Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 23, 2020 / Notices 84093 

1The petition for exemption notes that the Lease 

Decision listed the Line’s southern limit as milepost 

88.4, whereas the Asset Purchase Agreement 

governing the sale of the Line here lists it as 

milepost 88.41. WSOR states that this ‘‘minimal 

difference in mileposts—less than 53 feet—is 

believed to be a rounding error, and was not 

intended to signify a different point on the Line.’’ 

(Pet. for Exemption 1 n.1.) 

2WSOR states that its proposed transaction with 

Soo Line also includes the transfer of a portion of 

Soo Line’s Glendale Yard known as the ‘‘B’’ yard. 

(Pet. for Exemption 1.) The 2007 transaction also 

included the ‘‘B’’ yard. Lease Decision, FD 35012, 

slip op. at 1. 

3Because the Board concludes that regulation is 

not needed to protect shippers from the abuse of 

market power, it is unnecessary to determine 

whether the proposed transaction is limited in 

scope. See 49 U.S.C. 10502(a). 

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 effectiveness of 

the exemption. Petitions for stay must 

be filed no later than December 31, 2020 

(at least seven days before the 

exemption becomes effective). 

All pleadings, referring to Docket No. 

FD 36456, should be filed with the 

Surface Transportation Board via efiling on the Board’s website. In 

addition, a copy of each pleading must 

be served on DUSR’s representative, 

Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel 

LLC, 29 North Wacker Drive, Suite 800, 

Chicago, IL 60606–3208. 

According to DUSR, this action is 

categorically excluded from 

environmental review under 49 CFR 

1105.6(c) and from historic reporting 

requirements under 49 CFR 1105.8(b). 

Board decisions and notices are 

available at www.stb.gov. 

Decided: December 17, 2020. 

By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Director, 

Office of Proceedings. 

Kenyatta Clay, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28274 Filed 12–22–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. FD 36452] 

Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, 

L.L.C.—Acquisition and Operation 

Exemption—Soo Line Railroad 

Company 

On November 17, 2020, Wisconsin & 

Southern Railroad, L.L.C. (WSOR), a 

Class II rail carrier, filed a petition 

under 49 U.S.C. 10502 for an exemption 

from the prior approval requirements of 

49 U.S.C. 10902 to acquire and operate 

over approximately 4.79 miles of rail 

line owned by Soo Line Railroad 

Company (Soo Line). The rail line 

extends from milepost 93.20 (at 

Hampton Avenue) to milepost 88.41 

(south of State Street) in the City of 

Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wis. 

(the Line). WSOR concurrently filed a 

petition for waiver of the 60-day 

advance notice requirement of 49 CFR 

1121.4(h). For the reasons discussed 

below, the Board will grant the petition 

for exemption and the petition for 

waiver. 

Background 

In 2007, WSOR received Board 

authority to lease and operate over the 

Line. Wis. & S. R.R.—Lease & Operation 

Exemption—Soo Line R.R. (Lease 

Decision), FD 35012, slip op. at 1, 3 

(STB served July 17, 2007).1 According 

to WSOR, it has continued to lease, 

maintain, dispatch, and operate over the 

Line since 2007, but now seeks to 

purchase the Line from Soo Line.2 (Pet. 

for Exemption 1–2.) WSOR states that, 

through ownership of the Line, it ‘‘will 

be able to exercise more complete 

control over investment decisions, and 

will be better positioned to offer 

responsive and efficient rail service into 

the future.’’ (Id. at 3.) WSOR states that 

the parties hope to close on their 

transaction before the end of the year 

and asks the Board, at Soo Line’s 

request, for expedited consideration of 

its petition for exemption. (Id. at 2.) 

WSOR also petitions the Board for a 

waiver of the 60-day notice requirement 

under 49 CFR 1121.4(h). Unless waived, 

section 1121.4(h) would require WSOR, 

at least 60 days before the exemption 

becomes effective, to post a notice of its 

intent to undertake the proposed 

transaction setting forth certain 

information at the workplace of the 

employees on the affected lines, serve a 

copy of the notice on the national 

offices of the labor unions with 

employees on the affected lines, and 

certify to the Board that it has done so. 

WSOR argues that the notice 

requirement would serve no useful 

purpose under the circumstances, 

pointing out that no Soo Line employees 

have worked on the Line for more than 

13 years and that, because WSOR has 

operated the Line during that time, there 

is no new carrier. (Pet. for Waiver 3.) 

WSOR states that it ‘‘has no plans to 

modify its operation of the Line once its 

leasehold interest is converted to 

ownership,’’ and, therefore, no 

employees would be adversely affected 

by the proposed acquisition. (Id. at 2.) 

No opposition to either the petition 

for exemption or the petition for waiver 

has been filed. 

Discussion and Conclusions 

Exemption from 49 U.S.C. 10902. 

