Notice2022-05527
OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund, Jaguar Transport Holdings, LLC, and Jaguar Rail Holdings, LLC-Continuance in Control Exemption-Charlotte Western Railroad, LLC
Primary source
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Published
March 16, 2022
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 51 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14941-14942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05527]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. FD 36593]
OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund, Jaguar Transport Holdings, LLC,
and Jaguar Rail Holdings, LLC--Continuance in Control Exemption--
Charlotte Western Railroad, LLC
OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund (OPTrust), Jaguar Transport Holdings,
LLC (JTH), and Jaguar Rail Holdings, LLC (JRH, and collectively with
OPTrust and JTH, Jaguar), all noncarriers, have filed a verified notice
of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) to continue in control of
Charlotte Western Railroad, LLC (CWRR), a noncarrier, upon CWRR's
becoming a Class III rail carrier.
This transaction is related to a concurrently filed verified notice
of exemption in Charlotte Western Railroad, LLC--Change in Operator
Exemption--Line in Gaston County,
[[Page 14942]]
N.C., Docket No. FD 36592. In that proceeding, CWRR has filed a
verified notice of exemption pursuant to 49 CFR 1150.31 to assume
operation of approximately 13.04 miles of rail line currently operated
by Piedmont and Northern Railroad LLC (PNRW) and owned by the North
Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), extending from milepost
SFC 11.39 at Mt. Holly to milepost SFC 23.0 at Gastonia, including the
Belmont Spur extending from milepost SFF 0.13/SFC 13.6 at Mt. Holly to
milepost SFF 1.56 at or near Belmont (collectively, the Line), all in
Gaston County, N.C. CWRR will assume an existing lease of the Line, to
be assigned to CWRR by PNRW with NCDOT's consent.
Jaguar states that it will continue in control of CWRR upon CWRR's
becoming a railroad common carrier. According to the verified notice,
OPTrust indirectly controls JTH, which directly controls JRH. JTH
currently controls, indirectly: Four Class III railroads directly
controlled by JRH--Southwestern Railroad, Inc., Texas & Eastern
Railroad, LLC, Wyoming and Colorado Railroad, Inc., (WYCO) (which also
does business under the name Oregon Eastern Railroad), and Missouri
Eastern Railroad, LLC; two Class III railroads indirectly controlled by
JRH through WYCO--Cimarron Valley Railroad, L.C., and Washington
Eastern Railroad, LLC; and one Class III railroad indirectly controlled
by JTH through its subsidiary Jaguar Transport, LLC--West Memphis Base
Railroad, L.L.C. The lines of the rail carriers controlled by JTH and
JRH are located in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.
Jaguar states that: (1) The Line does not connect with any other
rail lines operated by carriers controlled by Jaguar, and none of those
rail lines connect with each other; (2) the continuance in control
transaction is not part of a series of anticipated transactions that
would connect the Line with any railroad lines controlled by Jaguar or
that would connect any of those rail lines with each other; and (3) the
transaction does not involve a Class I rail carrier. Therefore, the
proposed transaction 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. However, 49 U.S.C. 11326(c)
does not provide for labor protection for transactions under 49 U.S.C.
11324 and 11325 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.
The earliest this transaction may be consummated is March 30, 2022,
the effective date of the exemption (30 days after the verified notice
was filed). 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 March
23, 2022.
All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36593, should be filed
with the Surface Transportation Board via e-filing on the Board's
website. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on
Jaguar's representative, Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29
North Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606-3208.
According to Jaguar, this action is excluded from environmental
review under 49 CFR 1105.6(c) and from historic preservation reporting
requirements under 49 CFR 1105.8(b).
Board decisions and notices are available at <a href="http://www.stb.gov">www.stb.gov</a>.
Decided: March 10, 2022.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-05527 Filed 3-15-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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