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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 8, 2021 / Notices extending from milepost CB 5.40 at Beesons, Ind., to milepost CB 25.30 at New Castle, Ind., and from milepost R
0.09 to milepost R 1.16 at New Castle the Line.
According to the verified notice, NCSR and NSR have recently reached a lease agreement pursuant to which NCSR will provide common carrier rail service on the Line. According to NCSR, the agreement between NCSR and NSR
contains an interchange commitment that affects the interchange point at Beesons.1 The verified notice states that NSR and Big Four Terminal Railroad, LLC, are the carriers that could physically interchange with NCSR at Beesons. As required under 49 CFR
1150.33h, NCSR provided additional information regarding the interchange commitment.
NCSR has certified that its projected annual revenues will not exceed $5
million and will not result in NCSRs becoming a Class I or Class II rail carrier.
Pursuant to 49 CFR 1150.32b, the effective date of an exemption is 30 days after the verified notice of exemption is filed, which here would be September 22, 2021. However, concurrently with its verified notice, NCSR filed a petition to partially waive the 30-day effectiveness period to allow the exemption to become effective on September 13, 2021. The Board will address NCSRs petition for partial waiver and establish the effective date of the exemption in a separate decision.
If the notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502d may be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to revoke will not automatically stay the effectiveness of the exemption. A deadline for petitions for stay will also be established in the Boards decision on the petition for partial waiver.
All pleadings, referring to Docket No.
FD 36542, should be filed with the Surface Transportation Board via efiling on the Boards website. In addition, one copy of each pleading must be served on NCSRs representative: Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 North Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606.
According to NCSR, this action is categorically excluded from environmental review under 49 CFR
1105.6c and from historic preservation reporting requirements under 49 CFR
1105.8b.
1 A copy of the agreement with the interchange commitment was submitted under seal. See 49 CFR
1150.33h1.

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Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.
Decided: September 1, 2021.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of Proceedings.
Brendetta Jones, Clearance Clerk.
FR Doc. 202119309 Filed 9721; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 491501P

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
Docket No. EP 767

First-Mile/Last-Mile Service The Board seeks comments on issues regarding first-mile/last-mile FMLM
service, particularly on whether additional metrics to measure such service might have utility that exceeds any associated burden. FMLM service refers to the movement of railcars between a local railroad serving yard and a shipper or receiver facility. Socalled local trains serve customers in the vicinity of the local yard, spotting i.e., placing for loading or unloading inbound cars and pulling i.e., picking up outbound cars from each customer facility. A larger local yard may run numerous local trains serving many customers dispersed along separate branches; a smaller yard may run only a handful of local trains. Yard crews build outbound local trains by assembling blocks groups of cars for each customer on the route. Inbound local trains return to the yard with cars released from shipper facilities and, in turn, are sorted into outbound blocks for line-haul movements. After hearing concerns raised by shippers across numerous industries and requests for transparency of FMLM data, the Board seeks information on possible FMLM
service issues, the design of potential metrics to measure such service, and the associated burdens or trade-offs with any suggestions raised by commenters.
Background In addition to weekly and monthly collection of certain railroad performance data metrics from Class I
railroads,1 the Board actively monitors, on an informal basis, the national rail network, including network fluidity and service issues, through, for example, the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council RSTAC, the Rail Customer and Public Assistance Program, and information requests to Class I railroads. See, e.g., Surface Transportation Board, Budget Request 1 See
PO 00000

49 CFR 1250.2.

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Fiscal Year 2022, 1415.2 Since Spring 2020, the Board has focused its informal monitoring on the effects of and response to the pandemic, engaging in frequent communication 3 with carriers, shippers, and other stakeholders. See id.
Recently, the Boards Chairman inquired to each Class I carrier about rail service issues 4 and supply chain issues 5 including local service issues.
The Board appreciates the carriers responses to its informal requests and now seeks more formal input from shippers, carriers, and the public focused specifically on FMLM service.
As the Board has heard from various stakeholders, in recent months, crew shortages and other issues stemming from the COVID19 pandemic and worldwide supply chain complications have heightened and added to the importance of the Board exploring FMLM service.
The Board has received a number of letters about FMLM service issues. For example, the Rail Customer Coalition RCC wrote to the Board this year to request, among other things, that the Board adopt new reporting metrics to provide a more complete and useful picture of rail service, including FMLM performance. RCC Letter 2.6
Following the Chairmans May 27, 2021
letters regarding rail service to the Class I carriers, the American Chemistry Council ACC wrote to the Board regarding general service concerns, briefly noting local service failures, see 2 Available at https prod.stb.gov/about-stb/
agency-materials/budget-requests/ then follow hyperlink FY 2022 Budget Request Final.
3 This communication during the initial phase of the pandemic included daily and weekly communications with key railroad and shipper stakeholders to actively monitor the reliability of the freight rail network with a special focus on critical supply chains. Surface Transportation Board, Budget Request Fiscal Year 2022, 14. For example, the Board and RSTAC convened weekly and later biweekly conference calls. Id. The Board also participated in calls hosted by the Federal Railroad Administration, held with representatives from each Class I railroad, the short line and regional railroads, and the National Passenger Railroad Corporation Amtrak. Id.
4 See, e.g., Letter from Martin J. Oberman, Chairman, to Canadian Pacific May 27, 2021, https prod.stb.gov/news-communications/nondocketed-public-correspondence/ follow hyperlink Chairman Oberman Rail Service Letter to CP, May 27, 2021 under headings 2021 and May.
5 See, e.g., Letter from Martin J. Oberman, Chairman, to BNSF Railway Company July 22, 2021, https prod.stb.gov/news-communications/
non-docketed-public-correspondence/ follow hyperlink Chairman Oberman Letter to BNSF
Regarding Intermodal Supply Chain Issues, July 22, 2021 under headings 2021 and July.
6 Available at https prod.stb.gov/newscommunications/non-docketed-publiccorrespondence/ then follow hyperlink RCC Letter to STB regarding regulation and rail service, February 11, 2021 under headings 2021 and February.

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