Under 49 U.S.C. 10902, the acquisition 

of a rail line by a Class II rail carrier 

requires the prior approval of the Board. 

Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(a), however, the 

Board must exempt a transaction or 

service from regulation when it finds 

that: (1) Regulation is not necessary to 

carry out the rail transportation policy 

(RTP) of 49 U.S.C. 10101; and (2) either 

(a) the transaction or service is of 

limited scope, or (b) regulation is not 

needed to protect shippers from the 

abuse of market power. 

In this case, an exemption from the 

prior approval requirements of section 

10902 is consistent with section 

10502(a). Detailed scrutiny of the 

proposed transaction under section 

10902 is not necessary to carry out the 

RTP. An exemption from the 

application process would minimize the 

need for federal regulatory control, 

reduce regulatory barriers to entry, and 

result in the expeditious handling of 

this proceeding. See 49 U.S.C. 10101(2), 

(7), (15). Other aspects of the RTP would 

not be adversely affected by use of the 

exemption process. 

Moreover, regulation of the proposed 

transaction under section 10902 is not 

needed to protect shippers from the 

abuse of market power.3 There would be 

no loss of rail competition and no 

adverse change in the competitive 

balance in the transportation market, as 

WSOR has been the carrier providing 

service over the Line since 2007. Nor 

would there be a change in the level of 

service to any shippers because ‘‘WSOR 

does not intend as a result of the 

proposed transaction to change 

materially its existing operations over 

the Line.’’ (Pet. for Exemption 3.) 

Waiver of 49 CFR 1121.4(h). As noted, 

WSOR has petitioned for waiver of the 

60-day notification requirement under 

49 CFR 1121.4(h). The purpose of that 

requirement is to ensure that rail labor 

unions and employees who would be 

affected by the transfer of a line are 

given sufficient notice of the transaction 

before consummation. The Board takes 

seriously the requirements of the 

regulation, but it does not appear that 

the purpose behind the notice 

requirement would be thwarted if the 

requested waiver is granted in this case. 

The record indicates that no railroad 

employees would be adversely affected 

by waiver of the requirement here. As 

WSOR explains, ‘‘[n]o Soo [Line] 

employees have worked on any portion 

of the Line in more than 13 years, and 

they (and the unions representing them) 

were advised of the transition to WSOR 

operation of the Line in connection with 

the Lease Decision transaction as of May 

24, 2007.’’ (Pet. for Waiver 3.) WSOR 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
84094 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 23, 2020 / Notices 

1A redacted version of the agreement was filed 

with the verified notice of exemption. Applicants 

simultaneously filed a motion for protective order 

under 49 CFR 1104.14(b). That motion will be 

addressed in a separate decision. 

2The verified notice lists the railroads as follows: 

(1) The Tennessee Southern Railroad Company, 

LLC; (2) Rarus Railway, LLC, d/b/a Butte, Anaconda 

& Pacific Railway Co.; (3) Utah Central Railway 

Company, LLC; (4) Sacramento Valley Railroad, 

LLC; (5) The Louisiana and North West Railroad 

Company LLC; (6) Temple & Central Texas Railway, 

LLC; (7) the Columbia & Cowlitz Railway, LLC; (8) 

the DeQueen and Eastern Railroad, LLC; (9) the 

Golden Triangle Railroad, LLC; (10) the Patriot 

Woods Railroad, LLC; (11) the Texas, Oklahoma & 

Eastern Railroad, LLC; (12) Georgia Northeastern 

Railroad Company, LLC; (13) the Kingman Terminal 

Railroad, LLC; and (14) West Belt Railway LLC 

(collectively, the Subsidiary Railroads). 

3The verified notice was initially submitted on 

November 17, 2020. Applicants filed supplements 

on November 18, December 1, and December 10, 

2020. December 10, 2020, therefore, is deemed the 

filing date of the verified notice. 

also states that ‘‘[n]o Soo [Line] 

employees will be displaced[,]’’ and that 

WSOR ‘‘will continue in [its] capacity’’ 

as the operator of the Line following the 

proposed transaction. (Id.) Because no 

employees would be adversely affected 

by the requested waiver of the 60-day 

notice period, the Board will grant the 

waiver. See, e.g., Wis. & S. R.R.— 

Acquis. & Operation Exemption—City of 

Fitchburg, Wis., FD 35838, slip op. at 4 

(STB served Nov. 18, 2014). 

Employee Protection. Under 49 U.S.C. 

10502(g), the Board may not use its 

exemption authority to relieve a carrier 

of its statutory obligation to protect the 

interests of its employees. Section 

10902(d) provides for labor protection 

in line acquisitions by Class II rail 

carriers. As a condition to this 

exemption, any employees affected by 

the acquisition will be protected as 

required by 49 U.S.C. 10902(d), subject 

to the standards and procedures 

established in Wisconsin Central Ltd.— 

Acquisition Exemption—Lines of Union 

Pacific Railroad, 2 S.T.B. 218 (1997), 

aff’d in relevant part sub nom. 

