40892                           SERVICE DATE – LATE RELEASE JULY 21, 2010

DO

 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

 

DECISION

 

Docket No. FD 35305

 

ARKANSAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE CORPORATION—PETITION FOR DECLARATORY ORDER

 

Decided: July 21, 2010

 

The Surface Transportation Board will hold a hearing on Thursday, July 29, 2010, to allow interested parties to comment on the issues in this proceeding.  The hearing will take place at 9:30 a.m. in the Board’s hearing room at the Board’s headquarters located at 395 E Street, S.W., Washington, DC. 

 

The Board announced the hearing by a decision served on June 10, 2010, and the Board established June 18, 2010, as the deadline 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. 

 

If a party wishes to enhance its presentation by using visual displays and/or handouts of material from the record, it may do so.  Parties may copy computer presentations to a Board-supplied laptop for viewing on the hearing room’s television screens.  Staff will be available to demonstrate the hearing room’s screen system and to assist in the copying of visual presentations onto the hearing room laptop computer on July 28, 2010, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Please call (202) 245-0424 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 those scheduled to present comments.  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.  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 26, 2010.

 

            For further information regarding the hearing, contact Nathaniel Bawcombe at (202) 245-0376.  Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at (800) 877-8339.

 

            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, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of Proceedings.

 

 

 

APPENDIX

 

SCHEDULE OF SPEAKERS

 

 

Party                                                                                                               Time Allotted

 

Panel I:  Government

 

United States Department of Transportation                                                      5 minutes

            Paul Samuel Smith

 

Panel II:  Carriers

 

BNSF Railway Company                                                                                 30 minutes

            Samuel M. Sipe, Jr.

            Richard E. Weicher

            Gregory C. Fox

 

Union Pacific Railroad Company                                                                       15 minutes

            Louise Anne Rinn

 

Panel III:  Shipper Interests

 

Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation                                                      30 minutes

            Eric Von Salzen

 

Western Coal Traffic League                                                                            10 minutes

            John H. LeSeur

 

Concerned Captive Coal Shippers                                                                    10 minutes

            C. Michael Loftus

 

National Coal Transportation Association                                                          10 minutes

            Thomas W. Wilcox

 

American Public Power Association, Edison Electric Institute,                10 minutes

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association

            Michael F. McBride

 

Panel IV:  Rebuttal

 

BNSF Railway Company                                                                                 10 minutes

            Samuel M. Sipe, Jr.

            Richard E. Weicher

            Gregory C. Fox

 

Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation                                                      10 minutes

            Eric Von Salzen