14058 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 46 / Thursday, March 8, 2012 / Notices 

1STSR states that Strauss Road has been designed 

but has not yet been constructed. 

1A copy of the trackage rights agreement was 

submitted with the notice of exemption. BNSF 

states that this agreement, dated August 1, 2000 

(First Supplemental Agreement), is a supplement to 

the Trackage Rights Agreement dated September 10, 

1998, between UP and BNSF, which was authorized 

by the Board in Burlington Northern & Santa Fe 

Railway Co.—Trackage Rights Exemption—Union 

Pacific Railroad Co., FD 33663 (STB served Oct. 19, 

1998). BNSF adds that, while the First 

Supplemental Agreement covers all former 

Southern Pacific Transportation Company branches 

connecting to the rail line between Dawes, Tex., 

and Avondale, La., in this proceeding BNSF seeks 

trackage rights authority only over the portion of 

the Lockport Branch between milepost 0.1 and 

milepost 14.2. 

2Specifically, UP seeks authority to abandon the 

portion of the Lockport Branch between milepost 

1.7 and milepost 14.2. 

connect with any of the railroads owned 

by CGX or Ironhorse; (2) the 

continuance in control is not part of a 

series of anticipated transactions that 

would connect the rail lines with any 

other railroads in their corporate family; 

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). 

The parties state that the purpose of 

the proposed transaction is the 

achievement of operating efficiency and 

economy. 

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 rail 

carriers. Accordingly, the Board may not 

impose labor protective conditions here, 

because all of the carriers involved are 

Class III carriers. 

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 March 15, 2012 (at 

least 7 days before the exemption 

becomes effective). 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 

35600, 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 Thomas F. McFarland, 208 

South LaSalle Street Suite 1890, 

Chicago, IL 60604–1112. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at 

www.stb.dot.gov. 

Decided: March 5, 2012. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5662 Filed 3–7–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. FD 35599] 

Santa Teresa Southern Railroad, LLC— 

Operation Exemption—Rail Line of 

Verde Logistics Railroad, LLC at Santa 

Teresa, Dona Ana County, NM 

Santa Teresa Southern Railroad, LLC 

(STSR), a noncarrier, has filed a verified 

notice of exemption under 49 CFR 

1150.31 to operate approximately 

12,000 feet of rail line owned by Verde 

Logistics Railroad, LLC (Verde). The rail 

line extends between a point of 

connection with Union Pacific Railroad 

Company (UP) at or near milepost 1280 

on UP’s Lordsburg Subdivision and 

terminus at Strauss Road 1 at or near 

Santa Teresa, Dona Ana County, N.M. 

STSR states that it has entered into an 

Operating Agreement with Verde for 

STSR to provide common carrier rail 

service to shippers and receivers located 

in the Santa Teresa Logistics Industrial 

Park. 

This transaction is related to a 

concurrently filed verified notice of 

exemption in Gregory B. Cundiff, et 

al.—Continuance in Control 

Exemption—Santa Teresa Southern 

Railroad, LLC, Docket No. FD 35600, 

wherein Mr. Gregory B. Cundiff and 

others seek Board approval to continue 

in control of STSR upon STSR’s 

becoming a Class III rail carrier. 

According to STSR, the transaction is 

expected to be consummated no sooner 

than 30 days after filing its notice with 

the Board. The earliest this transaction 

can be consummated is March 22, 2012, 

the effective date of the exemption (30 

days after the notice of exemption was 

filed). 

STSR certifies that its projected 

annual revenues as a result of this 

transaction will not exceed $5 million 

and will not result in its becoming a 

Class I or Class II rail carrier. 

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 March 15, 2012 (at 

least 7 days before the exemption 

becomes effective). 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 

35599, 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 Thomas F. McFarland, 208 

South LaSalle Street, Suite 1890, 

Chicago, IL 60604–1112. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at 

www.stb.dot.gov. 

Decided: March 5, 2012. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5660 Filed 3–7–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. FD 35601] 

BNSF Railway Company—Trackage 

Rights Exemption—Union Pacific 

Railroad Company 

Pursuant to a written trackage rights 

agreement, Union Pacific Railroad 

Company (UP) has agreed to grant 

trackage rights to BNSF Railway 

Company (BNSF) over a portion of a 

line of railroad known as the Lockport 

Branch, between milepost 0.1 at 

Raceland Junction and milepost 14.2 at 

Jay, a distance of 14.1 miles, in 

Lafourche Parish, La. (the Line).1

The earliest this transaction may be 

consummated is March 22, 2012, the 

effective date of the exemption (30 days 

after the notice was filed). 

BNSF states that it is seeking trackage 

rights authority to protect its interests in 

the Lockport Branch. In Docket No. AB 

33 (Sub-No. 277X), UP filed a verified 

notice of exemption to abandon most of 

the Lockport Branch over which BNSF 

now seeks trackage rights authority.2

BNSF has asserted, in that abandonment 

proceeding, that it has authority 

sanctioned by the Board to provide 

service on the Line. UP has contested 


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