41423                           SERVICE DATE – FEBRUARY 15, 2011

DO

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

DECISION

Docket No. EP 704

REVIEW OF COMMODITY, BOXCAR, AND TOFC/COFC EXEMPTIONS

Decided:  February 15, 2011  

The Surface Transportation Board will hold a hearing on Thursday, February 24, 2011, 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 November 19, 2010,[1] and the Board established January 31, 2011, as the deadline for persons wishing to speak at the hearing to advise the Board of their intent to participate, request a time allotment, and submit their written testimony.[2]  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 February 23, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Please call (202) 245-0424 to make arrangements.  The Board requests that participants provide to Board staff at the hearing 9 hard copies, on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper, of any visual display materials presented at the hearing.

 

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 February 17.

            For further information regarding the hearing, contact Julia Farr at (202) 245-0359.  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, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of Proceedings.

 

 

APPENDIX

SCHEDULE OF APPEARANCES

 

Party                                                                                                               Time Allotted

 

Panel I:  Federal Government

 

U. S. Department of Transportation                                                               10 minutes

            Peter Plocki

 

Panel II:  Railroad Interests

 

American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association                                 10 minutes

Richard F. Timmons

 

Association of American Railroads                                                                20 minutes

Edward R. Hamberger

Prof. Robert Willig

 

Panel III:  Shipper Interests

 

Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers                                                          10 minutes

            Jeffrey O. Moreno

 

American Forest & Paper Association and                                                     10 minutes

The Paper and Forest Industry Transportation Committee

Bill Lovick

 

Blue Line Community Coalition                                                                     10 minutes

Dean Zulger

 

National Industrial Transportation League                                                     10 minutes

            Bruce Carlton

 

Wisconsin Central Group                                                                                10 minutes

John Duncan Varda

 

Panel IV:  Freight Railroads

 

BNSF Railway Company                                                                               10 minutes

John P. Lanigan

 

 

CSX Transportation, Inc.                                                                                10 minutes

Clarence Gooden

 

Kansas City Southern                                                                                     10 minutes

Patrick J. Ottensmeyer

 

Norfolk Southern Railway Company                                                             10 minutes

David Lawson

 

Union Pacific Railroad Company                                                                   10 minutes

Eric Butler

Julie Krehbiel

 

Panel V:  Shippers

 

Holcim (US) Inc.                                                                                            10 minutes

            Mike Eischer

 

Packaging Corporation of America                                                                10 minutes

            Dina Calabro

            Bruce Ridley

 

Weaver Popcorn Company, Inc.                                                                     10 minutes

Will Weaver

 

Panel VI:  Intermodal Interests

 

Intermodal Association of North America, Inc.                                             10 minutes

Joanne F. Casey

 

Panel VII:  Other Interests

           

CNJ Rail Corporation                                                                                     5 minutes

Eric Strohmeyer

 

Mercury Group                                                                                               5 minutes

Craig S. Dickman

 

Ray Tylicki                                                                                                      5 minutes

 

United Transportation Union-New York State Legislative Board                 5 minutes

            Gordon MacDougall