Surface Transportation Board
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 36907] On May 18, 2026, Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad, Inc. (RCPE), a Class II rail carrier, filed a petition under 49 U.S.C. 10502 for an exemption from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10902 to acquire and operate over approximately 15.33 miles of rail line owned by the State of South Dakota, acting by and through its Department of Transportation (the State or SDDOT). The line of railroad at issue is known as the Huron-Yale Line, and extends between Huron, S.D., at milepost 160.33, and Yale, S.D., at approximately milepost 145, a distance of approximately 15.33 miles (the Line). RCPE concurrently filed a petition for waiver of the 60-day advance notice requirement of 49 CFR 1121.4(h) . For the reasons discussed below, the Board will grant the petition for exemption and the petition for waiver. Background The State acquired the Line in 2008 through a series of sales transactions where ownership of the Line was ultimately transferred by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation (DM&E) to the State. [ 1 ] (Pet. 4.) RCPE explains in its filing that since 2008, the State has leased the Line to ECRRA. (Pet. 4.) Between 2008 and 2014, ECRRA subleased the Line to DM&E, and following RCPE's acquisition of certain lines from DM&E in 2014, ECRRA subleased the Line to RCPE. [ 2 ] RCPE asserts it has been leasing and operating the Line since 2014. ( Id. at 6.) The State and RCPE have now enter…
Citation: 91 FR 51824
