Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 24, 2014 / Notices 77597 

1By letter filed December 8, 2014, Applicants 

supplemented its notice of exemption. Because 

Applicants supplemented its verified notice on 

December 8, 2014, that date is considered the filing 

date of the verified notice. 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. FD 35885] 

Peru Land Acquisition 2, LLC— 

Acquisition Exemption—Rail Line of 

The City of Peru, Ill. 

Peru Land Acquisition 2, LLC (PLA2), 

a noncarrier, has filed a verified notice 

of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to 

acquire from the City of Peru, Ill. (Peru) 

ownership of approximately 3.5 miles of 

rail line (the Peru City Track), in Bureau 

and LaSalle Counties, Ill. 

According to PLA2, there are no 

mileposts associated with the line. The 

line was formerly owned by LaSalle & 

Bureau County Railroad Company and 

was subsequently sold to Peru. The 

trackage extends from a point of 

connection with Illinois Railway, LLC 

(IR), a Class III rail carrier, on its 

western end, to the end of the line west 

of Illinois Route 251. 

This transaction is related to a 

concurrently filed verified notice of 

exemption in Docket No. FD 35886, 

Illinois Railway, LLC—Lease and 

Operation Exemption—Rail Line of Peru 

Land Acquisition 2, LLC, wherein IR 

seeks Board approval to lease and 

operate the Peru City Track, upon 

PLA2’s becoming a Class III rail carrier. 

The transaction may be consummated 

on or after January 10, 2015 (30 days 

after the notice of exemption was filed). 

PLA2 certifies that its projected 

annual revenues as a result of this 

transaction will not result in its 

becoming a Class II or Class I rail carrier 

and will not exceed $5 million. 

PLA2 states that the acquisition 

agreement does not include any 

provision limiting PLA2’s future 

interchange of traffic on the line with a 

third-party connecting carrier. 

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 January 2, 2015 (at 

least 7 days before the exemption 

becomes effective). 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 

35885, 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 Michael J. Barron, Jr., 

Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 North Wacker 

Drive, Suite 920, Chicago, IL 60606. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at 

WWW.STB.DOT.GOV. 

Decided: December 19, 2014. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Raina S. White, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30201 Filed 12–23–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. FD 35887] 

Pioneer Railcorp, Pioneer Railroad 

Services, Inc., and Decatur Junction 

Railway Co.—Exemption for 

Transaction Within a Corporate Family 

Pioneer Railcorp (PIONEER), Pioneer 

Railroad Services, Inc. (PRS), and 

Decatur Junction Railway Co. (DJR) 

(collectively, the Applicants) have filed 

a verified notice of exemption under 49 

CFR 1180.2(d)(3) for a corporate family 

transaction in which: (1) PRS will 

acquire from DJR a rail line extending 

between milepost 745.54, at/near Elwin, 

Ill., and milepost 749.94, in/near 

Decatur, Ill., a distance of approximately 

4.4 miles in Macon County, Ill.; (2) 

PIONEER will continue in control of 

PRS when it becomes a Class III rail 

carrier, upon PRS’s acquisition of the 

line; and (3) pursuant to a lease 

agreement with PRS, DJR will continue 

to operate the line. 

According to Applicants, PRS and 

DJR are currently owned by PIONEER, 

which owns 100% of the common stock 

of 17 Class III rail carrier subsidiaries. 

Applicants also state that DJR currently 

owns the line and that PRS certifies 

that: (1) Its annual revenues as a result 

of this transaction will not exceed those 

that would qualify it as a Class III rail 

carrier; and (2) annual revenues on the 

line will not exceed $5 million. 

Pursuant to a written agreement that has 

not yet been executed, Applicants state 

that PRS will purchase the line from 

DJR and subsequently leaseback 

operating rights to DJR, which will 

continue to operate, maintain, and 

perform contract and common carrier 

service on the line. In addition, 

Applicants state that the agreement will 

contain no restrictions on interchange. 

Unless stayed, the exemption will be 

effective on January 7, 2015 (30 days 

after the verified notice was filed).1

Applicants state they propose to 

consummate the transaction on or about 

December 31, 2014. But the earliest the 

transaction may be consummated is 

after the January 7, 2015 effective date 

of the exemption. 

According to Applicants, the purpose 

of this proposed transaction is to 

improve operating and administrative 

efficiencies within the corporate family. 

The line transfer is a transaction 

within a corporate family exempted 

from prior review and approval under 

49 CFR 1180.2(d)(3). Applicants state 

that the transaction will not result in 

adverse changes in service levels, 

significant operational changes, or a 

change in the competitive balance with 

carriers outside the corporate family. 

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 §§ 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 rail carriers. 

If the 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 for stay must 

be filed no later than December 31, 2014 

(at least seven days before the 

exemption becomes effective). 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 

35887, must be filed with the Surface 

Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20423–0001. In 

addition, one copy of each pleading 

must be served on the Applicants’ 

representative, Daniel A. LaKemper, 

Esq., General Counsel, Pioneer Railcorp, 

1318 S. Johanson Road, Peoria, Illinois 

61607. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at 

WWW.STB.DOT.GOV. 

Decided: December 19, 2014. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Raina S. White, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30202 Filed 12–23–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

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