63602 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 230 / Monday, December 1, 1997 / Notices

1 In the verified notice of exemption, PERL states

that the total miles of rail line to be acquired and

operated totals approximately 44 route miles, but

other references in the notice, which identify the

mileposts and the route miles for each specific

segment of rail line, total approximately 45.24 route

miles.

2This proceeding is related to STB Finance

Docket No. 33511, wherein Emons Transportation

Group, Inc., a noncarrier, has filed a notice of

exemption to continue in control of PERL upon

PERL’s becoming a Class III rail carrier.

3See Blue Mountain and Reading Railroad

Company—Modified Rail Certificate, Finance

Docket No. 30305 (Sub-No. 1) (ICC served June 13,

1990).

than December 1, 1997, Marc C. Owen,

Advisory Board Liaison, Saint Lawrence

Seaway Development Corporation, 400

Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C.

20590; 202–366–6823.

Any member of the public may

present a written statement to the

Advisory Board at any time.

Issued at Washington, D.C. on November

24, 1997.

Marc C. Owen,

Advisory Board Liaison.

[FR Doc. 97–31354 Filed 11–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–61–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33511]

Emons Transportation Group, Inc.—

Continuance in Control Exemption—

Penn Eastern Rail Lines, Inc.

Emons Transportation Group, Inc.

(Emons), has filed a notice of exemption

to continue in control of Penn Eastern

Rail Lines, Inc. (PERL), upon PERL’s

becoming a Class III railroad. The

transaction was expected to be

consummated on or about November 20,

1997, the effective date of the

exemption.

This transaction is related to STB

Finance Docket No. 33512, Penn Eastern

Rail Lines, Inc.—Acquisition and

Operation Exemption—Lines of

Lancaster Northern Railway, Inc.,

Chester Valley Railway, Inc., East Penn

Railways, Inc., and Bristol Industrial

Terminal Railway, Inc., wherein PERL

seeks to acquire and operate certain rail

lines from Lancaster Northern Railway,

Inc., Chester Valley Railway, Inc., East

Penn Railways, Inc., and Bristol

Industrial Terminal Railway, Inc.

Emons controls through stock

ownership three other Class III rail

carriers: Maryland and Pennsylvania

Railroad Company, operating 26 miles

of rail line between York and Hanover,

PA; Yorkrail, Inc., operating

approximately 16 miles of rail line

between York and Porters Sideling, PA;

and, St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad

Company, operating between Portland,

ME, and the Canadian border at Norton,

VT.

Emons states that: (1) PERL will not

connect with any of the other railroads

in its corporate family; (2) the

continuance in control is not part of a

series of anticipated transactions that

would connect PERL with any other

railroad in its corporate family; and (3)

the transaction does not involve a Class

I railroad. The transaction therefore is

exempt from the prior approval

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

CFR 1180.2(d)(2).

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. Section 11326(c), however,

does not provide for labor protection for

transactions under sections 11324 and

11325 that involve only Class III

railroad carriers. Because this

transaction involves Class III rail

carriers only, the Board, under the

statute, may not impose labor protective

conditions for this transaction.

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.

An original and 10 copies of all

pleadings, referring to STB Finance

Docket No. 33511, must be filed with

the Surface Transportation Board, Office

of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925

K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of each

pleading mustbe served on: Kevin M.

Sheys, Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly,

1020 Nineteenth Street, N.W., Suite 400,

Washington, DC 20036.

Decided: November 21, 1997.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–31385 Filed 11–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33512]

Penn Eastern Rail Lines, Inc.;

Acquisition and Operation Exemption;

Lines of Lancaster Northern Railway,

Inc., Chester Valley Railway, Inc., East

Penn Railways, Inc., and Bristol

Industrial Terminal Railway, Inc.

Penn Eastern Rail Lines, Inc. (PERL),

a noncarrier, has filed a verified notice

of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to

acquire (by purchase of certain rail lines

and assignment of certain leases on

other rail lines) and operate

approximately 45.24 1 miles of rail lines

(the Subject Lines) of Lancaster

Northern Railway, Inc. (LANO), Chester

Valley Railway, Inc. (CVR), East Penn

Railways, Inc. (EPRY), and Bristol

Industrial Terminal Railway, Inc.

(Bristol). PERL will become a Class III

rail carrier.2

PERL, LANO, CVR, EPRY and Bristol

have entered into an agreement

providing for PERL’s acquisition of all

the rights, title and interests in the

Subject Lines. PERL intends to

consummate the purchase agreement

and begin operations on or soon after

November 20, 1997, the effective date of

the exemption.

CVR owns and operates the

Bridgeport Industrial Track, between the

connection with the Consolidated Rail

Corporation (Conrail) at approximately

milepost 0.0 and milepost 2.14 at

Henderson Road. This 2.14-mile rail

line is located entirely within

Bridgeport, Montgomery County, PA.

LANO owns and operates the Akron

Secondary Track, between

approximately milepost 0.05 at Sinking

Spring, Berks County, PA, and the end

of the track at Stevens, approximately

milepost 12.94, in Lancaster County,

PA.

EPRY operates four rail lines as

follows: (1) The Perkiomen Branch,

USRA Line No. 906, between milepost

22.38 at Pennsburg, PA, and milepost

38.23 at Emmaus Jct., Emmaus, PA, a

distance of 15.85 miles, in Berks,

Lehigh, and Montgomery Counties, PA;

(2) the Colebrookdale Industrial Track

(Boyertown Branch), USRA Line No.

