-----------------------------***----------------------------- >From the Surface Transportation Board, Washington, D.C. -----------------------------***----------------------------- The Surface Transportation Board today provided a schedule of speakers' appearances and their time allocations for the STB's July 27, 2006 public hearing in the proceeding entitled Review of Rail Access and Competition Issues--Renewed Petition of The Western Coal Traffic League, STB Ex Parte No. 575. The Thursday, July 27, hearing will begin at 10:00 a.m. in Room 760, the STB's hearing room, on the 7th Floor of the agency's headquarters in the Mercury Building, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. The STB announced the public hearing in STB Ex Parte No. 575 in a decision issued to the public on June 2, 2006. That decision established due dates for those wishing to speak at the hearing to advise the agency of their intent to participate, to request a time allotment, and to submit summaries of the written testimony. Based on submissions received, the STB has set the hearing's schedule of speakers as shown on the Attachment to this news release. The Western Coal Traffic League (WCTL) has requested that the STB adopt rules limiting the extent to which agreements for the sale or lease of railroad lines, by larger railroads to existing or newly created short line railroads, may contain "paper barriers" restricting the incentive or ability of a purchaser or tenant to interchange traffic with connecting railroads that could compete with the seller or landlord railroad. The purpose of this hearing is further to explore this topic, to give the STB Members the opportunity to ask questions, and to provide a forum for the expression of views by rail shippers, railroads, and other interested persons, on WCTL's renewed petition. Attendance instructions. The STB requests that all persons attending the hearing use the Mercury Building's main entrance at 1925 K Street (on the northeast corner of the intersection of 20th and K Streets). There will be no reserved seating. Please plan to arrive early enough to be seated no later than 9:45 a.m. For security reasons, all persons should be prepared to produce photo identification (such as a driver's license), pass through a metal detector, and submit to an inspection of all briefcases, handbags, and any other bags. Visitors must be cleared through security in the STB's Suite 100 (on the 1st Floor, at the top of the ramp to the left of the main lobby). Prior to being escorted to the hearing room, each visitor will have made for him a photo-identification pass necessary for hearing-room entry. Quiet laptops and tape recorders may be brought into the hearing room, but absolutely no provision will be made for the connection of personal computers to agency telephone lines. Cellular telephone use is not permitted in the hearing room, or in the rear anteroom; cell phones may be used only outside the hearing room. The STB's hearing room complies with the Americans With Disabilities Act, and persons needing such accommodations should telephone Beverly Ledbetter, in the STB's Office of Proceedings, at (202) 565-1653, or Betty Uzzle at (202) 565-1500, by the close of business on July 20, 2006. As the STB Members will have read written submissions in advance of the hearing, speakers should not read those submissions at the hearing but, instead, briefly summarize key points. If a party wishes to enhance its presentation by using projector-adaptable visual displays and/or handouts, it may do so. Agency staff will be available to demonstrate the hearing room's projection system on July 26, 2006, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please telephone (202) 565-1653, or (202) 565-1500, to make arrangements. The schedule of speakers' appearances and time allocations was provided in a decision issued to the public yesterday, July 17, 2006, in STB Ex Parte No. 575( http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/readingroom.nsf/WebDecisionID/37201?OpenDocument ) . That decision is available for viewing and downloading via the agency's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov. A printed copy of the Board's decision also is available for a fee by contacting ASAP Document Solutions, 9332 Annapolis Rd., Suite 103, Lanham, MD 20706, telephone (202) 306-4004, or via asapdc@xxxxxxxxxxxx A video broadcast of the hearing will be accessible via the STB's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov, under "Information Center"/"Webcast"/"Live Video" on the home page. ### Attachment Surface Transportation Board Public Hearing REVIEW OF RAIL ACCESS AND COMPETITION ISSUES--RENEWED PETITION OF THE WESTERN COAL TRAFFIC LEAGUE, STB Ex Parte No. 575 SCHEDULE OF APPEARANCES Party / Speaker / Time Allotted Panel I Western Coal Traffic League David Laffere / Andrew B. Kolesar III / 10 minutes Alliance for Rail Competition Michael E. Grisso / 10 minutes American Chemistry Council Thomas E. Schick / 10 minutes Edison Electric Institute Michael F. McBride / 5 minutes National Grain and Feed Ass'n Andrew P. Goldstein / 5 minutes Panel II Association of American Railroads Louis P. Warchot / 10 minutes American Short Line and Regional R.R. Ass'n Keith T. Borman / 5 minutes Railroad Industry Working Group J. Reilly McCarren / 5 minutes Union Pacific Railroad Company John T. Gray / 5 minutes Panel III Ameren Energy Fuels and Services Co. Sandra Brown / 10 minutes Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. Steve Sharp / 10 minutes Dow Chemical Co. Jeff Baker / Mike Munro / 10 minutes Entergy Services and Entergy Arkansas, Inc. Jeffrey G. Herndon / 10 minutes Panel IV Columbus & Greenville R. Co. Roger Bell / 5 minutes Genesee & Wyoming, Inc., and Farmrail System, Inc. Charles N. Marshall / 5 minutes Oil Creek & Titusville Lines, Inc. Robert Dingman / 5 minutes Reading Blue Mountain & Northern R. Co. Wayne A. Michel / 5 minutes Watco Companies, Inc. Rich Webb / 5 minutes Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company Larry Parsons / 5 minutes ### -----------------------------***----------------------------- If you have received this e-mail in error or wish to unsubscribe from STB News, please send an e-mail message to stbnewslistserver@xxxxxxxxxxx and place "unsubscribe stbnews" as the body of the message.
