[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 77 (Monday, April 21, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21406-21407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-8586]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-1017X, STB Docket No. AB-1018X]


West Shore Railroad Corporation--Abandonment Exemption--in Union 
and Northumberland Counties, PA; Union County Industrial Railroad 
Company--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in Union County, PA

    West Shore Railroad Corporation (West Shore) and Union County 
Industrial Railroad Company (UCIR) (collectively, applicants) have 
jointly filed a notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F--Exempt 
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service: (1) for West Shore to 
abandon a line of railroad known as the Mifflinburg Branch, extending 
from milepost 0.0 at Montandon, in Northumberland County, PA, and 
extending in a generally westerly direction, crossing the West Branch 
of the Susquehanna River through Lewisburg to the Borough of 
Mifflinburg, ending at milepost 11.8 in Union County, PA, and (2) for 
UCIR to discontinue service in Union County between Lewisburg and 
Mifflinburg. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 
17844, 17837, and 17847.
    West Shore and UCIR 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; (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 of 49 CFR 1105.7 
(environmental report), 49 CFR 1105.8 (historic report), 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 or discontinuance 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 21, 2008, 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 
May 1, 2008.\3\ Petitions to reopen or requests

[[Page 21407]]

for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by May 12, 
2008, with: Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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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 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.
    \2\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which 
currently is set at $1,300. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
    \3\ West Shore states that it has entered into a conditional 
sale agreement with Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority (LARA) and 
asks the Board to issue a notice of interim trail use (NITU) now so 
that the line can be conveyed to LARA pursuant to the NITU. Because 
LARA has not satisfied the requirements for a NITU set forth at 49 
CFR 1152.29 for prospective trail users, the request must be denied. 
Moreover, even had LARA already met those requirements, any NITU the 
Board would issue could not take effect until after the offer of 
financial assistance (OFA) process was allowed to proceed and no OFA 
purchase or subsidy took place. It is well established that OFAs to 
acquire rail lines for continued rail service or to subsidize rail 
operations take priority over interim trail use/rail banking. See, 
e.g., Mid-Michigan Railroad, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--In Kent, 
Ionia, and Moncalm Counties, MI, STB Docket No. AB-364 (Sub-No. 12X) 
(STB served Apr. 4, 2008). Accordingly, West Shore's suggestion that 
its trail use proposal here is the type of ``valid public purpose'' 
that would effectively ``exempt'' this proceeding from the OFA 
procedures at 49 U.S.C. 10904 must be rejected.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
applicants' representative: Richard R. Wilson, 127 Lexington Ave., 
Suite 100, Altoona, PA 16601.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemptions are void ab initio.
    West Shore and UCIR have filed an environmental and historic report 
which addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment and 
discontinuance on the environment and historic resources. SEA will 
issue an environmental assessment (EA) by April 25, 2008. Interested 
persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to SEA (Room 1100, 
Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001) or by calling 
SEA, at (202) 245-0305. [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), West Shore 
shall file a notice of consummation with the Board to signify that it 
has exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned the line. If 
consummation has not been effected by West Shore's filing of a notice 
of consummation by April 21, 2009, 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: April 15, 2008.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Anne K. Quinlan,
Acting Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E8-8586 Filed 4-18-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P