10618 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 22, 2012 / Notices 

1Applicant states that Nicholas B. Temple and he 

each have a 50% ownership interest in CBRW and 

a 45% ownership interest in CWA. 

2See Nicholas B. Temple, Eric Temple, Columbia 

Basin R.R., Cent. Wash. R.R. and Portland 

Vancouver Junction R.R.—Corporate Family 

Transaction Exemption, FD 35210 (STB served Jan. 

16, 2009); and Nicholas B. Temple and Eric 

Temple—Control Exemption—Cent. Wash. R.R., FD 

34641 (STB served Jan. 21, 2005). 

1For convenience, in this decision we will refer 

to the arguments made by WCTL, and other 

supporting parties, largely within the context of 

WCTL’s pleadings. 

2 In its opening evidence filed on October 28, 

2011, WCTL states that it initially calculated the 

acquisition premium as $7.625 billion, but based on 

new information received from BNSF, WCTL has 

revised this figure to $8.1 billion. See WCTL 

Opening 2 n.1. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2012–3944 Filed 2–21–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. FD 35594] 

Eric Temple—Control Exemption— 

Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad, 

LLC 

Eric Temple (applicant), a noncarrier 

individual, has filed a verified notice of 

exemption to acquire direct control of 

Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad, 

LLC (PVJR), a wholly owned subsidiary 

of Columbia Basin Railroad Company, 

Inc. (CBRW), upon his acquiring 100% 

of the membership interest in PVJR. 

The transaction is expected to be 

consummated on or after March 7, 2012. 

Applicant and Nicholas B. Temple 

directly control CBRW and Central 

Washington Railroad Company (CWA), 

and they indirectly control PVJR.1

CBRW, CWA and PVJR are all Class III 

rail carriers that lease and operate rail 

lines between specified points within 

the State of Washington.2

Applicant states that: (1) PVJR does 

not connect with any rail lines of CBRW 

or CWA; (2) the transaction is not part 

of a series of anticipated transactions 

that would connect these rail lines with 

each other; and (3) the transaction does 

not involve a Class I rail carrier. 

Therefore, the transaction 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 §§ 11324 and 11325 

that involve only Class III rail carriers. 

Accordingly, the Board may not impose 

labor protective conditions here, 

because all of the carriers involved are 

Class III carriers. 

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 effectiveness of 

the exemption. Petitions for stay must 

be filed no later than February 29, 2012 

(at least 7 days before the exemption 

becomes effective). 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 

35594, 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 Rose-Michele Nardi., 

Weiner Brodsky Sidman Kider PC, 1300 

19th St. NW., Fifth Floor, Washington, 

DC 20036–1609. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at 

www.stb.dot.gov. 

Decided: February 13, 2012. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2012–3941 Filed 2–21–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. FD 33506] 

Western Coal Traffic League—Petition 

for Declaratory Order 

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, 

DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation 

Board (Board) instituted a declaratory 

order proceeding on September 28, 

2011, Western Coal Traffic League— 

Petition for Declaratory Order, FD 35506 

(STB served Sept. 28, 2011), and will 

hold a public hearing to explore the 

effect of the price that Berkshire 

Hathaway, Inc. (Berkshire) paid to 

acquire BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) 

in 2010 on the Board’s annual Uniform 

Rail Costing System (URCS) and 

revenue adequacy determinations, with 

respect to BNSF. 

DATES: The hearing will begin at 9:30 

a.m., on Thursday, March 22, 2012, in 

the Board’s hearing room at the Board’s 

headquarters located at 395 E Street 

SW., Washington, DC. The hearing will 

be open for public observation. Anyone 

wishing to participate at the hearing 

shall file with the Board a notice of 

intent to participate (identifying the 

party, the proposed speaker, and the 

time requested), and a summary of the 

intended testimony (not to exceed 3 

pages), no later than Tuesday, March 6, 

2012. All witnesses are encouraged to 

use their hearing time to call attention 

to the points they believe are 

particularly important. Witnesses 

should present a short oral statement of 

their comments and be prepared to 

answer questions from the Board. 

ADDRESSES: All filings may be submitted 

either via the Board’s e-filing format or 

in the traditional paper format. Any 

person using e-filing should attach a 

document and otherwise comply with 

the instructions at the ‘‘E-FILING’’ link 

on the Board’s www.stb.dot.gov Web 

site. Any person submitting a filing in 

the traditional paper format should send 

an original and 10 copies of the filing to: 

Surface Transportation Board, Attn: 

Docket No. FD 35506, 395 E Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20423–0001. 

Copies of written submissions will be 

posted to the Board’s Web site and will 

be available for viewing and selfcopying in the Board’s public docket 

room, Suite 131. Copies of the 

submissions will also be available (for a 

fee) by contacting the Board’s Chief 

Records Officer at (202) 245–0238 or 

395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 

20423–0001. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Valerie Quinn at (202) 245–0382. 

Assistance for the hearing impaired is 

available through the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 

(800) 877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In this 

proceeding, the Western Coal Traffic 

League (WCTL), and other parties,1

argue that the Class I Railroad Annual 

Report submitted by BNSF to the Board 

for the year ending December 31, 2010 

(2010 R–1), produces a write-up in 

BNSF’s net investment base for URCS 

costing purposes equal to $8.1 billion 2

and a decrease in BNSF’s 2010 annual 

depreciation calculations by $128 

million, both based on the $43 billion 

that Berkshire paid to acquire BNSF. 

WCTL also argues that the $8.1 billion 

write-up increases BNSF’s variable 

costs, and raises the quantitative 

jurisdictional threshold for rate 

reasonableness proceedings, thus 

decreasing the number of shippers that 

could pursue rate cases before the 

Board, as well as decreasing the 


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