transportation Lines, Finance Docket No. 31961 

(Sub-No. 3) (ICC served Jan. 15, 1992). CUOH states 

that, through this transaction, it will purchase 

CSXT’s 50% share in the Columbus to Newark line.

2The line to be leased consists of the Lake Erie 

Subdivision (Newark to Mt. Vernon) and the 

Central Ohio Subdivision (Newark to Cambridge).

3OSR and CUOH are subsidiaries of Summit 

View, Inc., a noncarrier holding company.

4Prior to this transaction, CUOH and the Ohio 

Central Railroad (OHCR) interchanged traffic at 

Morgan Run (Coshocton), OH. Following this 

transaction, CUOH and OHCR will exchange traffic 

at both Coshocton and Zanesville.

5Although the supplemental notice was 

submitted on October 22, 2004, the required filing 

fee of $1,400 was not received until October 28, 

2004, which therefore constitutes the actual filing 

date of the supplemental notice.

6On September 13, 2004, the Brotherhood of 

Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET) filed a 

protest asking the Board to reject CUOH’s notice 

and a notice filed in Indiana & Ohio Central 

Railroad, Inc.—Acquisition and Operation 

Exemption—CSX Transportation, Inc., STB Finance 

Docket No. 34536 (STB served Oct. 1, 2004), for 

another shortline carrier to operate through lease 

approximately 107 miles of CSXT’s rail line 

between NA Tower, OH, and Oakley, OH, and 

Oakley and Columbus, OH. On September 15, 2004, 

the United Transportation Union (UTU) filed a 

pleading titled as a petition to revoke, seeking relief 

identical to that sought by BLET. In their filings, 

BLET and UTU sought the same relief regarding 

CUOH’s notice filed here. 

On September 24, 2004, an amended petition to 

revoke was filed by UTU. By facsimile filed on 

September 30, 2004, UTU certified to the Board that 

it served a copy of its pleadings upon CUOH, and 

UTU filed another petition to revoke and sought 

discovery. On October 19 and 28, 2004, CUOH filed 

replies. On November 16, 2004, UTU filed a motion 

to compel. CUOH responded on December 6, 2004. 

Continued

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Ex Parte No. 558 (Sub–No. 8)] 

Railroad Cost of Capital—2004

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice of decision instituting a 

proceeding to determine the railroads’

2004 cost of capital. 

SUMMARY: The Board is instituting a 

proceeding to determine the railroad 

industry’s cost of capital for 2004. The 

decision solicits comments on: (1) The 

railroads’ 2004 current cost of debt 

capital; (2) the railroads’ 2004 current 

cost of preferred stock equity capital (if 

any); (3) the railroads’ 2004 cost of 

common stock equity capital; and (4) 

the 2004 capital structure mix of the 

railroad industry on a market value 

basis.

DATES: Notices of intent to participate 

are due no later than January 17, 2005. 

Statements of the railroads are due by 

March 28, 2005. Statements of other 

interested persons are due by April 25, 

2005. Rebuttal statements by the 

railroads are due by May 16, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Send an original and 10 

copies of statements and a copy of the 

statement on a 3.5 inch disk in 

WordPerfect 9.0, and an original and 1 

copy of the notice of intent to 

participate to: Surface Transportation 

Board, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, 

DC 20423–0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Leonard J. Blistein, (202) 565–1529. 

(Federal Information Relay Service 

(FIRS) for the hearing impaired: 1 (800) 

877–8339.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Board’s decision is posted on the 

Board’s Web site, http://

www.stb.dot.gov. In addition, copies of 

the decision may be purchased from 

ASAP Document Solutions by calling 

202–306–4004 (assistance for the 

hearing impaired is available through 

FIRS at 1–800–877–8339), or by e-mail 

at asapdc@verizon.net.

We preliminarily conclude that the 

proposed action will not significantly 

affect either the quality of the human 

environment or the conservation of 

energy resources.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 10704(a).

Decided: December 13, 2004.

By the Board, Chairman Nober, Vice 

Chairman Mulvey, Commissioner Buttrey. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–27630 Filed 12–17–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 34540] 

The Columbus & Ohio River Rail Road 

Company—Acquisition and Operation 

Exemption—Rail Lines of CSX 

Transportation, Inc. 

By notice of exemption published on 

October 20, 2004 (69 FR 61702–03) and 

served on October 21, 2004, the 

Columbus & Ohio River Rail Road 

Company (CUOH), a Class III rail 

carrier, was granted authority under 49 

CFR 1150.41 to acquire and operate, 

pursuant to an agreement with CSX 

Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), 

approximately 114 miles of rail line: (1) 

by purchase, between Columbus, OH, 

milepost BP 138.0, and Newark, OH, 

milepost BQ 0.0, totalling 

approximately 32.6 miles; 1 and (2) by 

lease, between Mt. Vernon, OH, 

milepost BQ 25.9, and Cambridge, OH, 

milepost BP 49.49, via Newark, milepost 

BQ 0.0, totalling approximately 81.4 

miles.2 The lines are located in 

Franklin, Licking, Muskingum, Knox, 

and Guernsey Counties, OH. CUOH 

states that following this transaction, 

CSXT will no longer operate trains on 

any of the above-described rail lines, 

and that CUOH will be the sole operator 

of the rail lines. The transaction also 

includes approximately 1.5 miles of 

incidental trackage rights assigned by 

CSXT to CUOH over a line of the Ohio 

Southern Railroad, Inc. (OSR) 3 between 

milepost 16.7 and milepost 18.2 in 

Zanesville, OH.4

On October 22, 2004,5 CUOH 

submitted a supplemental notice to 

increase the amount of rail lines it 

proposed to acquire from approximately 

114 miles to approximately 120.35 

miles, as follows: (1) By purchase, 

between Columbus, OH, milepost BP 

137.0, and Newark, OH, milepost BP 

100.6, and between milepost BBW 0.0 

and milepost BBW 1.8 in Newark, 

totalling approximately 38.2 miles; and 

(2) by lease, between Cambridge, OH, 

milepost BP 49.49 and Newark milepost 

BP 100.6, between Cambridge milepost 

BPB 0.0 and Byesville, OH, milepost 

5.14, and between Newark milepost BQ 

0.0 and Mt. Vernon, OH, milepost BQ 

25.9, totalling approximately 82.15 

miles. Accordingly, the notice of 

exemption in this proceeding is being 

republished to give notice of CUOH’s 

supplemental filing to include the 

additional 6.35 miles of rail line.

Because CUOH’s projected annual 

revenues will exceed $5 million, CUOH 

certified to the Board on August 30, 

2004, that it had complied with the 

requirements of 49 CFR 1150.42(e) 

providing for notice to employees and 

their labor unions on the affected lines. 

CUOH also certified that its projected 

revenues as a result of this transaction 

would not result in the creation of a 

Class II or Class I rail carrier. 

The transaction was scheduled to be 

consummated on or after October 29, 

2004, which was 60 days after CUOH’s 

certification to the Board that it had 

complied with the Board’s rule at 49 

CFR 1150.42(e). 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

may be filed at any time. The filing of 

a petition to revoke will not 

automatically stay the transaction.6