[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 124 (Friday, June 27, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36581-36582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-15052]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. FD 35841]


Piedmont & Atlantic Railroad Co., Inc., d/b/a/ Yadkin Valley 
Railroad Company--Lease Exemption Containing Interchange Commitment--
Norfolk Southern Railway Company

    Piedmont & Atlantic Railroad Co., Inc., d/b/a/ Yadkin Valley 
Railroad Company (YVRR), a Class III rail carrier, has filed a verified 
notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.41 to continue to lease from 
Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) and operate approximately 93 
miles of rail line that extend: (1) Approximately from milepost K-37.0 
at Rural Hall, Forsyth County, N.C., to milepost K-100.2 at North 
Wilkesboro, Wilkes County, N.C.; and (2) approximately from milepost 
CF-0.0 at Mount Airy, Surry County, N.C., to milepost CF-29.8 at Rural 
Hall, Forsyth County, N.C.\1\
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    \1\ YVRR was granted authority to lease and operate the rail 
line in Piedmont & Atlantic Railroad--Lease & Operation Exemption--
L&S Holding Co., FD 32462 (ICC served Mar. 29, 1994) (original lease 
agreement). Subsequently, YVRR became the lessee (rather than the 
sub-lessee) of the line at issue.
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    YVRR and NSR have recently amended their original lease agreement. 
The amendment, among other things, extends the term of the original 
lease agreement. YVRR states that both the original lease agreement and 
the amended lease agreement contain a lease credit arrangement, which 
the Board has previously identified as a type of interchange commitment 
in Information Required in Notices and Petitions Containing Interchange 
Commitments, EP 714 (STB served Sept. 5, 2013). Accordingly, YVRR has 
provided the required information set forth at 49 CFR 1150.43(h)(1). 
However, YVRR and NSR assert that, under the facts of this transaction, 
the lease credit arrangement does not constitute an interchange 
commitment subject to the interchange commitment rules and have 
contemporaneously filed a joint motion to strike the information 
required under 49 CFR 1150.43(h) that YVRR has provided in its notice. 
The Board will address the motion to strike in a separate decision.

[[Page 36582]]

    YVRR has certified that its projected annual revenues as a result 
of this transaction will not result in YVRR's becoming a Class II or 
Class I rail carrier. It appears, however, that its projected annual 
revenues will exceed $5 million. Accordingly, YVRR is required, at 
least 60 days before this exemption is to become effective, to send 
notice of the transaction to the national offices of the labor unions 
with employees on the affected lines, post a copy of the notice at the 
workplace of the employees on the affected lines, and certify to the 
Board that it has done so. 49 CFR 1150.42(e).
    YVRR, concurrently with its notice of exemption, filed a petition 
for waiver of the 60-day advance labor notice requirement under Sec.  
1150.42(e), asserting that: (1) No NSR employees will be affected 
because no NSR employees have worked on the line since 1997; and (2) no 
YVRR employees will be affected because YVRR's rail operations will 
remain substantially the same as its operations under the original 
lease agreement. YVRR's waiver request will be addressed in a separate 
decision.
    YVRR states that it intends to consummate the transaction on or 
after the effective date of this notice. The Board will establish in 
the decision on the waiver request the earliest date this transaction 
may be consummated.
    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 July 3, 2014.
    An original and ten copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket 
No. FD 35841, 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 Rose-Michele Nardi, Transport Counsel PC, 
1701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Ste. 300, Washington, DC 20006.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.

    Decided: June 24, 2014.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2014-15052 Filed 6-26-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P