[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 91 (Thursday, May 10, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27540-27542]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11272]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
Information Collection Activities
AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.
ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens,
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq. (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (Board) gives notice
that it is requesting from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
reinstatement without change of the seven previously approved
collections described below.
Comments are requested concerning each collection as to (1) whether
the particular collection of information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the
collection has practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the Board's
burden estimates; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology, when appropriate.
DATES: Written comments are due on June 11, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be identified as ``Paperwork
Reduction Act Comments, Surface Transportation Board,'' and should
refer to the title of the specific collection(s) commented upon. These
comments should be directed to the Office of Management and Budget,
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Patrick Fuchs,
Surface Transportation Board Desk Officer, by fax at (202) 395-5167; by
mail at Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20500; or by
email at [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or copies
of the information collection(s) send your request to [email protected] or call Paul Aguiar at (202) 245-0323. [Federal
Information Relay Service
[[Page 27541]]
(FIRS) for the hearing impaired: (800) 877-8339.]
Subjects: In this notice the Board is requesting that comments be
sent to OMB on the following information collections:
Collection Number 1
Title: Class I Railroad Annual Report.
OMB Control Number: 2140-0009.
Form Number: R1.
Type of Review: Reinstatement without change of previously approved
collection.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: 7.
Estimated Time per Response: No more than 800 hours, based on
information provided by the railroad industry during the 1990's. This
estimate includes time spent reviewing instructions; searching existing
data sources; gathering and maintaining the data needed; completing and
reviewing the collection of information; and converting the data from
the carrier's individual accounting system to the Board's Uniform
System of Accounts (USOA), which ensures that the information will be
presented in a consistent format across all reporting railroads, see 49
U.S.C. 11141-43, 11161-64, 49 CFR 1200-1201.
Frequency of Response: Annual.
Total Annual Hour Burden: No more than 5,600 hours.
Total Annual ``Non-Hour Burden'' Cost: No ``non-hour cost'' burdens
associated with this collection have been identified.
Needs and Uses: Annual reports are required to be filed by Class I
railroads under 49 U.S.C. 11145. The reports show operating expenses
and operating statistics of the carriers. Operating expenses include
costs for right-of-way and structures, equipment, train and yard
operations, and general and administrative expenses. Operating
statistics include such items as car-miles, revenue-ton-miles, and
gross ton-miles. The reports are used by the Board, other Federal
agencies, and industry groups to monitor and assess railroad industry
growth, financial stability, traffic, and operations, and to identify
industry changes that may affect national transportation policy.
Information from this report is also entered into the Board's Uniform
Rail Costing System (URCS), which is a cost measurement methodology.
URCS, which was developed by the Board pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 11161, is
used as a tool in rail rate proceedings, in accordance with 49 U.S.C.
10707(d), to calculate the variable costs associated with providing a
particular service. The Board also uses this information to more
effectively carry out other of its regulatory responsibilities,
including: Acting on railroad requests for authority to engage in
Board-regulated financial transactions such as mergers, acquisitions of
control, and consolidations, see 49 U.S.C. 11323-11324; analyzing the
information that the Board obtains through the annual railroad industry
waybill sample, see 49 CFR 1244; measuring off-branch costs in railroad
abandonment proceedings, in accordance with 49 CFR 1152.32(n);
developing the ``rail cost adjustment factors,'' in accordance with 49
U.S.C. 10708; and conducting investigations and rulemakings.
Information from certain schedules contained in these reports is
compiled and published on the Board's Web site, http://www.stb.dot.gov.
Information in these reports is not available from any other source.
Collection Number 2
Title: Quarterly Report of Revenues, Expenses, and Income--
Railroads (Form RE&I).
OMB Control Number: 2140-0013.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Reinstatement without change of previously approved
collection.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: 7.
Estimated Time per Response: 6 hours.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 168 hours.
Total Annual ``Non Hour Burden'' Cost: No ``non-hour cost'' burdens
associated with this collection have been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection is a report of railroad operating
revenues, operating expenses and income items; it is a profit and loss
statement, disclosing net railway operating income on a quarterly and
year-to-date basis for the current and prior years. See 49 CFR 1243.1.
The Board uses the information in this report to ensure competitive,
efficient, and safe transportation through general oversight programs
that monitor and forecast the financial and operating condition of
railroads, and through regulation of railroad rate and service issues
and rail restructuring proposals, including railroad mergers,
consolidations, acquisitions of control, and abandonments. Information
from these reports is used by the Board, other Federal agencies, and
industry groups to monitor and assess industry growth and operations,
detect changes in carrier financial stability, and identify trends that
may affect the national transportation system. Some of the information
from these reports is compiled by the Board in our quarterly Selected
Earnings Data Report, which is published on the Board's Web site,
http://www.stb.dot.gov. The information contained in these reports is
not available from any other source.
Collection Number 3
Title: Quarterly Condensed Balance Sheet--Railroads (Form CBS).
OMB Control Number: 2140-0014.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Reinstatement without change of previously approved
collection.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: 7.
Estimated Time per Response: 6 hours.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 168 hours.
