[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14941-14942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05527]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36593]


OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund, Jaguar Transport Holdings, LLC, 
and Jaguar Rail Holdings, LLC--Continuance in Control Exemption--
Charlotte Western Railroad, LLC

    OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund (OPTrust), Jaguar Transport Holdings, 
LLC (JTH), and Jaguar Rail Holdings, LLC (JRH, and collectively with 
OPTrust and JTH, Jaguar), all noncarriers, have filed a verified notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) to continue in control of 
Charlotte Western Railroad, LLC (CWRR), a noncarrier, upon CWRR's 
becoming a Class III rail carrier.
    This transaction is related to a concurrently filed verified notice 
of exemption in Charlotte Western Railroad, LLC--Change in Operator 
Exemption--Line in Gaston County,

[[Page 14942]]

N.C., Docket No. FD 36592. In that proceeding, CWRR has filed a 
verified notice of exemption pursuant to 49 CFR 1150.31 to assume 
operation of approximately 13.04 miles of rail line currently operated 
by Piedmont and Northern Railroad LLC (PNRW) and owned by the North 
Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), extending from milepost 
SFC 11.39 at Mt. Holly to milepost SFC 23.0 at Gastonia, including the 
Belmont Spur extending from milepost SFF 0.13/SFC 13.6 at Mt. Holly to 
milepost SFF 1.56 at or near Belmont (collectively, the Line), all in 
Gaston County, N.C. CWRR will assume an existing lease of the Line, to 
be assigned to CWRR by PNRW with NCDOT's consent.
    Jaguar states that it will continue in control of CWRR upon CWRR's 
becoming a railroad common carrier. According to the verified notice, 
OPTrust indirectly controls JTH, which directly controls JRH. JTH 
currently controls, indirectly: Four Class III railroads directly 
controlled by JRH--Southwestern Railroad, Inc., Texas & Eastern 
Railroad, LLC, Wyoming and Colorado Railroad, Inc., (WYCO) (which also 
does business under the name Oregon Eastern Railroad), and Missouri 
Eastern Railroad, LLC; two Class III railroads indirectly controlled by 
JRH through WYCO--Cimarron Valley Railroad, L.C., and Washington 
Eastern Railroad, LLC; and one Class III railroad indirectly controlled 
by JTH through its subsidiary Jaguar Transport, LLC--West Memphis Base 
Railroad, L.L.C. The lines of the rail carriers controlled by JTH and 
JRH are located in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, 
Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.
    Jaguar states that: (1) The Line does not connect with any other 
rail lines operated by carriers controlled by Jaguar, and none of those 
rail lines connect with each other; (2) the continuance in control 
transaction is not part of a series of anticipated transactions that 
would connect the Line with any railroad lines controlled by Jaguar or 
that would connect any of those rail lines with each other; and (3) the 
transaction does not involve a Class I rail carrier. Therefore, the 
proposed 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. However, 49 U.S.C. 11326(c) 
does not provide for labor protection for transactions under 49 U.S.C. 
11324 and 11325 that involve only Class III rail carriers. Because this 
transaction involves Class III rail carriers only, the Board, under the 
statute, may not impose labor protective conditions for this 
transaction.
    The earliest this transaction may be consummated is March 30, 2022, 
the effective date of the exemption (30 days after the verified notice 
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 effectiveness 
of the exemption. Petitions to stay must be filed no later than March 
23, 2022.
    All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36593, should be filed 
with the Surface Transportation Board via e-filing on the Board's 
website. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on 
Jaguar's representative, Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 
North Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606-3208.
    According to Jaguar, this action is 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 10, 2022.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-05527 Filed 3-15-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P