04-547. Railroad Cost Recovery Procedures-Productivity Adjustment

AGENCY:

Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION:

Proposed adoption of a Railroad Cost Recovery Procedures productivity adjustment.

SUMMARY:

The Surface Transportation Board proposes to adopt 1.022 (2.2%) as the measure of average change in railroad productivity for the 1998-2002 (5-year) period. The current value of 1.9% was developed for the 1997 to 2001 period.

DATES:

Comments are due 15 day after the date of this decision.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

The proposed productivity adjustment is effective 30 days after the date of service.

ADDRESSES:

Send comments (an original and 10 copies) referring to STB Ex Parte No. 290 (Sub-No. 4) to: Office of the Secretary, Case Control Branch, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. Parties should submit all pleading and attachments on a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 6.0 or 6.1 compatible format.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

H. Jeff Warren, [phone]. Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) for the hearing impaired: 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Additional information is contained in the Board's decision, which is available on our Web site http://www.stb.dot.gov. To purchase a copy of the full decision, write to, call, or pick up in person from the Board's contractor, ASAP Document Solutions, Suite 405, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20006, phone [phone]. [Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through FIRS: 1-800-877-8339.]

This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the human environment or energy conservation.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), we conclude that our action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities within the meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

Decided: January 6, 2004.

By the Board, Chairman Nober.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.