Association of American Railroads v. 

STB, 162 F.3d 101 (DC Cir. 1998). 

Environmental and Historic Review. 

Under 49 CFR 1105.6(c)(1), this action, 

which will not result in significant 

changes in carrier operations, is 

categorically excluded from 

environmental review. Similarly, under 

49 CFR 1105.8(b)(1), no historic report 

is required because the subject 

transaction is for continued rail service, 

WSOR has indicated no plans to alter 

railroad properties 50 years old or older, 

and any abandonment would be subject 

to Board jurisdiction. 

Effective Date. WSOR requests 

authority to acquire and operate the 

Line by December 28, 2020, so that the 

parties may close the transaction before 

the end of the year. The exemption will 

take effect on December 28, 2020, unless 

it is stayed. 

It is ordered: 

1. Under 49 U.S.C. 10502, the Board 

exempts from the prior approval 

requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10902 

WSOR’s acquisition of and operation 

over the Line, subject to the employee 

protective conditions implementing 49 

U.S.C. 10902(d) as provided in this 

decision. 

2. Notice of the exemption will be 

published in the Federal Register. 

3. WSOR’s request for a waiver of the 

advance notice requirement under 49 

CFR 1121.4(h) is granted. 

4. This exemption will become 

effective on December 28, 2020. 

5. Petitions to stay must be filed by 

December 22, 2020. Petitions to reopen 

must be filed by January 4, 2021. 

Decided: December 14, 2020. 

By the Board, Board Members Begeman, 

Fuchs, and Oberman. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28395 Filed 12–22–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. FD 36462] 

Patriot Rail Transportation Company, 

LLC, Patriot Rail Company LLC, SRTV 

Holdings LLC, SteelRiver Transport 

Ventures LLC, Global Diversified 

Infrastructure Fund (North America) 

LP, First State Infrastructure Managers 

(International) Limited, and Mitsubishi 

UFJ Financial Group, Inc.—Control 

Exemption—Salt Lake Garfield and 

Western Railway Company 

Patriot Rail Transportation Company, 

LLC (Patriot), Patriot Rail Company LLC 

(PRC), SRTV Holdings LLC, SteelRiver 

Transport Ventures LLC, Global 

Diversified Infrastructure Fund (North 

America) LP, First State Infrastructure 

Managers (International) Limited, and 

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. 

(collectively, Applicants), all 

noncarriers, have filed a verified notice 

of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) 

to acquire control of Salt Lake Garfield 

and Western Railway Company (SLGW), 

a Class III rail carrier operating in Utah. 

According to the verified notice, PRC, 

on behalf of its subsidiary, Patriot, has 

entered into a Purchase and Sale 

Agreement with SLGW, Caballero, 

L.L.C., and Caballero 2 LLC.1 Applicants 

state that Patriot will acquire a 100% 

controlling interest in SLGW. The 

verified notice states that Patriot 

currently controls 14 class III railroads.2

The verified notice indicates that: (1) 

SLGW will not connect with any of the 

Subsidiary Railroads; (2) the acquisition 

of control is not part of a series of 

anticipated transactions that would 

connect SLGW or any of the Subsidiary 

Railroads with each other; and (3) the 

proposed transaction does not involve a 

Class I carrier. Therefore, the transaction 

is exempt from the prior approval 

requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49 

CFR 1180.2(d)(2). 

The verified notice states that 

Applicants intend to control SLGW on 

or before December 15, 2020. However, 

the earliest this transaction may be 

consummated is January 9, 2021, the 

effective date of the exemption (30 days 

after the verified notice was filed).3

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. However, 49 U.S.C. 11326(c) 

does not provide for labor protection for 

transactions under 49 U.S.C. 11324 and 

11325 that involve only Class III rail 

carriers. Because this transaction 

involves Class III rail carriers only, the 

Board, under the statute, may not 

impose labor protective conditions for 

this transaction. 

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 effectiveness of 

the exemption. Petitions to stay must be 

filed no later than December 31, 2020 (at 

least seven days before the exemption 

becomes effective). 

All pleadings, referring to Docket No. 

FD 36462, should be filed with the 

Surface Transportation Board via efiling on the Board’s website. In 

addition, a copy of each pleading must 

be served on Applicants’ representative, 

Louis E. Gitomer, Law Offices of Louis 

E. Gitomer, LLC, 600 Baltimore Ave., 

Suite 301, Towson, MD 21204. 

According to the verified notice, this 

action is categorically excluded from 

environmental review under 49 CFR 

1105.6(c) and from historic preservation 

reporting requirements under 49 CFR 

1105.8(b). 

Board decisions and notices are 

available at www.stb.gov. 

Decided: December 17, 2020. 

By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Director, 

Office of Proceedings. 

Tammy Lowery, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28286 Filed 12–22–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES