[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 219 (Tuesday, November 15, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-28130]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: November 15, 1994]
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INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION
[Finance Docket No. 32173 et al.]
Orange County Transportation Authority/Riverside County
Transportation Commission/San Bernardino Associated Governments/San
Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board/North San Diego County
Transit Development Board--Acquisition Exemption--The Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe Railway Company
AGENCY: Interstate Commerce Commission.
ACTION: Petition for exemption and other relief.
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SUMMARY: We are seeking public comments on a petition filed by commuter
transportation agencies in the Los Angeles, CA, area. The agencies
request a blanket exemption from 49 U.S.C. Subtitle IV (Subtitle IV)
concerning their operation of properties acquired from The Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company (Santa Fe). The agencies also
request that we clarify a prior decision by finding that the operation
of a line acquired from the Southern Pacific Transportation Company
(Southern Pacific) by one of the agencies has already received a
blanket exemption from Subtitle IV. Finally, the petition requests that
we establish procedures for their use in implementing actions taken
under the authority of exemptions from Subtitle IV. For the details,
see the Supplementary Information below.
DATES: Statements are due by December 15, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Send an original and 10 copies of pleadings referring to
Finance Docket No. 32173 et al. to: Office of the Secretary, Case
Control Branch, Interstate Commerce Commission, 1201 Constitution
Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20423. A copy of each pleading should
also be sent to the commuter transportation agencies' representative:
Charles A. Spitulnik, Hopkins & Sutter, 888 16th Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph Dettmar, (202) 927-5660. [TDD
for the hearing impaired: (202) 927-5721.]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Certain transportation agencies in the area
of Los Angeles, CA, have been seeking to acquire right-of-way from
freight railroads for the provision of commuter service. On October 16,
1992, in Finance Docket No. 32173, five county transportation agencies
in the Los Angeles area (County Agencies)1 jointly filed a notice
invoking our class exemption to allow their acquisition of certain
railroad lines from Santa Fe. The lines acquired from Santa Fe through
Finance Docket No. 32173 are identified in the Appendix, below. In Los
Angeles County Transportation Commission--Acquisition Exemption--The
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, Finance Docket No. 32172
(ICC served Dec. 2, 1992), the Commission exempted other conveyances
from Santa Fe to the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission
(LACTC).2 The lines acquired from Santa Fe through Finance Docket
No. 32172 are also identified in the Appendix, below.
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\1\ The agencies are: Orange County Transportation Authority;
Riverside County Transportation Commission; San Bernardino
Associated Governments; San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development
Board; and North San Diego County Transit Development Board.
\2\ On April 1, 1993, LACTC merged with the Southern California
Rapid Transit District to form a new entity, the Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA).
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The extent of our jurisdiction over the agencies' acquisition and
operation of lines from freight railroads has been the subject of
several proceedings before this agency. In Orange County Transportation
Authority, et al.--Acquisition Exemption--The Atchison, Topeka and
Santa Fe Railway Company, 10 I.C.C.2d 78 (1994) (Orange County), we
upheld our jurisdiction over the acquisitions from Santa Fe involved in
Finance Docket Nos. 32173 and 32172. Because we upheld our jurisdiction
over the acquisitions, we denied the agencies' request that we vacate
the exemptions involved in those proceedings, exemptions that they
requested solely as a protective device to legalize the acquisitions in
the event that we affirmed our jurisdiction over them.
In their petition filed July 15, 1994, the five County Agencies and
the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (jointly,
the Transit Agencies) request a blanket exemption from Subtitle IV for
all of the Santa Fe properties whose acquisition was exempted in
Finance Docket Nos. 32173 and 32172. The Transit Agencies seek this
exemption to be free of the obligation to provide freight service and
other regulatory requirements that accompany the acquisition of active
lines from freight railroads. The requested exemption would, for
example, allow the Transit Agencies to abandon or to discontinue
freight service over the lines that were acquired without seeking our
prior approval. We seek comments on this request.
