81 FR 46151 - Watco Holdings, Inc.-Continuance in Control Exemption-Kanawha River Railroad, LLC

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 136 (July 15, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 136 (Friday, July 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46151-46152]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16795]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36029]


Watco Holdings, Inc.--Continuance in Control Exemption--Kanawha 
River Railroad, LLC

    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 Kanawha River Railroad, LLC (KNWA), upon KNWA's becoming a 
Class III rail carrier. Watco owns, indirectly, 100% of the issued and 
outstanding stock of KNWA, a limited liability company.\1\
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    \1\ The notice of exemption was initially filed on June 28, 
2016. After representative consultation with the Board, the filing 
was resubmitted on July 1, 2016, and therefore that is the official 
filing date and the basis for all dates in this notice.
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    This transaction is related to a concurrently filed verified notice 
of exemption in Kanawha River Railroad, L.L.C.--Lease Exemption 
Containing Interchange Commitment--Norfolk Southern Railway Company, 
Docket No. FD 36028, wherein KNWA seeks Board approval to lease and 
operate approximately nine rail segments, totaling 308.85 miles of rail 
line from the Norfolk Southern Railway Company. The line segments run 
(1) between mileposts V 382.0 at Maben, W. Va., and V 435.0 at DB 
(Deepwater Bridge), W. Va.; (2) between milepost RR 7.0 at Refugee, 
Ohio, and milepost RR 116.5 at Hobson Yard, Ohio; (3) between milepost 
WV 125.6 at Conco, Ohio and milepost WV 253.4 at Cornelia, W. Va.; (4) 
between milepost VC 0.0 at Vaco Junction, W. Va., and milepost VC 0.84 
at Deepwater, W. Va. (5) between Hitop RT at milepost TP 0.0 at 
Charleston, W. Va., and the end of the track at milepost TP 1.0; (6) 
between Jones IT at milepost JT 0.0 at Jones, W. Va., and the end of 
the track at milepost JT 1.3; (7) between milepost VG 0.0 at Virwest, 
W. Va., and milepost VG 12.1 at Bolt, W. Va., (8) between milepost MY 
0.0 at Milam, W. Va., and the end of the track at MY 1.0l; and (9) 
between milepost PE 0.0 at Putt, W. Va., and milepost PE 2.3 at Putt 
End Branch, W. Va.
    The transaction may be consummated on or after July 31, 2016, the 
effective date of the exemption, 30 days after the supplemental notice 
of exemption was filed.
    Watco currently controls, indirectly, 33 Class III rail carriers 
and one Class II rail carrier, collectively operating in 23 states. For 
a complete list of these rail carriers, and the states in which they 
operate, see Watco's notice of exemption filed on July 1, 2016. The 
notice is available on the Board's Web site at WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.
    Watco represents that: (1) The rail lines to be operated by KNWA do 
not connect with any other railroads operated by the carrier in the 
Watco's corporate family; (2) the continuance in control is not part of 
a series of anticipated transactions that would connect the rail lines 
to be operated by KNWA with any other railroad in applicant's 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).
    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. Section 11326(c), however, does 
not provide for labor protection for transactions under 11324 and 11325 
that involve only Class III rail carriers. Accordingly, the Board may 
not impose labor protective conditions here, because all of the 
carriers involved are Class III carriers.
    If the notice contains false or misleading information, the 
exemption

[[Page 46152]]

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 July 22, 2016 (at least seven 
days before the exemption becomes effective).
    An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket No. 
FD 36029, 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 Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 
N. Wacker Drive, Suite 920, Chicago, IL 60606, and Karl Morell, Karl 
Morell & Associates, Suite 225, 655 Fifteenth St. NW., Washington, DC 
20005.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.

    Decided: July 12, 2016.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Tia Delano,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2016-16795 Filed 7-14-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P