This
is a determination of the Railroad Retirement
Board concerning the status of Blackwell
& Northern Railway Company, Inc. (BNR)
as an employer under the Railroad Retirement
Act (45 U.S.C. § 231 et seq.) (RRA)
and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance
Act (45 U.S.C. § 351 et seq.) (RUIA).
BNR was incorporated on April 5, 2000.
In Surface Transportation Board (STB) Finance
Docket No. 34265, service date November
4, 2002, BNR filed a notice of exemption
to operate 35.26 miles of rail line owned
by the State of Oklahoma by and through
the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
and Blackwell Industries Authority. The
rail line extends from Blackwell, Oklahoma
to Wellington, Kansas. BNR replaced South
Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad, Inc. (B.A.
No. 3880), which had been operating over
the line. In response to a letter dated
December 13, 2002, from the Board’s
Chief of Audit and Compliance, Mr. Robert
Wagner, President of BNR, stated that it
began operations on May 15, 2000, with three
employees.
Section 1(a)(1) of the Railroad Retirement
Act (45 U.S.C. § 231(a)(1)), insofar
as relevant here, defines a covered employer
as:
(i) any carrier by railroad subject
to the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation
Board under Part A of subtitle IV of title
49, United States Code;
Section 1 of the RUIA contains essentially
the same definition, as does section 3231
of the Railroad Retirement Tax Act.
The evidence of record establishes that
BNR is a rail carrier operating in interstate
commerce. Accordingly, it is determined
that Blackwell & Northern Railway Company,
Inc. became an employer within the meaning
of section 1(a)(1)(i) of the Railroad Retirement
Act and the corresponding Blackwell &
Northern Railway Company, Inc provision
of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act
effective May 15, 2000, the date its employees
were first compensated. [CF. Rev. Rul. 82-100,
1982-1 C.B. 155, wherein the IRS held that
a company became an employer under the Railroad
Retirement Tax Act on the date it hired
employees to perform functions directly
related to its carrier operations.]
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