82 FR 41303 - Public Listening Session Regarding CSX Transportation, Inc.'s Rail Service Issues; Joint Petition of Foresight Coal Sales, LLC, Sugar Camp Energy, LLC, Williamson Energy, LLC, and Consolidation Coal Company To Address the Adequacy of CSX Transportation's Coal Transportation Service Originating in the Illinois Basin and Northern Appalachia

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 167 (August 30, 2017)

The Surface Transportation Board (Board) will hold a public listening session on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at its offices in Washington, DC, to hear from CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), on its efforts to implement its new operating plan and to address service problems on its network, to provide shippers the opportunity to report on recent CSXT rail service issues they have experienced, and to discuss whether additional service recovery efforts may be necessary.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 167 (Wednesday, August 30, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41303-41304]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-18399]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. EP 742; Docket No. EP 741]


Public Listening Session Regarding CSX Transportation, Inc.'s 
Rail Service Issues; Joint Petition of Foresight Coal Sales, LLC, Sugar 
Camp Energy, LLC, Williamson Energy, LLC, and Consolidation Coal 
Company To Address the Adequacy of CSX Transportation's Coal 
Transportation Service Originating in the Illinois Basin and Northern 
Appalachia

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice of public listening session.

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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board (Board) will hold a public 
listening session on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at its offices in 
Washington, DC, to hear from CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), on its 
efforts to implement its new operating plan and to address service 
problems on its network, to provide shippers the opportunity to report 
on recent CSXT rail service issues they have experienced, and to 
discuss whether additional service recovery efforts may be necessary.

DATES: The public listening session will be held on September 12, 2017, 
beginning at 9:30 a.m., in the Hearing Room at the Board's headquarters 
located at 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC. The listening session will 
be open for public observation. Any person wishing to speak at the 
listening session shall file with the Board a notice of intent to 
participate, identifying the party and the proposed speaker, no later 
than September 7, 2017. The notices of intent to participate are not 
required to be served on the parties of record; they will be posted to 
the Board's Web site when they are filed.

ADDRESSES: All filings may be submitted either via the Board's e-filing 
format or in the traditional paper format. Any person using e-filing 
should attach a document and otherwise comply with the instructions at 
the ``E-FILING'' link on the Board's Web site at ``www.stb.gov.'' Any 
person submitting a filing in the traditional paper format should send 
an original and 10 copies of the filing to: Surface Transportation 
Board, Attn: Docket No. EP 742, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-
0001.
    Copies of written submissions will be posted to the Board's Web 
site. Copies of the submissions will also be available (for a fee) by 
contacting the Board's Chief Records Officer at (202) 245-0238 or 395 E 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy C. Ziehm at (202) 245-0391. 
Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Rail network reliability is essential to the 
Nation's economy and is the foremost priority of the Board. Since July, 
the Board has taken a number of actions in response to the service 
problems resulting from CSXT's ongoing implementation of a new 
operating plan and has been closely monitoring CSXT's performance. In a 
July 27, 2017 letter, the Board Members requested that CSXT's senior 
management participate in weekly calls with the Board's Rail Customer 
and Public Assistance (RCPA)

[[Page 41304]]

