60--day FR notice

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 9 / Friday, January 13, 2012 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
Information Collections; Request for
Comments
60-day notice and request for
comments.

ACTION:

As part of its continuing effort
to reduce paperwork burdens, and as
required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3519 (PRA),
the Surface Transportation Board
(Board) gives notice of its intent to
request from the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) approval without
change of the seven existing collections
described below.
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/or summarized in the
Board’s request for OMB approval.
DATES: Written comments are due on
March 13, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Direct all comments to
Marilyn Levitt, Surface Transportation
Board, Suite 1260, 395 E Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20423–0001, or to
levittm@stb.dot.gov. Comments should
be identified as ‘‘Paperwork Reduction
Act Comments,’’ and should refer to the
title and control number of the specific
collection(s) commented upon.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
additional information or copies of the
information collection(s) contact Paul
Aguiar at (202) 245–0323 or aguiarp@
stb.dot.gov. Federal Information Relay
Service (FIRS) for the hearing impaired:
(800) 877–8339.
Subjects: In this notice the Board is
requesting comments on the following
information collections:

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

SUMMARY:

Collection Number 1
Title: Class I Railroad Annual Report.
OMB Control Number: 2140–0009.
Form Number: R1.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time per Response: No
more than 800 hours, based on

VerDate Mar<15>2010

15:46 Jan 12, 2012

Jkt 226001

information provided by the railroad
industry during the 1990s. This estimate
includes time spent reviewing
instructions; searching existing data
sources; gathering and maintaining the
data needed; completing and reviewing
the collection of information; and
converting the data from the carrier’s
individual accounting system to the
Board’s Uniform System of Accounts
(USOA), which ensures that the
information will be presented in a
consistent format across all reporting
railroads, See 49 U.S.C. 11141–43,
11161–64; 49 CFR 1200–1201.
Frequency of Response: Annual.
Total Annual Hour Burden: No more
than 5,600 hours annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: No ‘‘non-hour cost’’ burdens
associated with this collection have
been identified.
Needs and Uses: Annual reports are
required to be filed by Class I railroads
under 49 U.S.C. 11145. The reports
show operating expenses and operating
statistics of the carriers. Operating
expenses include costs for right-of-way
and structures, equipment, train and
yard operations, and general and
administrative expenses. Operating
statistics include such items as carmiles, revenue-ton-miles, and gross tonmiles. The reports are used by the
Board, other Federal agencies, and
industry groups to monitor and assess
railroad industry growth, financial
stability, traffic, and operations, and to
identify industry changes that may
affect national transportation policy.
Information from this report is also
entered into the Board’s Uniform Rail
Costing System (URCS), which is a cost
measurement methodology. URCS,
which was developed by the Board
pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 11161, is used as
a tool in rail rate proceedings, in
accordance with 49 U.S.C. 10707(d), to
calculate the variable costs associated
with providing a particular service. The
Board also uses this information to carry
out more effectively other of its
regulatory responsibilities, including:
Acting on railroad requests for authority
to engage in Board-regulated financial
transactions such as mergers,
acquisitions of control, and
consolidations, see 49 U.S.C. 11323–
11324; analyzing the information that
the Board obtains through the annual
railroad industry waybill sample, see 49
CFR 1244; measuring off-branch costs in
railroad abandonment proceedings, in
accordance with 49 CFR 1152.32(n);
developing the ‘‘rail cost adjustment
factors,’’ in accordance with 49 U.S.C.
10708; and conducting investigations
and rulemakings.

