STB

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board announced that its Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) have issued a Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project (Project), an approximately 11.5-mile long railroad route that would be acquired and constructed in Grant County, Wash. The Project would provide rail service to an area designated for industrial development and attract to this area new businesses that would use rail transportation. The issuance of the Final EA completes the environmental review undertaken by SEA and WSDOT. The Final EA responds to comments

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has adopted its 2009 User Fee Update Schedule setting forth updated fees for each of the types of proceedings that can be filed with the agency. The changes in the 2009 Update — to become effective June 4 — primarily are designed to offset increased Board expenses, including increased overhead costs. The 2009 Update complies with the Congressional directive that the Board assess fees to cover a portion of its budget. It also complies with the statutory requirement that the agency conduct a proceeding annually to update its user fee schedule to reflect the

WASHINGTON — Surface Transportation Board Vice Chairman Charles D. Nottingham announced his appointment of Scott M. Zimmerman as his chief of staff. Beginning in January 2007, Zimmerman served as former Chairman Nottingham’s attorney-advisor. Prior to that, he served in the Board’s Office of the General Counsel. Before joining the agency, Zimmerman practiced transportation and regulatory law as a partner at the law firm of Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger, L.L.P. in Washington, D.C. Zimmerman holds a B.A. in Government from Cornell University (1985) and J.D. from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at The College of William & Mary (1992), where he

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board announced that Christensen Associates, a Madison, Wisc.-based economic consulting firm, has completed a supplemental report to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on Capacity and Infrastructure Investment. The report augments the findings of Christensen Associates’ November 2008 independent study entitled A Study of Competition in the U.S. Freight Railroad Industry and Analysis of Proposals that Might Enhance Competition. The Report looks at different measures of railroad capacity and analyzes how that capacity is affected by anticipated changes in the demand for rail services and the productivity of rail assets.  As with Christensen Associates’ 2008 Study,