[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 125 (Thursday, June 27, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 33580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16408]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board \1\
[STB Finance Docket No. 32947 (Sub-No. 2)]

K. Earl Durden--Acquisition of Control Exemption-- Rail Partners, 
L.P., Et Al.
    K. Earl Durden (Durden), a noncarrier individual, has filed a 
notice of exemption to acquire control of Rail Partners, L.P. 
(Partners), Rail Management and Consulting Corporation (RMCC) and 12 
commonly-controlled shortline railroads (hereinater the RMCC Railroad 
Group) <SUP>2 through his purchase of Green Bay Packaging, Inc.'s (GBP) 
ownership interests in the aforementioned entities and railroads. 
Currently, Durden and GBP each hold a 49.5% interest and RMC holds a 1% 
interest in Partners, a Delaware limited partnership; Durden and GBP 
each own a 50% interest in RMCC, a non-carrier holding company; and 
Durden and GBP each own a 50% interest in each of the railroads in the 
RMCC Railroad Group. By this transaction, Durden will acquire 100% 
ownership and control in Partners, RMCC, and the RMCC Railroad Group. 
The exemption will be effective on June 24, 1996, and the parties 
intend to consummate this transaction on June 30, 1996.
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    \1\  The ICC Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. No. 104-88, 109 
Stat. 803, which was enacted on December 29, 1995, and took effect 
on January 1, 1996, abolished the Interstate Commerce Commission and 
transferred certain functions to the Surface Transportation Board 
(Board). This decision relates to functions that are subject to 
Board jurisdiction pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 11323-25.
    \2\  The 12 railroads are: Atlantic & Western Railway, L.P.; The 
Bay Line Railroad, L.L.C.; Copper Basin Railway; East Tennessee 
Railway, L.P.; Galveston Railroad, L.P.; Georgia Central Railway, 
L.P.; KWT Railway, Inc.; Little Rock & Western Railway, L.P.; 
Tomahawk Railway, L.P.; Valdosta Railway, L.P.; Western Kentucky 
Railway, L.L.C.; and Wilmington Terminal Railroad, L.P., which are 
located in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, 
North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.
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    This transaction is related to a notice of exemption concurrently 
filed in STB Finance Docket No. 32947 (Sub-No. 1), The A&G Railroad, 
L.L.C.--Merger--The Bay Line Railroad, L.L.C.--Corporate Family 
Transaction Exemption, for a transaction which would merge the 
properties of two intracorporate family rail carriers, whose operations 
connected via trackage rights over a third (unaffiliated) carrier. Once 
the merger is consummated, the proposed acquisition of control by 
Durden qualifies for the class exemption for acquisition of control in 
this proceeding.
    Durden states that: (1) The transaction will not result in any of 
the subject railroads connecting with one another or any railroads in 
their corporate family; (2) the proposed transaction is not part of a 
series of anticipated transactions that would connect the subject 
railroads with each other or any railroad in their corporate family; 
and the transaction involves only Class III carriers. The transaction 
therefore 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. Section 11326(c), however, does 
not provide for labor protection for transactions under sections 11324-
25 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.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to reopen the proceeding to 
revoke the exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. 
The filing of a petition to reopen will not automatically stay the 
transaction. An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to 
STB Finance Docket No. 32947 (Sub-No. 2), must be filed with the Office 
of the Secretary, Case Control Branch, Surface Transportation Board, 
1201 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20423. In addition, a copy 
of each pleading must be served on Edward J. McAndrew, Slover & Loftus, 
1224 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.

    Decided: June 21, 1996.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-16408 Filed 6-26-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P