Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 234 / Friday, December 5, 2014 / Notices 72243 

• Mail: Docket Operations Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal Holidays. 

Communications received by January 

20, 2015 will be considered by FRA 

before final action is taken. Comments 

received after that date will be 

considered as far as practicable. 

Anyone is able to search the 

electronic form of any written 

communications and comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the document, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). In 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT 

solicits comments from the public to 

better inform its processes. DOT posts 

these comments, without edit, including 

any personal information the 

commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be viewed at 

www.dot.gov/privacy. See also http://

www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice 

for the privacy notice of regulations.gov. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on December 1, 

2014. 

Ron Hynes, 

Director, Office of Technical Oversight. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28518 Filed 12–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. DOT–NHTSA–2014–0122] 

Notice and Request for Comments 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Transportation (DOT) invites public 

comments about our intention to request 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) approval to renew an 

information collection. Before a Federal 

agency can collect certain information 

from the public, it must receive 

approval from the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB). Under procedures 

established by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995, before seeking OMB 

approval, Federal agencies must solicit 

public comment on proposed 

collections of information, including 

extensions and reinstatement of 

previously approved collections. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

submitted by February 3, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

[identified by Docket No. DOT–OST– 

200X–XXXX] through one of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251 

• Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket 

Management Facility, U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., West Building, Room W12– 

140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except on Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Walter Culbreath, 202–366–1566, Office 

of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC 20590. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Control Number: 2127–0682 

Title: Generic Clearance for the 

Collection of Qualitative Feedback on 

Agency Service Delivery 

Type of Review: Renewal of an 

information collection. 

Abstract: The proposed information 

collection activity provides a means to 

garner qualitative customer and 

stakeholder feedback in an efficient, 

timely manner, in accordance with the 

Administration’s commitment to 

improving service delivery. 

This feedback will provide insights 

into customer or stakeholder 

perceptions, experiences and 

expectations, provide an early warning 

of issues with service, or focus attention 

on areas where communication, training 

or changes in operations might improve 

delivery of products or services. These 

collections will allow for ongoing, 

collaborative and actionable 

communications between the Agency 

and its customers and stakeholders. It 

will also allow feedback to contribute 

directly to the improvement of program 

management. 

The solicitation of feedback will target 

areas such as: Timeliness, 

appropriateness, accuracy of 

information, courtesy, efficiency of 

service delivery, and resolution of 

issues with service delivery. Responses 

will be assessed to plan and inform 

efforts to improve or maintain the 

quality of service offered to the public. 

If this information is not collected, vital 

feedback from customers and 

stakeholders on the Agency’s services 

will be unavailable. 

The Agency will only submit a 

collection for approval under this 

generic clearance if it meets the 

following conditions: 

• The collections are voluntary; 

• The collections are low-burden for 

respondents (based on considerations of 

total burden hours, total number of 

respondents, or burden-hours per 

respondent) and are low-cost for both 

the respondents and the Federal 

Government; 

• The collections are noncontroversial and do not raise issues of 

concern to other Federal agencies; 

• Any collection is targeted to the 

solicitation of opinions from 

respondents who have experience with 

the program or may have experience 

with the program in the near future; 

• Personally identifiable information 

(PII) is collected only to the extent 

necessary and is not retained; 

• Information gathered is intended to 

be used only internally for general 

service improvement and program 

management purposes and is not 

intended for release outside of the 

agency (if released, the agency must 

indicate the qualitative nature of the 

information); 

• Information gathered will not be 

used for the purpose of substantially 

informing influential policy decisions; 

and 

• Information gathered will yield 

qualitative information; the collections 

will not be designed or expected to 

yield statistically reliable results or used 

as though the results are generalizable to 

the population of study. 

Feedback collected under this generic 

clearance provides useful information, 

but it does not yield data that can be 

generalized to the overall population. 