PO 00000

Frm 00100

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

2129

Information from certain schedules
contained in these reports is compiled
and published on the Board’s Web site,
http://www.stb.dot.gov.http://www.stb.
dot.gov./Information in these reports is
not available from any other source.
Collection Number 2
Title: Quarterly Report of Revenues,
Expenses, and Income—Railroads (Form
RE&I) .
OMB Control Number: 2140–0013.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time per Response: 6
hours.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 168 hours
annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: No ‘‘non-hour cost’’ burdens
associated with this collection have
been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection is a
report of railroad operating revenues,
operating expenses and income items; it
is a profit and loss statement, disclosing
net railway operating income on a
quarterly and year-to-date basis for the
current and prior years. See 49 CFR
1243.1. The Board uses the information
in this report to ensure competitive,
efficient, and safe transportation
through general oversight programs that
monitor and forecast the financial and
operating condition of railroads, and
through regulation of railroad rate and
service issues and rail restructuring
proposals, including railroad mergers,
consolidations, acquisitions of control,
and abandonments. Information from
these reports is used by the Board, other
Federal agencies, and industry groups to
monitor and assess industry growth and
operations, detect changes in carrier
financial stability, and identify trends
that may affect the national
transportation system. Some of the
information from these reports is
compiled by the Board in our quarterly
Selected Earnings Data Report, which is
published on the Board’s Web site,
http://www.stb.dot.gov. http://www.stb.
dot.gov./The information contained in
these reports is not available from any
other source.
Collection Number 3
Title: Quarterly Condensed Balance
Sheet—Railroads (Form CBS) .
OMB Control Number: 2140–0014.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.

E:\FR\FM\13JAN1.SGM

13JAN1

2130

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 9 / Friday, January 13, 2012 / Notices

Estimated Time per Response: 6
hours.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 168 hours
annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: No ‘‘non-hour cost’’ burdens
associated with this collection have
been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection
shows the balance, quarterly and
cumulative, for the current and prior
year of the carrier’s assets and liabilities,
gross capital expenditures, and revenue
tons carried. See 49 CFR 1243.2. The
Board uses the information in this
report to ensure competitive, efficient,
and safe transportation through general
oversight programs that monitor and
forecast the financial and operating
condition of railroads, and through
specific regulation of railroad rate and
service issues and rail restructuring
proposals, including railroad mergers,
consolidations, acquisitions of control,
and abandonments. Information from
these reports is used by the Board, other
Federal agencies, and industry groups to
assess industry growth and operations,
detect changes in carrier financial
stability, and identify trends that may
affect the national transportation
system. Revenue ton-miles, which are
reported in these reports, are compiled
and published by the Board in its
quarterly Selected Earnings Data Report,
which is published on the Board’s Web
site, http://www.stb.dot.gov.http://www.
stb.dot.gov./The information contained
in these reports is not available from
any other source.

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Collection Number 4
OMB Control Number: 2140–0004.
Title: Report of Railroad Employees,
Service and Compensation (Wage Forms
A and B).
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time per Response: No
more than 30 hours per quarterly report
and 40 hours per annual summation,
based on information provided by the
railroad industry during the 1990s.
Again, it is likely that the time required
to collect this information is overstated
given the advances made in
computerized data collection and
processing systems.
Frequency of Response: Quarterly,
with an annual summation.
Total Annual Hour Burden: No more
than 1120 hours annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: No ‘‘non-hour cost’’ burdens

VerDate Mar<15>2010

15:46 Jan 12, 2012

Jkt 226001

associated with this collection have
been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection
shows the number of employees, service
hours, and compensation, by employee
group (e.g., executive, professional,
maintenance-of-way and equipment,
and transportation), of the reporting
railroads. See 49 CFR 1245. The
information is used by the Board to
forecast labor costs and measure the
efficiency of the reporting railroads. The
information is also used by the Board to
evaluate proposed regulated
transactions that may impact rail
employees, including mergers and
consolidations, acquisitions of control,
purchases, and abandonments. Other
Federal agencies and industry groups,
including the Railroad Retirement
Board, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and
Association of American Railroads, use
the information contained in the reports
to monitor railroad operations. Certain
information from these reports is
compiled and published on the Board’s
Web site, http://www.stb.dot.gov. The
information contained in these reports
is not available from any other source.
Collection Number 5
Title: Monthly Report of Number of
Employees of Class I Railroads (Wage
Form C) .
OMB Control Number: 2140–0007.
Form Number: STB Form 350.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Seven.
Estimated Time per Response: 1.25
hours.
Frequency of Response: Monthly.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 105 hours
annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: No ‘‘non-hour cost’’ burdens
associated with this collection have
been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection
shows, for each reporting carrier, the
average number of employees at midmonth in the six job-classification
groups that encompass all railroad
employees. See 49 CFR 1246. The
information is used by the Board to
forecast labor costs and measure the
efficiency of the reporting railroads. The
information is also used by the Board to
evaluate the impact on rail employees of
proposed regulated transactions,
including mergers and consolidations,
acquisitions of control, purchases, and
abandonments. Other Federal agencies
and industry groups, including the
Railroad Retirement Board, Bureau of
Labor Statistics, and Association of
American Railroads, use the information
contained in these reports to monitor

