[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 5 (Thursday, January 8, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 853]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-84]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 34554 (Sub-No. 10)]


Union Pacific Railroad Company--Temporary Trackage Rights 
Exemption--BNSF Railway Company

    BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), pursuant to a modified written 
trackage rights agreement entered into between BNSF and Union Pacific 
Railroad Company (UP), has agreed to extend the expiration date of the 
local trackage rights granted to UP \1\ over BNSF's line of railroad 
extending from BNSF milepost 579.3 near Mill Creek, OK, to BNSF 
milepost 631.1 near Joe Junction, TX, a distance of approximately 51 
miles.\2\
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    \1\ UP submits that the trackage rights being granted here are 
only temporary rights, but, because they are ``local'' rather than 
``overhead'' rights, they do not qualify for the Board's class 
exemption for temporary trackage rights at 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(8). See 
Railroad Consolidation Procedures, 6 S.T.B. 910 (2003). Therefore, 
UP and BNSF concurrently have filed a petition for partial 
revocation of this exemption in STB Finance Docket No. 34554 (Sub-
No. 11), Union Pacific Railroad Company-Temporary Trackage Rights 
Exemption-BNSF Railway Company, wherein UP, with the support of 
BNSF, requests that the Board permit the proposed local trackage 
rights arrangement described in the present proceeding to expire on 
or about December 31, 2009. That petition will be addressed by the 
Board in a separate decision.
    \2\ The original trackage rights granted in Union Pacific 
Railroad Company-Trackage Rights Exemption-The Burlington Northern 
and Santa Fe Railway Company, STB Finance Docket No. 34554 (STB 
served Oct. 7, 2004), also extended from BNSF milepost 579.3 near 
Mill Creek, OK, to BNSF milepost 631.1 near Joe Junction, TX. By 
decisions served on November 24, 2004, in STB Finance Docket No. 
34554 (Sub-No. 1), on March 25, 2005, in STB Finance Docket No. 
34554 (Sub-No. 3), on March 23, 2006, in STB Finance Docket No. 
34554 (Sub-No. 5), on March 13, 2007, in STB Finance Docket No. 
34554 (Sub-No. 7), and on March 20, 2008, in STB Finance Docket No. 
34554 (Sub-No. 9), the Board granted exemptions to permit the 
trackage rights authorized in STB Finance Docket No. 34554 and 
extended in STB Finance Docket No. 34554 (Sub-No. 2), served on 
February 11, 2005, in STB Finance Docket No. 34554 (Sub-No. 4), 
served on March 3, 2006, in STB Finance Docket No. 34554 (Sub-No. 
6), served on January 12, 2007, and in STB Finance Docket No. 34554 
(Sub-No. 8), served on January 4, 2008, to expire. At the time of 
the last extension, it was anticipated by the parties that the 
rights would expire on or about December 31, 2008. However, this 
authority has not yet been exercised.
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    The transaction is scheduled to be consummated on January 22, 2009.
    The purpose of this transaction is to modify the temporary trackage 
rights exempted in STB Finance Docket No. 34554 (Sub-No. 8) to further 
extend the expiration date to on or before December 31, 2009. The 
modified trackage rights will permit UP to continue to move loaded and 
empty ballast trains for use in its maintenance-of-way projects.
    As a condition to this exemption, any employee affected by the 
trackage rights will be protected by the conditions imposed in Norfolk 
and Western Ry. Co.--Trackage Rights--BN, 354 I.C.C. 605 (1978), as 
modified in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.--Lease and Operate, 360 I.C.C. 
653 (1980).
    This notice is filed under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7). If it 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. Stay petitions must be filed 
by January 15, 2009 (at least 7 days before the exemption becomes 
effective).
    Pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 
No. 110-161, Sec.  193, 121 Stat. 1844 (2007), nothing in this decision 
authorizes the following activities at any solid waste rail transfer 
facility: collecting, storing or transferring solid waste outside of 
its original shipping container; or separating or processing solid 
waste (including baling, crushing, compacting and shredding). The term 
``solid waste'' is defined in section 1004 of the Solid Waste Disposal 
Act, 42 U.S.C. 6903.
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB 
Finance Docket No. 34554 (Sub-No. 10), 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 Gabriel S. Meyer, 
Union Pacific Railroad Company, 1400 Douglas Street, STOP 1580, Omaha, 
NE 68179.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
``http://www.stb.dot.gov.''

    Decided: January 2, 2009.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. E9-84 Filed 1-7-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P