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>From the Surface Transportation Board, Washington, D.C.
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Surface Transportation Board Chairman Roger Nober today announced the
outcome of preliminary matters addressed in, and the results of, the voting
conference held today by the STB.
Chairman Nober began the conference by welcoming the two new STB
Commissioners, W. Douglas Buttrey and Francis P. Mulvey, and the Board
elected Commissioner Mulvey as the agency's Vice Chairman for the remainder
of calendar year 2004.
Chairman Nober then announced that the STB would:
-Hold a July 7, 2004 public hearing concerning the case entitled TTX
Company, et al.-- Application for Approval of Pooling of Car Service With
Respect to Flatcars, STB Finance Docket No. 27590 (Sub-No. 3);
-Hold a July 21, 2004 public hearing on the subject of railroad-rate
challenges in "small cases;"
-Hold a July 27, 2004 voting conference (on cases to be announced at a
later date);
-Hold an August 11, 2004 public hearing in the case entitled Class
Exemption for Expedited Abandonment Procedure for Class II and Class III
Railroads, STB Ex Parte No. 647;
-Hold an August 31, 2004 voting conference (on cases to be announced at a
later date).
After making these announcements, Chairman Nober, Vice Chairman Mulvey, and
Commissioner Buttrey voted in public to adopt draft decisions in several
cases. The voting results are attached as a fact sheet.
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ATTACHMENT
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Fact Sheet
VOTING RESULTS OF SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD'S JUNE 22, 2004 VOTING
CONFERENCE
-Buckingham Branch Railroad Company-Lease-CSX Transportation, Inc., STB
Finance Docket No. 34495. In this case, the "Buckingham Branch Railroad"
seeks STB approval to lease from CSX Transportation, Inc., an approximately
191-mile railroad line between Clifton Forge, Virginia, and a point near
Richmond, Virginia. The Board voted unanimously to accept the application
for consideration.
-Railroad Cost of Capital-2003, STB Ex Parte No. 558 (Sub-No. 7). In this
proceeding, the Board determined that the railroad industry's after-tax
cost of capital was 9.4 percent for the year 2003.
-Morristown & Erie Railway, Inc.-Modified Rail Certificate, STB Finance
Docket No. 34054. The Board voted unanimously to deny a request by five
New Jersey municipalities that the Board reopen its July 2002 decision
permitting reactivation by the "Morristown & Erie" of certain rail lines in
that state.
-Central Michigan Railway Company-Abandonment Exemption-In Saginaw County,
MN, STB Docket No. AB-308 (Sub-No. 3X). The Board voted unanimously to
clarify that a previously imposed condition to an abandonment authorization
requiring "Central Michigan" to provide a per-car rebate on future
shipments should be limited.
-Union Pacific Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-In Rio Grande and
Mineral Counties, CO, STB Docket No. AB-33 (Sub-No. 132X). The Board voted
unanimously to deny a petition filed by the City of Creede, Colorado,
asking the Board to overturn its May 11, 1999 decision allowing the
acquisition, through the agency's "offer of financial assistance"
procedures, of a rail line proposed for abandonment.
-City of Venice-Abandonment Exemption-In Venice, IL and St. Louis, MO, STB
Docket No. AB-863X. The Board voted unanimously to dismiss for lack of
agency jurisdiction a notice filed by the City of Venice, Illinois
("City"), for authority to abandon a two-mile rail line between St. Louis,
Missouri, and McKinley Junction, Illinois. The Board determined that the
City is not a railroad and that the line at issue has already been lawfully
abandoned.
The STB provides the above summaries as a courtesy to the public and the
media. The actions of the agency in these cases, however, are its written
decisions. Those decisions will be forthcoming, and will be available for
viewing (under "E-Library/"Decisions & Notices") and downloading via the
STB's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov. Printed copies of the decisions
also will be available for a fee by contacting ASAP Document Solutions,
9332 Annapolis Rd., Suite 103, Lanham, MD 20706, telephone (301) 577-2600,
or via asapmd@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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