[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 222 (Tuesday, November 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65114-65115]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-28629]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-33 (Sub-No. 208X)]


Union Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in 
Marshall County, KS

    Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) has filed a notice of exemption 
under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of 
Service and Trackage Rights to abandon an 8.13-mile line of railroad 
from milepost 133.13 near Marysville to milepost 125.00 near Marietta, 
in Marshall County, KS. The line traverses United States Postal Service 
Zip Code 66508.
    UP has 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; (3) 
no formal complaint filed by a user of rail service on the line (or by 
a state or local government entity acting on behalf of such user) 
regarding cessation of service over the line either is pending with the 
Surface Transportation Board (Board) or with 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 this exemption, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment shall be protected under

[[Page 65115]]

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 OFA has been 
received, this exemption will be effective on December 18, 2003, unless 
stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve 
environmental issues,\1\ formal expressions of intent to file an OFA 
under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\2\ and trail use/rail banking requests 
under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by November 28, 2003. Petitions to 
reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must 
be filed by December 8, 2003, with: Surface Transportation Board, 1925 
K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423.
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    \1\ 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 exemption's 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 exemption's 
effective date.
    \2\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which 
currently is set at $1,100. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to UP's 
representative: Mack H. Shumate, Jr., Senior General Attorney, 101 
North Wacker Drive, Room 1920 Chicago, IL 60606.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    UP has filed an environmental report which addresses the 
abandonment's effects, if any, on the environment and historic 
resources. SEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by November 
21, 2003. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to 
SEA (Room 500, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423) or 
by calling SEA, at (202) 565-1539. [Assistance for the hearing impaired 
is available through the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339.] 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), UP shall file a 
notice of consummation with the Board to signify that it has exercised 
the authority granted and fully abandoned its line. If consummation has 
not been effected by UP's filing of a notice of consummation by 
November 18, 2004, and there are no legal or regulatory barriers to 
consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically expire.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: November 10, 2003.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-28629 Filed 11-17-03; 8:45 am]
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