PO 00000

Frm 00101

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

railroad operations. Certain information
from these reports is compiled and
published on the Board’s Web site,
http://www.stb.dot.gov. The information
contained in these reports is not
available from any other source.
Collection Number 6
Title: Annual Report of Cars Loaded
and Cars Terminated.
OMB Control Number: 2140–0011.
Form Number: Form STB–54.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Number of Respondents: Fewer than
10.
Estimated Time per Response: 4
hours.
Frequency of Response: Annual.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 28 hours
annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non Hour Burden’’
Cost: No ‘‘non-hour cost’’ burdens
associated with this collection have
been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection
reports the number of cars loaded and
cars terminated on the reporting
carrier’s line. See 49 CFR 1247.
Information in this report is entered into
the Board’s URCS, the uses of which are
explained under Collection Number 1.
There is no other source for the
information contained in this report.
Collection Number 7
OMB Control Number: 2140–000.
Title: Quarterly Report of Freight
Commodity Statistics (Form QCS).
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension without
change.
Respondents: Class I railroads.
Number of Respondents: Fewer than
10.
Estimated Time per Response: 217
hours .
Frequency of Response: Quarterly,
with an annual summation.
Total Annual Hour Burden: 6,076
hours annually.
Total Annual ‘‘Non-Hour Burden’’
Cost: No ‘‘non-hour cost’’ burdens
associated with this collection have
been identified.
Needs and Uses: This collection,
which is based on information
contained in carload waybills used by
railroads in the ordinary course of
business, reports car loadings and total
revenues by commodity code for each
commodity that moved on the railroad
during the reporting period. See 49 CFR
1248. Information in this report is
entered into the Board’s URCS, the uses
of which are explained under Collection
Number 1. There is no other source for
the information contained in this report.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
PRA, a Federal agency conducting or

E:\FR\FM\13JAN1.SGM

13JAN1

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 9 / Friday, January 13, 2012 / Notices
sponsoring 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
§ 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, Federal
agencies are required, prior to
submitting a collection to OMB for
approval, to provide a 60-day notice and
comment period through publication in
the Federal Register concerning each
proposed collection of information,
including each proposed extension of an
existing collection of information.
Dated: January 10, 2012.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2012–535 Filed 1–12–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. FD 35579]

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Watco Holdings, Inc.—Continuance in
Control Exemption—Birmingham
Terminal Railway, L.L.C.
Watco Holdings, Inc. (Watco), a
noncarrier, has filed a verified notice of
exemption pursuant to 49 CFR
1180.2(d)(2) to continue in control of
Birmingham Terminal Railway, L.L.C.
(BHRR), upon BHRR’s becoming a Class
III rail carrier.
This transaction is related to a
concurrently filed verified notice of
exemption in Docket No. FD 35578,
Birmingham Terminal Railway, L.L.C.—
Acquisition and Operation Exemption—
Birmingham Southern Railroad
Company, wherein BHRR seeks Board
approval to acquire from Birmingham
Southern Railroad Company and
operate approximately 75.59 miles of
rail line, including all sidings and yard
tracks, in Ensley, East Thomas,
Bessemer, Fairfield, and Birmingham,
AL.
The parties intend to consummate the
transaction on or shortly after January
31, 2012.
Watco is a Kansas corporation which
currently controls, indirectly, 24 Class
III railroads and 1 Class II railroad,
operating in 18 States. Watco also owns,
indirectly, 100 percent of the issued and
outstanding stock of BHRR, a Delaware
limited liability company.
Watco controls, through stock
ownership and management, Class III
railroads South Kansas and Oklahoma

