[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 5, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65922-65923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-26381]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 35106]


United States Department of Energy--Rail Construction and 
Operation--Caliente Rail Line in Lincoln, Nye, and Esmeralda Counties, 
NV

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice of Public Hearing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board will hold a public hearing 
concerning the application the Department of Energy (DOE) filed in the 
above docket. The purpose of the hearing will be to allow interested 
persons to comment on the application.

DATES/LOCATIONS:  The public hearing will take place on December 4, 
2008, beginning at 9 a.m., at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Las 
Vegas Hearing Facility--Pacific Enterprise Plaza, Building No. 1, 3250 
Pepper Lane, Las Vegas, NV 89120. Any person wishing to speak at the 
hearing must file with the Board a written notice of intent to 
participate, identifying (1) the party represented, (2) the proposed 
speaker, and (3) the number of minutes requested. Notices of intent to 
participate should be filed as soon as possible, but no later than 
November 14, 2008. Following receipt of notices of intent, the Board 
will release a schedule of speakers for the hearing. In the event that 
the Board receives more requests to participate than can reasonably be 
accommodated in a one-day hearing, the Board will give priority to 
elected officials and current parties of record in the construction 
application proceeding.

ADDRESSES: Notices of intent to participate in the hearing may be 
submitted either via the Board's e-filing format or in the traditional 
paper format. Any person using e-filing should attach a document and 
otherwise comply with the Board's ``http://www.stb.dot.gov'' Web site, 
at the ``E-FILING'' link. Any person submitting a filing in the 
traditional paper format should send the filing to: Surface 
Transportation Board, Attn: STB Finance Docket No. 35106, 395 E Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Joseph Dettmar, (202) 245-0395. 
[Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at: (800) 877-8339.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 17, 2008, DOE filed an application 
seeking authority to construct and operate an approximately 300-mile 
rail line. The line, to be known as the Caliente Line, would connect an 
existing Union Pacific Railroad Company line near Caliente, NV, to a 
proposed geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, NV.\1\ The 
purpose of this proposed rail line is to allow DOE to transport 
materials needed to construct the proposed repository as well as spent 
nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to the completed 
repository for disposal. DOE has also proposed the line so that common 
carrier rail service can reach communities situated along the line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The proposed repository is not subject to the Board's 
jurisdiction, and DOE does not seek this agency's authority to 
construct and operate it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On April 11, 2008, the Board published a Federal Register notice 
(74 FR 20748) announcing DOE's application. The Board, on its own 
motion, established a procedural schedule with filing due dates longer 
than those set forth in the Board's regulations. See 49 CFR 1150.10(g) 
and (h). Pursuant to the schedule, parties submitted comments on the 
transportation aspects of DOE's proposed line, and DOE submitted a 
reply to the comments. As the transportation record has developed in 
this proceeding, so has the environmental record. Both records are 
currently under review at the Board.
    At the hearing, the Board will hear testimony concerning DOE's 
application to construct and operate the rail line. Speakers at the 
hearing may, but are not required to, bring written copies of their

[[Page 65923]]

testimony to the hearing and offer those statements for the record in 
the proceeding.
    This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the 
human environment or the conservation of energy resources.

    Dated: October 31, 2008.
Kulunie L. Cannon,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. E8-26381 Filed 11-4-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P