Total Annual ``Non-Hour Burden'' Cost: No ``non-hour cost'' burdens
associated with this collection have been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection shows the balance (quarterly and
cumulative) for the current and prior year of the carrier's assets and
liabilities, gross capital expenditures, and revenue tons carried. See
49 CFR 1243.2. The Board uses the information in this report to ensure
competitive, efficient, and safe transportation through general
oversight programs that monitor and forecast the financial and
operating condition of railroads, and through specific regulation of
railroad rate and service issues and rail restructuring proposals,
including railroad mergers, consolidations, acquisitions of control,
and abandonments. Information from these reports is used by the Board,
other Federal agencies, and industry groups to assess industry growth
and operations, detect changes in carrier financial stability, and
identify trends that may affect the national transportation system.
Revenue ton-miles, which are reported in these reports, are compiled
and published by the Board in its quarterly Selected Earnings Data
Report, which is published on the Board's Web site, http://www.stb.dot.gov. The information contained in these reports is not
available from any other source.
Collection Number 4
OMB Control Number: 2140-0004.
Title: Report of Railroad Employees, Service and Compensation (Wage
Forms A and B).
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Reinstatement without change of previously approved
collection.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
[[Page 27542]]
Number of Respondents: 7.
Estimated Time per Response: No more than 30 hours per quarterly
report and 40 hours per annual summation.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly, with an annual summation.
Total Annual Hour Burden: No more than 1120 hours.
Total Annual ``Non-Hour Burden'' Cost: No ``non-hour cost'' burdens
associated with this collection have been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection shows the number of employees,
service hours, and compensation, by employee group (e.g., executive,
professional, maintenance-of-way and equipment, and transportation), of
the reporting railroads. See 49 CFR 1245. The information is used by
the Board to forecast labor costs and measure the efficiency of the
reporting railroads. The information is also used by the Board to
evaluate proposed regulated transactions that may impact rail
employees, including mergers and consolidations, acquisitions of
control, purchases, and abandonments. Other Federal agencies and
industry groups, including the Railroad Retirement Board, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, and Association of American Railroads, use the
information contained in the reports to monitor railroad operations.
Certain information from these reports is compiled and published on the
Board's Web site, http://www.stb.dot.gov. The information contained in
these reports is not available from any other source.
Collection Number 5
Title: Monthly Report of Number of Employees of Class I Railroads
(Wage Form C).
OMB Control Number: 2140-0007.
Form Number: STB Form 350.
Type of Review: Reinstatement without change of previously approved
collection.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: 7.
Estimated Time per Response: 1.25 hours.
Frequency of Response: Monthly.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 105 hours.
Total Annual ``Non-Hour Burden'' Cost: No ``non-hour cost'' burdens
associated with this collection have been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection shows, for each reporting carrier,
the average number of employees at mid-month in the six job-
classification groups that encompass all railroad employees. See 49 CFR
1246. The information is used by the Board to forecast labor costs and
measure the efficiency of the reporting railroads. The information is
also used by the Board to evaluate the impact on rail employees of
proposed regulated transactions, including mergers and consolidations,
acquisitions of control, purchases, and abandonments. Other Federal
agencies and industry groups, including the Railroad Retirement Board,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Association of American Railroads, use
the information contained in these reports to monitor railroad
operations. Certain information from these reports is compiled and
published on the Board's Web site, http://www.stb.dot.gov. The
information contained in these reports is not available from any other
source.
Collection Number 6
Title: Annual Report of Cars Loaded and Cars Terminated.
OMB Control Number: 2140-0011.
Form Number: Form STB-54.
Type of Review: Reinstatement without change of previously approved
collection.
Number of Respondents: 7.
Estimated Time per Response: 4 hours.
Frequency of Response: Annual.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 28 hours.
Total Annual ``Non Hour Burden'' Cost: No ``non-hour cost'' burdens
associated with this collection have been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection reports the number of cars loaded
and cars terminated on the reporting carrier's line. See 49 CFR 1247.
Information in this report is entered into the Board's URCS, the uses
of which are explained under Collection Number 1. There is no other
source for the information contained in this report.
Collection Number 7
OMB Control Number: 2140-0001.
Title: Quarterly Report of Freight Commodity Statistics (Form QCS).
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Reinstatement without change of previously approved
collection.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: 7.
Estimated Time per Response: 217 hours.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly, with an annual summation.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 6,076 hours annually.
Total Annual ``Non-Hour Burden'' Cost: No ``non-hour cost'' burdens
associated with this collection have been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection, which is based on information
contained in carload waybills used by railroads in the ordinary course
of business, reports car loadings and total revenues by commodity code
for each commodity that moved on the railroad during the reporting
period. See 49 CFR 1248. Information in this report is entered into the
Board's URCS, the uses of which are explained under Collection Number
1. There is no other source for the information contained in this
report.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, a Federal agency conducting
or sponsoring a collection of information must display a currently
valid OMB control number. A collection of information, which is defined
in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c), includes agency requirements
that persons submit reports, keep records, or provide information to
the agency, third parties, or the public. Under the PRA and 5 CFR
1320.8, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Section
3507(b) of the PRA requires, concurrent with an agency's submitting a
collection to OMB for approval, a 30-day notice and comment period
through publication in the Federal Register concerning each proposed
collection of information, including each proposed extension of an
existing collection of information.
Dated: May 7, 2012.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2012-11272 Filed 5-9-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P