909, between milepost 0.00 at

Colebrookdale Jct. (Pottstown), PA and

milepost 8.60 at Boyertown, PA, a

distance of 8.60 miles, in Berks and

Montgomery Counties, PA; (3) the

Kutztown Branch, USRA line No. 910,

between milepost 0.17 at Topton, PA,

and milepost 4.29 at Kutztown, PA, a

distance of 4.12 miles, in Berks County,

PA; and (4) the Mt. Hope Industrial

Branch, USRA Line No. 916, between

milepost 0.36 and milepost 1.0, a

distance of .64 miles, in Manheim,

Lancaster County, PA. The lines were

acquired by the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania in 1982 and were formerly

operated by Blue Mountain and Reading

Railroad Company.3 They connect with

Conrail at Emmaus, Pottstown, Topton

and Manheim, PA.

Bristol leases and operates

approximately 1 mile of rail line
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 230 / Monday, December 1, 1997 / Notices 63603

extending between a connection at

Grundy and a point within the Bristol

Industrial Park, in Bristol Township,

Bucks County, PA.

If the 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.

An original and 10 copies of all

pleadings, referring to STB Finance

Docket No. 33512, must be filed with

the Surface Transportation Board, Office

of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925

K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of each

pleading must be served on: Kevin M.

Sheys, Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly,

1020 Nineteenth Street, N.W., Suite 400,

Washington, DC 20036.

Decided: November 21, 1997.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–31384 Filed 11–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request for Notice 97–66

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS),

Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Department of the

Treasury, as part of its continuing effort

to reduce paperwork and respondent

burden, invites the general public and

other Federal agencies to take this

opportunity to comment on proposed

and/or continuing information

collections, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub.

L. 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

Currently, the IRS is soliciting

comments concerning Notice 97–66,

Certain Payments Made Pursuant to a

Securities Lending Transaction.

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before January 30, 1998

to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Garrick R. Shear, Internal Revenue

Service, room 5571, 1111 Constitution

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or

copies of the information collection

should be directed to Carol Savage,

(202) 622–3945, Internal Revenue

Service, room 5569, 1111 Constitution

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Certain Payments Made

Pursuant to a Securities Lending

Transaction.

OMB Number: 1545–1566.

Notice Number: Notice 97–66.

Abstract: Notice 97–66 modifies final

regulations which were effective

November 14, 1997. The Notice relaxes

the statement requirement with respect

to substitute interest payments relating

to securities loans and sale-repurchase

transactions. It also provides a

withholding mechanism to eliminate

excessive withholding on multiple

payments in a chain of substitute

dividend payments.

Current Actions: There are no changes

being made to the notice at this time.

Type of Review: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

377,500.

Estimated Time Per Respondent: 10

minutes.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 61,750.

The following paragraph applies to all

of the collections of information covered

by this notice:

An agency may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to

respond to, a collection of information

unless the collection of information

displays a valid OMB control number.

Books or records relating to a collection

of information must be retained as long

as their contents may become material

in the administration of any internal

revenue law. Generally, tax returns and

tax return information are confidential,

as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103.

Request for Comments: Comments

submitted in response to this notice will

be summarized and/or included in the

request for OMB approval. All

comments will become a matter of

public record. Comments are invited on:

(a) Whether the collection of

information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the

agency, including whether the

information shall have practical utility;

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate

of the burden of the collection of

information; (c) ways to enhance the

quality, utility, and clarity of the

information to be collected; (d) ways to

minimize the burden of the collection of

information on respondents, including

through the use of automated collection

techniques or other forms of information

technology; and (e) estimates of capital

or start-up costs and costs of operation,

maintenance, and purchase of services

to provide information.

Approved: November 18, 1997.

Garrick R. Shear,

IRS Reports Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–31402 Filed 11–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS

Summary of Precedent Opinions of the

General Counsel

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans

Affairs (VA) is publishing a summary of

legal interpretations issued by the

Department’s General Counsel involving

veterans’ benefits under laws

administered by VA. These

interpretations are considered

precedential by VA and will be followed

by VA officials and employees in future

claim matters. The summary is

published to provide the public, and, in

particular, veterans’ benefit claimants

and their representatives, with notice of

VA’s interpretations regarding the legal

matter at issue.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jane L. Lehman, Chief, Law Library,

Department of Veterans Affairs, 810

Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC

20420, (202) 273–6558.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA

regulations at 38 CFR 2.6(e)(9) and

14.507 authorize the Department’s

General Counsel to issue written legal

opinions having precedential effect in

adjudications and appeals involving

veterans’ benefits under laws

administered by VA. The General

Counsel’s interpretations on legal

matters, contained in such opinions, are

conclusive as to all VA officials and

employees not only in the matter at

issue but also in future adjudications

and appeals, in the absence of a change

in controlling statute or regulation or a

superseding written legal opinion of the

General Counsel.

VA publishes summaries of such

opinions in order to provide the public

with notice of those interpretations of

the General Counsel that must be

followed in future benefit matters and to

assist veterans’ benefit claimants and

their representatives in the prosecution

of benefit claims. The full text of such

opinions, with personal identifiers

deleted, may be obtained by contacting

the VA official named above.