This type of generic clearance for 

qualitative information will not be used 

for quantitative information collections 

that are designed to yield reliably 

actionable results, such as monitoring 

trends over time or documenting 

program performance. Such data uses 

require more rigorous designs that 

address: The target population to which 

generalizations will be made, the 

sampling frame, the sample design 

(including stratification and clustering), 

the precision requirements or power 

calculations that justify the proposed 

sample size, the expected response rate, 

methods for assessing potential nonresponse bias, the protocols for data 

collection, and any testing procedures 

that were or will be undertaken prior to 

fielding the study. Depending on the 

degree of influence the results are likely 

to have, such collections may still be 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
72244 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 234 / Friday, December 5, 2014 / Notices 

1Most recently, GWI was authorized to control 

Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad, Inc. (RCP&E), 

in common control with other carriers in GWI’s 

corporate family, upon RCP&E’s becoming a Class 

II carrier. See Genesee & Wyo. Inc.—Continuance in 

Control Exemption—Rapid City, Pierre & E. R.R., 

FD 35800 (STB served Mar. 27, 2014). GWI provides 

with its verified notice of exemption a map showing 

the locations of the GWI-controlled railroads. 2AKMD connects with WSR at Warren, Ark. See 

Pinsly R.R.—Control Exemption—Warren & Saline 

River R.R., FD 35293 (STB served Nov. 3, 2009). 

The Board has previously issued notices of 

exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) where some 

of the railroads to be acquired connect with each 

other. See, e.g., SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners— 

Control Exemption—Patriot Rail (SteelRiver), FD 

35622 (STB served May 23, 2012); Patriot Woods 

R.R.—Acquis. & Operation Exemption— 

Weyerhaeuser NR Co., Weyerhaeuser Woods R.R. 

Operating Div., FD 35431 (STB served Nov. 5, 2010) 

(authorizing two of the railroads later involved in 

SteelRiver to connect with each other). 

3The Acquired Railroads own and operate rail 

lines solely within the State of Arkansas. 

4With its verified notice of exemption, GWI filed 

under seal an unredacted version of its Stock 

Purchase Agreement and a motion for protective 

order to allow limited access to that agreement and 

other materials GWI has filed under seal. That 

motion is being addressed separately. 

5According to GWI, AKMD and one of GWI’s 

existing subsidiaries, Little Rock & Western 

Railway, L.P. (LRWN) both interchange with Union 

Pacific Railroad Company (UP) in the same yard in 

Little Rock, Ark. GWI states, however, that neither 

AKMD nor LRWN have the right to use any UP 

facilities to connect with each other. 

6 GWI states that it does not believe that the 

Board’s interchange commitment disclosure 

requirements are intended to apply to equity 

control transactions in which no new interchange 

commitment is being imposed as part of the 

transaction. Without waiving that argument, GWI 

provides, in its verified notice and a confidential 

appendix, information about the interchange 

commitment that GWI notes ‘‘would be required’’ 

under 49 CFR 1180.4(g)(4)(i). 

7Under this lease, as supplemented (UP Lease), 

AKMD operates the North Little Rock Branch in 

North Little Rock, the Warren Branch between 

Dermott and Warren, and the Cypress Bend Branch 

between McGehee and Cypress Bend. See also Ark. 

Midland R.R.—Lease & Operation Exemption— 

Union Pac. R.R., FD 33908 (STB served Aug. 23, 

2000); Ark. Midland R.R.—Change in Operators 

Exemption—Line of Union Pac. R.R., FD 34567 

(STB served Nov. 17, 2004); and Ark. Midland 

R.R.—Lease & Operation Exemption—Union Pac. 

R.R., FD 34714 (STB served Aug. 30, 2005). 

eligible for submission for other generic 

mechanisms that are designed to yield 

quantitative results. 

As a general matter, information 

collections will not result in any new 

system of records containing privacy 

information and will not ask questions 

of a sensitive nature, such as sexual 

behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, 

and other matters that are commonly 

considered private. 

Affected Public: Individuals and 

Households, Businesses and 

Organizations, State, Local or Tribal 

Government. 