VerDate Mar<15>2010

15:46 Jan 12, 2012

Jkt 226001

Railroad, Inc., Palouse River & Coulee
City Railroad, L.L.C., Timber Rock
Railroad, L.L.C., Stillwater Central
Railroad, L.L.C., Eastern Idaho Railroad,
L.L.C., Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad,
L.L.C., Pennsylvania Southwestern
Railroad, L.L.C., Great Northwest
Railroad, L.L.C., Kaw River Railroad,
L.L.C., Mission Mountain Railroad,
L.L.C., Mississippi Southern Railroad,
L.L.C., Yellowstone Valley Railroad,
L.L.C., Louisiana Southern Railroad,
L.L.C., Arkansas Southern Railroad,
L.L.C., Alabama Southern Railroad,
L.L.C., Vicksburg Southern Railroad,
L.L.C., Austin Western Railroad, L.L.C.,
Baton Rouge Southern Railroad, L.L.C.,
Pacific Sun Railroad, L.L.C., Grand Elk
Railroad, Inc., Alabama Warrior
Railway, L.L.C., Boise Valley Railroad,
L.L.C., Autauga Northern Railroad,
L.L.C., Swan Ranch Railroad, L.L.C.,
and Class II railroad Wisconsin &
Southern Railroad, L.L.C.
Watco represents that: (1) The rail
lines to be operated by BHRR do not
connect with any other railroads in the
corporate family; (2) the transaction is
not part of a series of anticipated
transactions that would connect the rail
lines with any other railroads in the
corporate family; and (3) the 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).
Watco states that the purpose of the
proposed transaction is to reduce
overhead expenses, coordinate billing,
maintenance, mechanical, and
personnel policies and practices of its
rail carrier subsidiaries, and thereby
improve the overall efficiency of rail
service provided by the railroads in the
corporate family.
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. Because the transaction
involves the control of one or more
Class III rail carriers and one Class II rail
carrier, the transaction is subject to the
labor protective requirements of 49
U.S.C. 11326(b) and Wisconsin Central
Ltd.—Acquisition Exemption—Lines of
Union Pacific Railroad, 2 S.T.B. 218
(1997).
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. Stay petitions must be
filed no later than January 20, 2012 (at

PO 00000

Frm 00102

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

2131

least 7 days before the exemption
becomes effective).
An original and 10 copies of all
pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD
35579, must be filed with the Surface
Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20423–0001. In
addition, one copy of each pleading
must be served on Karl Morell, 655
Fifteenth Street NW., Suite 225,
Washington, DC 20005.
Board decisions and notices are
available on our Web site at
‘‘WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.’’
Decided: January 10, 2012.
By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell,
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Raina S. White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2012–565 Filed 1–12–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
January 10, 2012.

The Department of the Treasury will
submit the following information
collection request to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, Public Law 104–13, on or after the
date of publication of this notice.
DATES: Comments should be received on
or before February 13, 2012 to be
assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding
the burden estimate, or any other aspect
of the information collection, including
suggestion for reducing the burden, to
(1) Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for
Treasury, New Executive Office
Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC
20503, or email at
OIRA_Submission@OMB.EOP.GOV and
(2) Treasury PRA Clearance Officer,
1750 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite
11020, Washington, DC 20220, or online at www.PRAComment.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Copies of the submission(s) may be
obtained by calling (202) 927–5331,
email at PRA@treasury.gov, or the entire
information collection request maybe
found at www.reginfo.gov.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
OMB Number: 1545–0127.
Type of Review: Extension without
change of a currently approved
collection.

E:\FR\FM\13JAN1.SGM

13JAN1