42527                         SERVICE DATE – LATE RELEASE JULY 25, 2012

DO

 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

 

DECISION

 

Docket No. EP 699

 

ASSESSMENT OF MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION PROCEDURES

 

Decided:  July 25, 2012

The Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) will hold a hearing on Thursday, August 2, 2012, to allow interested parties to comment on the issues in this proceeding.  The hearing will begin 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. 

By a decision served on June 28, 2012, the Board announced this hearing and established July 19, 2012, as the deadline for persons wishing to speak at the hearing to file with the Board a notice of intent to participate and a summary of the intended testimony.  Based on those submissions, the Board is issuing this decision to set the schedule of appearances for the hearing.[1]  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 31, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Please call (202) 245-0238 to make arrangements. 

Instructions for Attendance at Hearing

 

The STB requests that all persons attending the hearing use the main entrance to Patriots Plaza I at 395 E Street, S.W. (entrance on E Street closest to 4th Street).  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.  The two closest Metrorail stations are Federal Center SW at 3rd and D Streets, S.W., and L’Enfant Plaza at 6th and D Streets S.W.

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.; and pass through a metal detector.  Those persons testifying must check in with the Clerk at the front of the hearing room.

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.

            Members of the media planning to attend the hearing should contact Dennis Watson in the Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance at (202) 245-0234.

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 31, 2012.

            For further information regarding the hearing, contact Amy Ziehm at (202) 245-0391.  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, Richard Armstrong, Acting Director, Office of Proceedings.

APPENDIX

 

SCHEDULE OF APPEARANCES

 

August 2, 2012

 

Party                                                                                                              Time Allotted

 

Panel I

 

National Grain and Feed Association                                                            10 minutes

            Randall Gordon

 

National Industrial Transportation League                                                    20 minutes

            Curt H. Warfel

            Karyn Booth

 

Western Coal Traffic League                                                                         5 minutes

            Stephanie M. Archuleta

 

Montana Wheat & Barley Committee, ARC, et al.                                       10 minutes

            Terry Whiteside

 

The Tom O’Connor Group                                                                             5 minutes

            Tom O’Connor

 

Panel II

 

Association of American Railroads                                                              10 minutes

Louis P. Warchot

 

Norfolk Southern Railway Company                                                             5 minutes

            John M. Scheib

 

Union Pacific Railroad Company                                                                  7 minutes

            Louise A. Rinn

 

United Transportation Union-New York State Legislative Board                5 minutes

            Gordon P. MacDougall