Estimated number of Respondents: 

162,350. 

Frequency: Once per request. 

Number of Responses: 162,350. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

83,191. 

Public Comments Invited: You are 

asked to comment on any aspect of this 

information collection, including (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the 

Department’s performance; (b) the 

accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) 

ways for the Department to enhance the 

quality, utility and clarity of the 

information collection; and (d) ways 

that the burden could be minimized 

without reducing the quality of the 

collected information. The agency will 

summarize and/or include your 

comments in the request for OMB’s 

clearance of this information collection. 

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended; 

and 49 CFR 1:48. 

Kevin Mahoney, 

Director, Office of Corporate Customer 

Services. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28542 Filed 12–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. FD 35877] 

Genesee & Wyoming Inc.—Acquisition 

of Control Exemption (Including 

Existing Interchange Commitment)— 

Arkansas Midland Railroad Company, 

Inc., The Prescott and Northwestern 

Railroad Company, and Warren & 

Saline River Railroad Company 

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI),1 a 

publicly traded non-carrier holding 

company, has filed a verified notice of 

exemption pursuant to 49 CFR 

1180.2(d)(2), to acquire control of the 

following Class III rail carriers: Arkansas 

Midland Railroad Company, Inc. 

(AKMD), The Prescott and Northwestern 

Railroad Company (PNW), and Warren 

& Saline Railroad Company (WSR) 

(collectively, the Acquired Railroads).2

The Acquired Railroads are currently 

owned and under the common control 

of Pinsly Railroad Company (Pinsly).3

GWI has submitted to the Board a 

redacted, public version of its Stock 

Purchase Agreement with Pinsly.4

GWI states that: (1) The Acquired 

Railroads do not connect with any of 

GWI’s subsidiary railroads; 5 (2) the 

proposed transaction is not part of a 

series of anticipated transactions to 

connect the Acquired Railroads and any 

of GWI’s subsidiary railroads; and (3) 

the proposed transaction does not 

involve a Class I rail carrier. The 

proposed transaction is therefore 

exempt from the prior approval 

requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323 

pursuant to 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2). 

Through its verified notice of 

exemption, GWI seeks to acquire all of 

the issued and outstanding stock of the 

Acquired Railroads from Pinsly. GWI 

states that the proposed transaction 

would allow the Acquired Railroads to 

take advantage of the administrative, 

financial, marketing, and operational 

support that GWI could provide, which 

would, in turn, promote the ability of 

the Acquired Railroads to provide safe 

and efficient service to their shippers. 

GWI claims that, although the Acquired 

Railroads do not connect with any of the 

railroads already controlled by GWI, the 

newly acquired railroads will expand 

the presence of GWI’s affiliates in 

Arkansas. 

GWI states that no interchange 

commitment is being imposed as part of 

this transaction but that one of the 

Acquired Railroads, AKMD, has an 

existing lease agreement with UP that 

includes an interchange commitment.6

GWI notes that this existing 

commitment is part of AKMD’s lease of 

several lines from UP 7 and was 

negotiated as part of the overall 

economic package in the original lease 

transactions. Because GWI is acquiring 

control of AKMD through a stock 

purchase, GWI states that there will be 

no effect on AKMD’s operating rights 

under the UP Lease. 

The earliest the transaction could be 

consummated is December 20, 2014, the 

effective date of the exemption (30 days 

after the exemption was filed). The 

parties expect to consummate the 

transaction shortly after the exemption 

becomes effective, assuming all other 

conditions to closing have been satisfied 

by that time. 

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. Because the transaction 

involves the control of one or more 

Class III rail carriers and two Class II rail 

carriers, the transaction is subject to the 

labor protective requirements of 49 

U.S.C. 11326(a) and New York Dock 

Railway—Control—Brooklyn Eastern 

District Terminal, 360 I.C.C. 60 (1979). 

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 by December 12, 2014 (at least 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES