Notice2024-14640
Patriot Rail Company LLC, SteelRiver Transport Ventures LLC, Global Diversified Infrastructure Fund (North America) LP, First State Infrastructure Managers (International) Limited, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.-Continuance in Control Exemption-Front Range Railroad LLC
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
July 3, 2024
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55300-55301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14640]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. FD 36789]
Patriot Rail Company LLC, SteelRiver Transport Ventures LLC,
Global Diversified Infrastructure Fund (North America) LP, First State
Infrastructure Managers (International) Limited, and Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group, Inc.--Continuance in Control Exemption--Front Range
Railroad LLC
Patriot Rail Company LLC, SteelRiver Transport Ventures LLC, Global
Diversified Infrastructure Fund (North America) LP, First State
Infrastructure Managers (International) Limited, and Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group, Inc. (collectively, Applicants), all noncarriers, have
filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) to
continue in control of Front Range Railroad, LLC (FRRL), upon FRRL's
becoming a Class III rail carrier.
This transaction is related to a verified notice of exemption filed
concurrently in Front Range Railroad--Operation Exemption--Line in
Adams County, Colo., Docket No. FD 36789, in which FRRL seeks to
operate as a rail carrier over approximately 0.51 miles (approximately
2,700 feet) of track located in Bennett, Adams County, Colo.
According to the verified notice, Applicants currently control
existing Class III rail carriers (Patriot Short Lines) in 21 states.\1\
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\1\ Although Applicants state that they currently control 31
existing Class III rail carriers (Verified Notice 2 & n.2), they
include 32 individual carriers in the list of carriers that they
control (id. at 3-5).
The verified notice lists the railroads and the location of
their operations as follows: (1) Alabama & Florida Railway Co., Inc.
d/b/a Ripley & New Albany Railroad Co.--Alabama and Mississippi; (2)
Columbia & Cowlitz Railway, LLC--Washington; (3) Decatur Junction
Railway Co. LLC--Illinois; (4) Delta Southern Railroad, Inc.--
Louisiana; (5) DeQueen and Eastern Railroad, LLC--Arkansas; (6)
Elkhart & Western Railroad Co. LLC--Indiana; (7) Fort Smith Railroad
Co. LLC--Arkansas; (8) The Garden City Western Railway LLC--Kansas;
(9) Georgia Northeastern Railroad Company LLC--Georgia; (10) Georgia
Southern Railway Co. LLC--Georgia; (11) Gettysburg & Northern
Railroad Co. LLC--Pennsylvania; (12) Golden Triangle Railroad, LLC--
Mississippi; (13) Indiana Southwestern Railway Co. LLC--Indiana;
(14) Kendallville Terminal Railway Co. LLC--Indiana; (15) Keokuk
Junction Railway Co. LLC--Iowa and Illinois; (16) Keokuk Union Depot
Company LLC (KUD)--Iowa; (17) Kingman Terminal Railroad, LLC--
Arizona; (18) Lakeshore Terminal Railroad LLC--Indiana; (19)
Louisiana and North West Railroad Company, LLC--Arkansas and
Louisiana; (20) Merced County Central Valley Railroad LLC--
California; (21) Michigan Southern Railroad Company (in Indiana and
Ohio, d/b/a Napoleon Defiance and Western Railway)--Indiana,
Michigan, and Ohio; (22) Mississippi Central Railroad Co. LLC--
Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama; (23) Pioneer Industrial Railway
Co. LLC--Illinois; (24) Rarus Railway, LLC d/b/a Butte, Anaconda &
Pacific Railway Co.--Montana; (25) Sacramento Valley Railroad, LLC--
California; (26) Salt Lake, Garfield and Western Railway Company--
Utah; (27) Temple & Central Texas Railway, LLC--Texas; (28)
Tennessee Southern Railroad Company, LLC--Tennessee and Alabama;
(29) Texas Oklahoma & Eastern Railroad, LLC--Oklahoma; (30) Utah
Central Railway Company, LLC--Utah; (31) Vandalia Railroad Company--
Illinois; (32) West Belt Railway LLC--Missouri (collectively,
Patriot Short Lines). Applicants state that it is unclear whether
KUD is a rail carrier subject to the Board's jurisdiction and they
have included KUD in this list out of an abundance of caution.
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The verified notice indicates that: (1) the Line does not connect
with any of the Patriot Short Lines; (2) Applicants do not intend to
undertake any transactions to connect any of the Patriot Short Lines to
each other or to the Line; and (3) the proposed transaction does not
involve a Class I rail carrier. Therefore, the transaction is exempt
from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49 CFR
1180.2(d)(2).
The transaction may be consummated on or after July 18, 2024, the
effective
[[Page 55301]]
date of the exemption (30 days after the verified notice was filed).
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. Accordingly,
the Board may not impose labor protective conditions here because all
of the carriers involved are Class III rail carriers.
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 July 11, 2024.
All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36789, must be filed with
the Surface Transportation Board either via e-filing on the Board's
website or in writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC
20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on
Applicants' representative, Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel LLC,
29 North Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606-3208.
According to the verified notice, this action is categorically
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: June 28, 2024.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Eden Besera,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2024-14640 Filed 7-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 3, 2024.
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