82 FR 9109 - West Branch Intermediate Holdings, LLC and Continental Rail LLC-Acquisition of Control Exemption-Cimarron Valley Railroad, L.C., Clarkdale Arizona Central Railroad, L.C., Wyoming and Colorado Railroad Company, Inc.

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 21 (February 2, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 21 (Thursday, February 2, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 9109]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02285]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. FD 36084]


West Branch Intermediate Holdings, LLC and Continental Rail LLC--
Acquisition of Control Exemption--Cimarron Valley Railroad, L.C., 
Clarkdale Arizona Central Railroad, L.C., Wyoming and Colorado Railroad 
Company, Inc.

    West Branch Intermediate Holdings, LLC (West Branch) and 
Continental Rail LLC (Continental) have filed a verified notice of 
exemption pursuant to 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2), for West Branch to acquire 
control of, and for Continental to manage, the following Class III rail 
carriers: Cimarron Valley Railroad, L.C. (Cimarron), Clarkdale Arizona 
Central Railroad, L.C. (Clarkdale), and Wyoming and Colorado Railroad 
Company, Inc. (WYCO).\1\ David L. Durbano (Durbano) commonly controls 
these railroads now as well as a fourth Class III carrier, Southwestern 
Railroad, Inc. (Southwestern).\2\ The applicants have submitted to the 
Board a letter of intent concerning the transaction in this docket and 
will submit a final Purchase and Sale Agreement once negotiations are 
complete and the agreement is executed.\3\
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    \1\ West Branch currently controls another Class III carrier, 
Delta Southern Railroad, Inc. (Delta), and it will continue to do so 
after it consummates its acquisition of Cimarron, Clarkdale, and 
WYCO.
    \2\ The applicants do not intend to acquire control of 
Southwestern. Instead, West Branch will acquire certain assets of 
Southwestern through a newly formed subsidiary, New Mexico Central 
Railroad, LLC (NMCR). On the same day the applicants filed their 
verified notice in this docket, NMCR filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to acquire and operate those 
Southwestern assets. See N.M. Cent. R.R.--Acquis. & Operation 
Exemption--Sw. R.R., Whitewater Division, Docket No. FD 36085. 
Concurrently, West Branch and Continental filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) for West Branch to acquire and 
for Continental to manage NMCR upon NMCR's becoming a Class III 
carrier. See W. Branch Intermediate Holdings & Cont'l Rail--
Continuance in Control Exemption--N. M. Cent. R.R., Docket No. FD 
36087.
    \3\ The applicants filed their letter of intent under seal and 
have moved that the Board issue a protective order governing access 
to the confidential materials. That motion is being addressed 
separately.
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    The applicants certify that: (1) The carriers that are the subject 
of this notice do not connect with each other, Delta, or NMCR; (2) this 
transaction is not part of a series of anticipated transactions that 
would connect these rail carriers with each other; and (3) the 
transaction does not involve a Class I carrier. The proposed 
transaction is therefore exempt from the prior approval requirements of 
49 U.S.C. 11323 pursuant to 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2).
    The earliest the transaction could be consummated is February 16, 
2017, the effective date of the exemption (30 days after the verified 
notice was filed). The parties expect to consummate the transaction on 
or about February 17, 2017.
    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 Sec. Sec.  
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 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. Petitions to stay must be filed by February 9, 2017 (at 
least seven days before the exemption becomes effective).
    An original and ten copies of all pleadings, referring to Docket 
No. FD 36084, must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 
E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each 
pleading must be served on: John D. Heffner, Strasburger & Price, LLP, 
1025 Connecticut Ave. NW., Suite 717, Washington, DC 20036.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
``WWW.STB.GOV.''

    Decided: January 30, 2017.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-02285 Filed 2-1-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P