staff to discuss the carrier's efforts to restore reliable service to 
its shippers.\1\ In a follow-up August 14, 2017 letter, the Board 
requested that CSXT submit weekly specific service performance data to 
facilitate these ongoing calls.\2\ The performance data, in addition to 
the data already submitted in U.S. Rail Service Issues--Performance 
Data Reporting, Docket No. EP 724 (Sub-No. 4), is assisting the Board 
in actively monitoring CSXT's service levels and the effectiveness of 
its recovery efforts.
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    \1\ See Letter from Board Members Ann D. Begeman, Daniel R. 
Elliott III, and Deb Miller, Surface Transportation Board, to E. 
Hunter Harrison, President and Chief Exec. Officer, CSX 
Transportation, Inc. (July 27, 2017) (on file with the Board), 
available at http://www.stb.gov (open tab at ``E-Library, select 
``Correspondence'', select ``Non-Docketed Public Correspondence'', 
follow ``07/27/2017'' hyperlink).
    \2\ See Letter from Board Members Ann D. Begeman, Daniel R. 
Elliott III, and Deb Miller, Surface Transportation Board, to E. 
Hunter Harrison, President and Chief Exec. Officer, CSX 
Transportation, Inc. (Aug. 14, 2017) (on file with the Board), 
available at http://www.stb.gov (open tab at ``E-Library, select 
``Correspondence'', select ``Non-Docketed Public Correspondence'', 
follow ``08/14/2017'' hyperlink).
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    The Board has also been working to ensure that CSXT addresses 
service issues that shippers inform the Board about as they arise. 
Representatives of RCPA have held numerous meetings and conference 
calls with affected parties to better understand the specific problems 
shippers are experiencing and to help facilitate a swift resolution 
whenever possible. In monitoring CSXT's recent problems, the Board has 
been providing information to all stakeholders in a transparent manner, 
requesting specific service performance data, and posting that data to 
the Board's Web site. RCPA is also having frequent phone conversations 
with CSXT's senior management regarding these informal service 
complaints.
    CSXT has indicated that its internal metrics are showing that 
service in some areas is improving and that noticeable improvements 
should be more evident after Labor Day. Therefore, the Board will hold 
a public listening session beginning at 9:30 a.m., on Tuesday, 
September 12, 2017, at its offices in Washington, DC, to hear firsthand 
from CSXT's senior officials and affected shippers about CSXT's rail 
service and efforts to improve service.
    The Board will direct executive-level officials from CSXT to appear 
at the listening session to discuss their ongoing and future efforts to 
improve service and to provide an estimated timeline for recovery of 
normal service levels. The Board encourages impacted shippers to appear 
at the public listening session to discuss their service concerns and 
comment on the railroad's service recovery efforts. The Board's 
listening session is not intended to replace the data collection or the 
informal and confidential dispute resolution process facilitated by 
RCPA, and stakeholders who do not have formal complaints pending 
(discussed below) are encouraged to continue communicating through that 
office.
    Additionally, in the past two weeks, some CSXT shippers have filed 
formal complaints against CSXT seeking service-related injunctive 
relief and/or money damages (Docket Nos. NOR 42154, NOR 42155, and NOR 
42156); a petition to institute a proceeding to address the adequacy of 
CSXT's service (Docket No. EP 741); and a request for an emergency 
service order (by letter addressed to the Board Members).\3\ The Board 
believes that the concerns raised in the petition in Docket No. EP 741 
are best addressed in this docket, as well as through the Board's other 
ongoing efforts; accordingly, we will deny the petition in EP 741 to 
institute a proceeding as unnecessary, but without prejudice to taking 
more formal action at a later time, if appropriate. In the meantime, 
the Board will continue to address these important service reliability 
issues in a transparent manner to ensure shippers, carriers, and all 
interested stakeholders are fully informed about the Board's work.
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    \3\ That letter shortly will be posted as a filing on the 
Board's Web site under Docket No. EP 742.
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    It is ordered:
    1. A public listening session will be held on Tuesday, September 
12, 2017, at 9:30 a.m., in the Board's Hearing Room, at 395 E Street 
SW., Washington, DC, as described above.
    2. CSXT is directed to appear at the listening session through 
executive-level officials.
    3. By September 7, 2017, any person wishing to speak at the 
listening session shall file with the Board a notice of intent to 
participate (identifying the party and the proposed speaker). The 
notices of intent to participate need not be served on the parties of 
record; they will be posted to the Board's Web site when they are 
filed.
    4. The petition to institute a proceeding in Docket No. EP 741 is 
denied without prejudice.
    5. This decision is effective on its service date.

    Decided: August 24, 2017.

    By the Board, Board Members Begeman, Elliott, and Miller.
Rena Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-18399 Filed 8-29-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P