Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 179 / Thursday, September 16, 2010 / Notices 56653 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Suspension of Preparation of 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the George Bush Intercontinental 

Airport, Houston, TX 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice suspending preparation 

of the Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) for the George Bush 

Intercontinental Airport (IAH). 

SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice 

to advise federal, state, and local 

government agencies and the public that 

the FAA has suspended preparation of 

the EIS for the proposed airport 

improvements at IAH. The Houston 

Airport System (HAS), the sponsor of 

the proposed project, has advised the 

FAA that significant changes in the 

aviation industry and at IAH warrant 

suspension of the on-going EIS in order 

to reevaluate development needs for the 

airport. HAS has determined that 

reevaluation of the Airport Master Plan 

(AMP) assumptions will provide the 

most current and reliable information 

on which to base decisions regarding 

future proposals for airport 

development. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

DOT/FAA, Southwest Region, Mr. Paul 

Blackford, ASW–650, 2601 Meacham 

Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76137, (817) 

222–5607, or e-mail at 

paul.blackford@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 

9, 2009, the FAA issued a Notice of 

Intent in the Federal Register (74 FR 

16255–16256) to prepare an EIS for 

proposed airfield improvements at IAH. 

The purpose of these proposed 

improvements is to increase airfield 

capacity and to reduce projected delays. 

Based on the results of the AMP, the 

airfield improvements being analyzed in 

the EIS included the proposed 

construction of additional runway(s) at 

IAH. Preparation of the EIS was 

undertaken by the FAA in accordance 

with the National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969, as amended. 

The FAA received a letter from HAS 

dated July 30, 2010 requesting that 

preparation of the EIS be delayed. Based 

on its letter, HAS believes that 

additional planning work is necessary to 

ensure that the assumptions used in the 

AMP remain valid. The letter points to 

the impacts of the potential UnitedContinental merger, the economic 

downturn, potential changes to aircraft 

fleet mix, and the need to update the 

existing terminal concept as reasons 

justifying their request to conduct 

additional planning. The FAA will issue 

another Federal Register notice when it 

determines that preparation of the EIS 

should resume. 

Issued in Fort Worth, TX on September 3, 

2010. 

D. Cameron Bryan, 

Acting Manager, Airports Division. 

[FR Doc. 2010–22869 Filed 9–15–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. FD 35412] 

Middletown & New Jersey Railroad, 

LLC—Lease and Operation 

Exemption–Norfolk Southern Railway 

Company 

Under 49 CFR 1011.7(b)(10), the 

Director of the Office of Proceedings 

(Director) is delegated the authority to 

determine whether to issue notices of 

exemption for lease transactions under 

49 U.S.C. 10902. However, the Board 

reserves to itself the consideration and 

disposition of all matters involving 

issues of general transportation 

importance. 49 CFR 1011.2(a)(6). 

Accordingly, the Board revokes the 

delegation to the Director with respect 

to the issuance of this notice of 

exemption. The Board determines that 

this notice of lease and operation 

exemption should be issued, and does 

so here. 

Middletown & New Jersey Railroad, 

LLC (M&NJ), a Class III rail carrier, has 

filed a verified notice of exemption 

under 49 CFR 1150.41 to lease certain 

rail lines from Norfolk Southern 

Railway Company (NSR). In conjunction 

with the lease of the NSR rail lines, 

M&NJ states that it will also sublease 

connecting track owned by New York, 

Susquehanna & Western Railway 

(NYS&W) and receive incidental 

trackage rights. Pursuant to the Lease 

Agreement and other agreements, M&NJ 

will lease the following rail lines from 

NSR: (1) The Hudson Secondary located 

between mileposts LX 2.1 and LX 20.6 

(18.5 miles in length); (2) the Walden 

Secondary located between mileposts 

DJ5.0–DJ 10.5 and WI 29.1–WI 32.9 (9.3 

miles in length); (3) the Maybrook 

Industrial Track located between 

mileposts RT 1.3 and RT 7.5 (6.2 miles 

in length); (4) the Greycourt Industrial 

Track located between mileposts IL 52.5 

and IL 53.4 (1.0 mile in length); and (5) 

the EL Connection Track located 

between mileposts QK 0.0 and QK 0.8 

(0.8 mile in length). In conjunction with 

the lease of these lines, NSR is: (1) 

Granting M&NJ incidental overhead 

trackage rights over NSR’s rail line 

located between mileposts JS 67.50 and 

63.14 (4.36 miles in length); (2) 

subleasing to M&NJ NSR’s lease 

operations over the connecting track 

owned by the NYS&W located between 

milepost JS 63.14, at Hudson Jct., NY, 

and milepost LX 2.1, at Hudson Jct. 

(approximately .35-miles in length); and 

(3) partially assigning to M&NJ all of 

NSR’s rights under the NYS&W 

Trackage Rights Agreement for 

NYS&W’s continued trackage rights 

operations over the Hudson Secondary 

track between Hudson Jct. and Warwick, 

NY. The Lease Agreement will expire on 

December 31, 2020. As required at 49 

CFR 1150.43(h), M&NJ has disclosed 

that the Lease Agreement contains a 

provision that would provide for a 

‘‘Lease Credit’’ whereby M&NJ may 

reduce its annual lease payments by 

receiving a credit for each car 

interchanged with NSR. M&NJ notes 

that NSR initially proposed a fixed 

rental payment with no option to reduce 

the rent, but M&NJ insisted on a lease 

credit option to provide an opportunity 

for M&NJ to earn a lower rental payment 

so it would be able to invest in 

improvements on the lease lines to 

increase traffic levels. According to 

M&NJ, the affected interchange point is 

Campbell Hall, NY. 

M&NJ certifies that the projected 

annual revenues as a result of the 

proposed transaction will not result in 

M&NJ becoming a Class II or Class I rail 

carrier, and that its projected annual 

revenues will not exceed $5 million. 

M&NJ states that it expects to 

consummate the transaction on or 

shortly after October 1, 2010, which is 

subsequent to the effective date of the 

exemption (30 days after the exemption 

was filed). 

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. 

Petitions for stay must be filed not later 

than September 23, 2010 (at least 7 days 

before the exemption becomes 

effective). 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 

35412, must be filed with the Surface 

Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20423–0001. In 

addition, a copy of each pleading must 

be served on Karl Morell, Ball Janik 

LLP, 1455 F Street, NW., Suite 225, 

Washington, DC 20005. 

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