Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 184 / Friday, September 23, 2005 / Notices 55955 

1The transaction includes approximately 0.87 

miles of rail line in Carteret County, NC, from 

approximately milepost 0.0 (in or near Morehead 

City) to approximately milepost 0.87 at Gallants 

Channel (in or near Morehead City), serving the 

intermediate stations of Marsh Island and Radio 

Island, as well as all spur tracks, yard tracks, side 

tracks, interchange tracks and industrial tracks 

located on the Port. The transaction also includes 

approximately 4 miles of intra-terminal track. 

2The Board previously determined that SPA’s 

acquisition of the subject line did not require Board 

action and it declined to exercise jurisdiction over 

the transaction. See North Carolina State Ports 

Authority—Acquisition Exemption—North Carolina 

Ports Railway Commission, STB Finance Docket 

No. 34258 (STB served Oct. 31, 2002). 

Agreement is authorized under Section 

708 of the Defense Production Act of 

1950, as amended (50 App. U.S.C. 

2158). Regulations governing this 

Agreement appear at 44 CFR part 332 

and are reflected at 49 CFR subtitle A. 

The applicant, if selected, hereby 

acknowledges and agrees to the 

incorporation by reference into this 

Application and Agreement of the entire 

text of the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift 

Agreement published in lll Federal 

Register llllll, llllll, 

20l, as though said text were 

physically recited herein. 

The Applicant, as a Participant, agrees 

to comply with the provisions of section 

708 of the Defense Production Act of 

1950, as amended, the regulations of 44 

CFR part 332 and as reflected at 49 CFR 

subtitle A, and the terms of the 

Voluntary Intermodal Sealift 

Agreement. Further, the applicant, if 

selected as a Participant, hereby agrees 

to contractually commit to make 

specifically enrolled vessels or capacity, 

intermodal equipment and management 

of intermodal transportation systems 

available for use by the Department of 

Defense and to other Participants as 

discussed in this Agreement and the 

subsequent Department of Defense 

Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement 

Enrollment Contract for the purpose of 

meeting national defense requirement. 

Attest: 

lllllllllllllllllll

(Corporate Secretary) 

(CORPORATE SEAL) 

Effective Date: lllllllllll

(Secretary) 

(SEAL) 

lllllllllllllllllll

(Applicant-Corporate Name) 

lllllllllllllllllll

(Signature) 

lllllllllllllllllll

(Position Title) 

United States of America, Department of 

Transportation, Maritime 

Administration 

By: llllllllllllllll

Maritime Administrator 

Dated: September 19, 2005. 

By Order of the Maritime Administrator. 

Joel C. Richard, 

Secretary, Maritime Administration. 

[FR Doc. 05–18982 Filed 9–22–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–81–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 34749] 

Gulf & Ohio Railways Holding Co., Inc., 

H. Peter Claussen and Linda C. 

Claussen—Continuance in Control 

Exemption—Morehead & South Fork 

Railroad Co., Inc. 

Gulf & Ohio Railways Holding Co., 

Inc. (G&O), and H. Peter Claussen and 

Linda C. Claussen (the Claussens) 

(collectively applicants), have filed a 

verified notice of exemption to continue 

in control of Morehead & South Fork 

Railroad Co., Inc. (MHSF), upon 

MHSF’s becoming a Class III rail carrier. 

The transaction was scheduled to be 

consummated on or after September 1, 

2005. 

This transaction is related to the 

concurrently filed verified notice of 

exemption in STB Finance Docket No. 

34748, Morehead & South Fork Railroad 

Co., Inc.—Acquisition and Operation 

Exemption—Carolina Rail Service, LLC. 

In that proceeding, MHSF seeks to 

acquire from Carolina Rail Service, LLC 

(CRS), and operate CRS’s exclusive 

freight easement over all railroad tracks 

at the Port of Morehead City, NC.1 The 

tracks are owned by North Carolina 

State Ports Authority (SPA).2 MHSF will 

operate over the rail property pursuant 

to an operating agreement with SPA. 

G&O is a noncarrier that currently 

controls eight Class III rail carriers: 

Chattahoochee & Gulf Railroad Co., Inc. 

(CGR); Conecuh Valley Railroad Co., 

Inc. (CVR); Knoxville & Holston River 

Railroad Co., Inc. (KHR); Laurinburg & 

Southern Railroad Co., Inc. (LSR); 

Piedmont & Atlantic Railroad, Inc. 

(PAR); which operates under the trade 

name of Yadkin Valley Railroad, Rocky 

Mount & Western Railroad Co., Inc. 

(RMW); Three Notch Railroad Co., Inc. 

(TNR); and Wiregrass Central Railroad 

Company, Inc. (WCR). The Claussens, 

also noncarriers, control G&O and one 

Class III rail carrier, H&S Railroad, Inc. 

(H&S). 

Applicants state that: (1) The rail lines 

operated by CGR, CVR KHR, LSR, PAR, 

RMW, TNR, WCR, and H&S do not 

connect with the rail line being acquired 

by MHSF; (2) the continuance in control 

is not part of a series of anticipated 

transactions that would connect the rail 

line being acquired by MHSF with 

applicants’ rail lines; 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 purpose of 

establishing MHSF and acquiring the 

line in STB Finance Docket No. 34748 

is to insulate the other affiliated 

railroads from the financial, legal, and 

operational risks associated with the 

transactions contemplated in that 

proceeding. 

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 section 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 transaction. 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to STB Finance 

Docket No. 34749, must be filed with 

the Surface Transportation Board, 1925 

K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, one copy of each 

pleading must be served on RoseMichele 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 http:// 

www.stb.dot.gov. 

Decided: September 16, 2005. 

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 05–19026 Filed 9–22–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P