In Orange County, one of five County Agencies, the San Bernardino
Associated Governments (SANBAG), received a blanket exemption from
Subtitle IV for its acquisition and operation of a single line from
Southern Pacific, the Baldwin Park Line. In their petition filed July
15, 1994, the Transit Agencies argue that our decision in Orange County
must be interpreted as also granting a blanket exemption from Subtitle
IV for a second acquisition, i.e., the Orange County Transportation
Authority's acquisition of the West Santa Ana Branch.3 The Transit
Agencies request that we clarify our decision in Orange County to this
effect. We seek comments on this request.
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\3\In particular, a portion of the West Santa Ana Branch at
milepost 495.14 near Paramount to approximately milepost 507.84, the
centerline of Beach Boulevard near Stanton.
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Finally, the Transit Agencies request that we establish procedures
for the implementation of actions taken under the authority of blanket
exemptions from Subtitle IV. Such an action could include, for example,
abandonment of freight service over the line. As noted, one county
agency, SANBAG, has already received such an exemption concerning its
acquisition and operation of one line, the Baldwin Park Line, and
similar exemptions may be granted for other lines as a result of this
petition. The Transit Agencies request (Petition, p. 12) that, in the
event that they invoke the exemption and seek to abandon lines covered
by it, they be required only to file a notice identifying the line
segment involved, the action to be taken and the applicable labor
protection arrangement (if any is required) and incorporating by
reference the environmental and historic reports filed by the railroad
that has sought to discontinue providing freight service over the line.
We seek comments on this proposed procedure.
On August 25, 1994, a group of railroad unions (the Unions) filed a
reply in opposition to the Transit Agencies' petition filed on July 15,
1994. In their reply, the Unions argue that: (1) We lack the authority
to grant blanket exemptions from Subtitle IV; (2) even if we were to
assert jurisdiction to grant blanket exemptions from Subtitle IV, the
Transit Agencies have not satisfied the requirements of 49 U.S.C.
10505(a) for granting such an exemption; (3) we should not grant the
requested clarification of Orange County on the grounds (a) that Orange
County clearly did not exempt any properties from Subtitle IV and (b)
that decision is administratively final; and (4) in view of their
contention that we lack authority to grant blanket exemptions from
Subtitle IV, we need not adopt procedures for implementing such
exemptions. According to the Unions, any subsequent transactions are
subject to regulation, and procedures are already in place to process
regulated transactions. We also seek comments on the arguments raised
by the Unions. The Unions may supplement their earlier comments.
This request for comments will not significantly affect the quality
of the human environment or the conservation of energy resources.
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 553.
Decided: October 31, 1994.
By the Commission, Chairman McDonald, Vice Chairman Phillips,
and Commissioners Simmons, Morgan, and Owen. Vice Chairman Phillips
recused herself in this proceeding.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
Appendix--Santa Fe Trackage Proposed for Blanket Subtitle IV Exemption
I. Lines Acquired Through Finance Docket No. 32173
1. Pasadena Subdivision between milepost 82.62 and milepost
140.05 at Mission Tower;
2. San Diego Subdivision between milepost 267.70 in San Diego
and milepost 165.55 at Fullerton, including the Fallbrook Yard but
excluding interchange tracks at Anaheim and Santa Ana and the Tustin
Spur Track;
3. Olive Subdivision from milepost .14 at Atwood to milepost
5.37 at Olive Junction;
4. Escondido Subdivision between milepost .10 at Escondido
Junction and milepost 21.31 in Escondido;
5. San Jacinto Subdivision between milepost .30 at Highgrove and
milepost 38.33 at San Jacinto; and
6. Redlands Subdivision between milepost .12 at San Bernardino
and milepost 13.40 at or near Mentone.
These mileposts reflect the County Agencies' corrections to
their prior statement of them brought to our attention by a letter
filed May 26, 1994 (compare Orange County, 10 I.C.C.2d at 80 n.4).
II. Lines Acquired Through Finance Docket No. 32172
1. Pasadena Subdivision between milepost 104.2 and milepost
140.05 at Mission tower in Los Angeles County;
2. San Bernardino Subdivision between milepost 140.05 at Mission
Tower and milepost 143.19 in Los Angeles County; and
3. Harbor Subdivision between milepost 0.05 at Redondo Junction
and milepost 26.36 near Watson, but excluding Van Ness Yard, Malabar
Yard, and El Segundo Yard, all in Los Angeles County.
[FR Doc. 94-28130 Filed 11-14-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7035-01-P
