[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13039-13040]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04839]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36486 (Sub-No. 2)]


Grainbelt Corporation--Trackage Rights Exemption--BNSF Railway 
Company

    Grainbelt Corporation (GNBC), a Class III rail carrier, has filed a 
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7) \1\ to extend 
the term of the previously amended, local trackage rights on trackage 
owned by BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) between approximately milepost 
668.73 in Long, Okla., and approximately milepost 723.30 in Quanah, 
Tex. (the Line), allowing GNBC to (1) use the Line to access the Plains 
Cotton Cooperative Association (PCCA) facility near BNSF Chickasha 
Subdivision milepost 688.6 at Altus, Okla., and (2) operate additional 
trains on the Line to accommodate the movement of trains transporting 
BNSF customers' railcars (loaded or empty) located along the Line, to 
unit train facilities on the Line (collectively, the PCCA Trackage 
Rights).\2\ GNBC and BNSF have entered into an amendment to extend the 
PCCA Trackage Rights \3\ until March 28, 2023.\4\
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    \1\ The pleadings in this docket were originally filed in Docket 
No. FD 36580, but given that the trackage rights at issue are the 
same as those in Docket No. FD 36486, this proceeding has been 
changed to a subdocket of that original proceeding.
    \2\ GNBC states that it originally acquired overhead trackage 
rights granted by BNSF's predecessor between Snyder Yard at milepost 
664.00 and Quanah at milepost 723.30 allowing GNBC to interchange at 
Quanah with BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad Company. According to 
GNBC, these original trackage rights were supplemented in 2009 to 
allow GNBC to operate between Snyder, Okla., and Altus, with the 
right to perform limited local service at Long, Okla. See Grainbelt 
Corp.--Trackage Rts. Exemption--BNSF Ry. & Stillwater Cent. R.R., FD 
35332 (STB served Dec. 17, 2009). The trackage rights were further 
amended in 2013 to allow GNBC to provide local grain service to a 
shuttle facility in Headrick, Okla., and again in 2014 to allow GNBC 
to provide local service to a grain shuttle facility in Eldorado, 
Okla. See Grainbelt Corp.--Trackage Rts. Exemption--BNSF Ry., FD 
35719 (STB served Mar. 15, 2013); Grainbelt Corp.--Trackage Rts. 
Exemption--BNSF Ry., FD 35831 (STB served June 12, 2014). Finally, 
in 2021, BNSF and GNBC amended the trackage rights again to include 
the PCCA Trackage Rights. See Grainbelt Corp.--Trackage Rts. 
Exemption--BNSF Ry., FD 36486 (STB served Mar. 12, 2021). 
Subsequently, in Docket No. FD 36486 (Sub-No. 1), the Board granted 
GNBC a petition for partial revocation of the trackage rights 
exemption to allow them to expire on March 28, 2022. See Grainbelt 
Corp.--Trackage Rts. Exemption--BNSF Ry., FD 36486 (Sub-No. 1) (STB 
served Apr. 20, 2021). GNBC now seeks to extend the term of the PCCA 
Trackage Rights for an additional year, to March 28, 2023.
    \3\ On February 23,2022, GNBC filed a letter to clarify that the 
trackage rights at issue in this proceeding are the PCCA Trackage 
Rights.
    \4\ GNBC states that its verified notice is related to a 
petition for partial revocation filed in Docket No. FD 36580 (Sub-
No. 1), in which GNBC seeks authority to allow the trackage rights 
at issue here to expire automatically twelve months after the 
effective date of this exemption. GNBC's petition for partial 
revocation will be addressed in a separate decision, redocketed in 
Docket No. FD 36486 (Sub-No. 3).
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    The transaction may be consummated on or after March 22, 2022, the 
effective date of the exemption.
    As a condition to this exemption, any employees affected by the 
acquisition of the trackage rights will be protected by the conditions 
imposed in Norfolk & Western Railway--Trackage Rights--Burlington 
Northern, Inc., 354 I.C.C. 605 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast 
Railway--Lease & Operate--California Western Railroad, 360 I.C.C. 653 
(1980).
    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 March 15, 2022 (at least 
seven days before the exemption becomes effective).
    All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36486 (Sub-No. 2), should 
be filed with the Surface Transportation Board

[[Page 13040]]

via e-filing on the Board's website. In addition, a copy of each 
pleading must be served on GNBC's representative, Eric M. Hocky, Clark 
Hill PLC, Two Commerce Square, 2001 Market Street, Suite 2620, 
Philadelphia, PA 19103.
    According to GNBC, 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: March 2, 2022.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Aretha Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-04839 Filed 3-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P