Notice2022-11981
Two-Week Notice of Request for Emergency Approval of Information Collection: Urgent Rail Service Issues
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 3, 2022
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Abstract
As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (Board) gives notice of its intent to request from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) emergency approval for an existing collection without an OMB Control Number, as described below. If granted, the emergency approval is only valid for up to 180 days. If necessary, the Board will follow this emergency request with a submission for a 3-year approval through OMB's normal PRA clearance process.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 107 (Friday, June 3, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33868-33870]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11981]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
Two-Week Notice of Request for Emergency Approval of Information
Collection: Urgent Rail Service Issues
AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens,
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the
Surface Transportation Board (Board) gives notice of its intent to
request from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) emergency
approval for an existing collection without an OMB Control Number, as
described below. If granted, the emergency approval is only valid for
up to 180 days. If necessary, the Board will follow this emergency
request with a submission for a 3-year approval through OMB's normal
PRA clearance process.
DATES: Comments on this information collection should be submitted by
June 17, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Direct all comments to Chris Oehrle, PRA Officer, Surface
Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001, or to
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<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8ededccfcefdfaeca0e9e1f8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="79292b38390a0d1b571e160f">[email protected]</span></a>. When submitting comments, please refer to ``Urgent Rail
Service Issues.'' For further information regarding this collection,
contact Ian Anderson at (202) 245-0337 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c58ca4abeb84aba1a0b7b6aaab85b6b1a7eba2aab3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="591038377718373d3c2b2a3637192a2d3b773e362f">[email protected]</span></a>.
Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. Submitted
comments will be included and summarized in the Board's request for OMB
approval.
Subjects: In this notice, the Board is requesting comments on the
following information collection:
Description of Collection
Title: Urgent Rail Service Issues.
OMB Control Number: 2140-XXXX.
STB Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Emergency approval of an existing information
collection without an OMB control number.
Respondents: Class I (Large) Railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time Per Response: See Table below.
Table--Estimated Hours per Response
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated
Type of filing hours per
response
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Service Recovery Plans *................................ 42
Historical Data *....................................... 8
Service Progress Reports *.............................. 8
Individual Conference Calls *........................... 0.5
Weekly Performance Data................................. 8
Monthly Employment Data................................. 8
Supplement to April 2022 Employment Data................ 8
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* These sub-collections only apply to the four largest Class I
railroads.
Frequency: One-time, bi-weekly and monthly, as provided in Table
below.
Table--Estimated Number of Responses
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Estimated
Type of filing respondents frequency
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Service Recovery Plans *................ 4 1
Historical Data *....................... 4 1
Service Progress Reports *.............. 4 13
Individual Conference Calls *........... 4 6
Weekly Performance Data................. 7 26
Monthly Employment Data................. 7 6
Supplement to April 2022 Employment Data 7 1
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* These sub-collections only apply to the four largest Class I
railroads.
Total Burden Hours (annually including all respondents): 2,476 (sum
of estimated hours per response x number of annual responses for each
type of filing), as provided in Table below.
Table--Total Estimated Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
Estimated Number of Estimated annual
Type of filing hours per respondents frequency burden
response hours
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Service Recovery Plans *.................................... 42 4 1 168
Historical Data *........................................... 8 4 1 32
Service Progress Reports *.................................. 8 4 13 416
Individual Conference Calls *............................... 0.5 4 6 12
Weekly Performance Data..................................... 8 7 26 1,456
Monthly Employment Data..................................... 8 7 6 336
Supplement to April 2022 Employment Data.................... 8 7 1 56
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Total Annual Burden Hours............................... ........... ........... ........... 2,476
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* These sub-collections only apply to the four largest Class I railroads.
Total Annual ``Non-hour Burden'' Cost: There are no non-hourly
burden costs for this collection. The itemized sub-collections may be
filed electronically.
Needs and Uses: Under the Interstate Commerce Act, as amended by
the ICC Termination Act of 1995, the Board is responsible for the
economic regulation of common carrier rail transportation. Under 49
U.S.C. 1321(b), 11123, and 11145(a), the Board is empowered to address
immediate service issues. Collecting this information will enable the
Board to take necessary action to timely deal with the unanticipated
and urgent service issues affecting the U.S. rail system. These
measures are meant to inform the Board's assessment of further actions
that may be warranted to address the acute service issues facing the
rail industry and to promote industry-wide transparency,
accountability, and improvements in rail service.
At the Board's April 26 and 27, 2022 public hearing in Urgent
Issues in Freight Rail Service, the Board received extensive testimony
on severe rail service issues reported by a wide range of witnesses--
including agricultural, energy, and other shippers, as well as
government officials, rail labor, and rail experts. The Board has also
continued to review and monitor weekly rail
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service performance data that indicated substantial deterioration in
service. This information collection focuses on the adequacy of service
recovery efforts involving BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), CSX
Transportation (CSXT), Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS), and Union
Pacific Railroad Company (UP), and it requires more comprehensive and
customer-centric reporting of all Class I (large) railroads' service
metrics.
In a decision served on May 6, 2022, the Board found that immediate
action was needed to address the significant service problems, and it
ordered certain railroads to immediately submit relevant information.
This information collection directs the four largest U.S. rail
carriers--UP, BNSF, CSX, and NS--to submit service recovery plans,
along with bi-weekly progress reports for the next six months, in an
effort to address service deficiencies that are impacting the public,
businesses, and the U.S. economy. This collection also requires all
Class I rail carriers operating in the United States to report more
comprehensive and customer-centric performance metrics and employment
data, also for a six-month period. The Board is taking this action to
better inform its assessment of actions that may be warranted to
address the acute service issues described above.
The information received by the Board from this collection will be
filed in Docket No. EP 770 (Sub-No. 1) and will be publicly available
at <a href="http://www.stb.gov">www.stb.gov</a> and may be found by a search in that docket under the
``proceedings and dockets'' pull-down menu.
The Board makes this submission because, under the PRA, a federal
agency that conducts or sponsors 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 5 CFR 1320.13, emergency processing is appropriate here and the
Board is providing a two-week comment period through publication in the
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information.
Dated: May 31, 2022.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-11981 Filed 6-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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