[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 71 (Thursday, April 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19000-19001]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-8414]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-581X and STB Docket No. AB-529X] \1\


1411 Corporation--Abandonment Exemption--in Lancaster County, PA; 
Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemptions--in 
Lancaster, PA

    1411 Corporation (1411) and Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad 
Company (M&H) (collectively applicants) have filed separate verified 
notices of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 Subpart F--Exempt 
Abandonments to abandon service over the same line of railroad 
extending from milepost 39.3,\2\ in the borough of Columbia, to 
milepost 37.2, in West Hempfield Township, a distance of approximately 
2.5 miles in Lancaster County, PA (line).\3\ The line traverses United 
States Postal Service Zip Code 17512.
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    \1\ These proceedings are being handled together for 
administrative convenience.
    \2\ Past agency decisions concerning this line indicated that 
the line extended from milepost 39.7 to milepost 37.2. Interested 
persons should be on notice that the abandonment proposals quite 
likely concern the line from milepost 39.7 to milepost 37.2.
    \3\ M&H filed a notice of exemption with the Interstate Commerce 
Commission (ICC) to lease from ITT Grinnell Corporation (Grinnell) 
and operate the line in Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad Company, 
Finance Docket No. 29984 (ICC served Aug. 11, 1982). Grinnell later 
transferred the ownership of the line to its wholly owned subsidiary 
1411. The ICC exempted 1411's ownership and operation of the line in 
Fourteen-Eleven Corporation Exemption--Acquisition and Operation, 
Finance Docket No. 30775 (ICC served Feb. 11, 1986).
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    Applicants have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over 
the line for at least 2 years; (2) there is no overhead traffic on the 
line as this is not a through route; (3) no formal complaint filed by a 
user of rail service on the line (or by a state or local government 
agency acting on behalf of such user) regarding cessation of service 
over the line is either pending with the Surface Transportation Board 
(Board) or any U.S. District Court or has been decided in favor of 
complainant within the 2-year period; and (4) the requirements at 49 
CFR 1105.7 (environmental reports), 49 CFR 1105.8 (historic reports), 
49 CFR 1105.11 (transmittal letter), 49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper 
publication), and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental 
agencies) have been met.
    As a condition to these exemptions, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment shall be protected under Oregon Short Line R. Co.--
Abandonment--Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979). To address whether this 
condition adequately protects affected employees, a petition for 
partial revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) must be filed. Provided no 
formal expression of intent to file an offer of financial assistance 
(OFA) has been received, these exemptions will be effective on May 12, 
2001, unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do 
not involve environmental issues,\4\ formal expressions of intent to 
file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\5\ and trail use/rail banking 
requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by April 23, 2001. 
Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 
1152.28 must be filed by May 2, 2001, with the Surface Transportation 
Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, N.W., 
Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \4\ The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on 
environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Board's 
Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) in its independent 
investigation) cannot be made before the exemptions' effective date. 
See Exemption of Out-of-Service Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). 
Any request for a stay should be filed as soon as possible so that 
the Board may take appropriate action before the exemptions' 
effective date.
    \5\ Each offer of financial assistance must be accompanied by 
the filing fee, which currently is set at $1000. See 49 CFR 
1002.2(f)(25).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
applicants' representative: Andrew P. Goldstein, Esq., McCarthy, 
Sweeney & Harkaway, P.C., 2175 K Street, N.W., Suite 600, Washington, 
DC 20037. If the verified notices contain false or misleading 
information, the exemptions are void ab initio.
    Applicants have filed separate environmental reports which address 
the abandonment's effects, if any, on the environment and historic 
resources. SEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by April 17, 
2001. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to SEA 
(Room 500, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001) or 
by calling SEA, at (202) 565-1545. Comments on environmental and 
historic preservation matters must be filed within 15 days after the EA 
becomes available to the public.
    Environmental, historic preservation, public use, or trail use/rail 
banking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a subsequent 
decision.
    Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), 1411 and M&H 
shall each file a notice of consummation with the Board to signify that 
it has exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned

[[Page 19001]]

the line.\6\ If consummation has not been effected by 1411's and M&H's 
filing of a notice of consummation by April 12, 2002, and there are no 
legal or regulatory barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon 
will automatically expire.
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    \6\ It may be that M&H requires only discontinuance authority 
while 1411 needs abandonment authority. Effectiveness of these 
exemptions will permit both entities to end their common carrier 
obligations by filing the appropriate notices of consummation.
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    Board decisions and notices are available on our website at 
``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''

    Decided: March 30, 2001.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-8414 Filed 4-11-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-00-P