40067                                          SERVICE DATE – JULY 2, 2009

SEC

 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

 

DECISION

 

STB Ex Parte No. 690

 

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF RAIL BANKING:

A REVIEW AND LOOK AHEAD

 

Decided:  July 2, 2009

 

The Board will hold a public hearing to allow interested persons to comment on issues related to the impact, effectiveness, and future of rail banking under Section 8(d) of the National Trails System Act, on Wednesday, July 8, 2009, in the 1st floor hearing room at the Board’s headquarters at 395 E Street, S.W., Washington, DC.  The hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m.

 

The Board announced the hearing by notice served on May 21, 2009, and established due dates for persons wishing to speak at the hearing to advise the Board of their intent to participate and request a time allotment.  Based on those submissions, the Board is issuing this decision to set the schedule of speakers for the hearing.

 

The schedule of appearances and the time provided for each party appear in the Appendix to this decision.  Written submissions by hearing participants, as well as other interested persons, were due by June 29, 2009.  Because the Board will have read the written submissions in advance of the hearing, witnesses should not read their written submissions at the hearing, but instead should summarize their key points.

 

If a party wishes to enhance its presentation by using projector-adaptable visual displays and/or handouts, it may do so.  Staff will be available to demonstrate the hearing room’s projection system on July 7, 2009, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Please call (202) 245-0245, to make arrangements.

 

Instructions for Attendance at Hearing

 

            The STB requests that all persons attending the hearing use the Patriots Plaza Building’s main entrance at 395 E Street, S.W. (closest to the northeast corner of the intersection of 4th and E Streets).  There will be no reserved seating, except for witnesses.  The building will be open to the public at 7:00 a.m. and participants are encouraged to arrive early.  There is no public parking in the building.

 

Upon arrival, check in at the 1st floor security desk in the main lobby.  Be prepared to produce valid photographic identification (driver’s license or local, state, or federal-government identification); sign-in at the security desk; receive a hearing room pass (to be displayed at all times); submit to an inspection of all briefcases, handbags, etc.; then pass through a metal detector.  Upon entering the hearing room, witnesses should check in with the Board’s Acting Secretary.  Persons choosing to exit the building during the course of the hearing must surrender their hearing room passes to security personnel and will be subject to the above security procedures if they choose to re-enter the building.  Hearing room passes likewise will be collected from those exiting the hearing upon its conclusion.

 

Laptops and recorders may be used in the hearing room, but no provision will be made for connecting personal computers to the Internet.  Cellular telephone use is not permitted in the hearing room; cell phones may be used quietly in the corridor surrounding the hearing room, or in the building’s main lobby.

 

            The Board’s hearing room complies with the Americans With Disabilities Act, and persons needing such accommodations should call (202) 245-0245, by the close of business on July 7, 2009.

 

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

 

            It is ordered:

 

            1.  Time for the hearing is allotted as reflected in the Appendix to this decision.

 

            2.  This decision is effective on the date of service.

 

            By the Board, Anne K. Quinlan, Acting Secretary.

 

 

 

 

Anne K. Quinlan

Acting Secretary

 

 

APPENDIX

 

SCHEDULE OF APPEARANCES

 

July 8, 2009

 

Party                                                                                                               Time Allotted

 

Panel I:  Trail User Interests

 

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy                                                                              15 minutes

Marianne Fowler

 

Madison County Transit                                                                                    10 minutes

Charles H. Montange   

 

 

Panel II:  Railroad Interests

 

Association of American Railroads                                                                    5 minutes

Edward R. Hamberger

 

CSX Transportation, Inc.                                                                                  5 minutes

Peter J. Shudtz

 

CNJ Rail Corporation                                                                           5 minutes

Eric S. Strohmeyer

 

 

Panel III:  Other Interested Parties

 

National Association of Reversionary Property Owners                         20 minutes

Kathleen Kauffman

 

Danaya C. Wright, University of Florida, Levin College of Law             10 minutes