On December 4, 2014 the Surface and Transportation Board ruled in favor of the Grafton and Upton Railroad (G&U RR) in response to a petition filed by seven Upton residents who questioned if the activities at the location fell within “transportation by rail” and therefore would not be preempted but fall within local zoning and other regulations.
The petitioners argued that preemption did not apply because the transloading services provided at the Upton Facility were not related to transportation The activities in question were vacuuming, screening, bagging, and palletizing of wood pellets at the Upton Facility.
G&U responded that GU Railcare is providing transportation-related services at the Upton Facility on the railroad’s behalf and the Town’s zoning and other regulations are therefore preempted. As part of their response the G&U RR explained the activities performed at the Upton Facility allow the wood pellets to be transported in hopper cars, which can accommodate about 20 more tons of pellets than the boxcars that otherwise would be used.
The declaratory order found in favor of G&U RR that certain operations conducted at a bulk transloading facility in the Town of Upton, Mass. constitute “transportation by rail carrier” and that, therefore, federal preemption applies to those operations.
G&U RR is happy to have the decision behind them. “We are pleased that the federal Surface Transportation Board, for the third time this year, has rendered a decision in favor of the railroad’s right to engage in rail transportation and all activities related to rail transportation,” said G&U owner Jon Delli Priscoli. “With these decisions behind us, two in Grafton and one in Upton, we can continue with our mission to bring much needed goods to market, including alternative sources of energy, in a safe, economical, environmentally friendly manner.”
The declaratory order can be found on the STB website: http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/readingroom.nsf/fc695db5bc7ebe2c852572b80040c45f/bfdf49c32a7e41ee85257da5005161fa?OpenDocument
UPTON DAILY 
The larger, more fundamental issue is that federal railroad laws are 100 years old. When a fellow from the Surface Transportation Board spoke in Grafton, someone asked him about this & if the law had ever been updated. He said that the only time in 100 years that the law has been updated is when a U.S. Senator from New Jersey got legislation passed that prohibits using federally-protected railroad land as landfills for trash. The STB guy commented that the law is outdated. My question: Where is the political will to bring federal railroad law into the 21st century? Or do we have to wait for a compelling tragedy, which would be harmful to both citizenry and railroads, to get something done? If the railroads wait for that tragedy to happen – and odds are it will, at some point – then the railroads will be negotiating change from a very disadvantaged position. It is to the benefit of all parties to participate in a rational process to update federal railroad law now.
The STB decision was well reasoned. A careful read suggests that the Grafton Upton RR wood pellet processing facility pushed the definition of transportation right to the edge and the RR is fortunate to have won.
As for the comments of “Happy Upton Resident”: the right wing oligarchs don’t yet quite run America and the plaintiffs had every right to ask for a ruling. I hope you don’t actually live in Upton. Give the vitriol a rest.