[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22630-22631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-11061]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-290 (Sub-No. 316X); STB Docket No. AB-866 (Sub-No. 
2X)]


Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Discontinuance of Service 
Exemption--in Mecklenberg County, VA, and Granville County, NC; North 
Carolina & Virginia Railroad Co., Inc., Virginia Southern Railroad 
Division--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in Mecklenberg County, 
VA, and Granville County, NC

    Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) and North Carolina & 
Virginia Railroad Co., Inc., Virginia Southern Railroad Division (NCVA) 
(collectively, applicants), have jointly filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR Part 1152 Subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over a 15.25 mile 
line of railroad between milepost D-37.9, south of Clarksville, VA, and 
milepost D-53.15, at O&H Junction, near Oxford, NC, in Mecklenberg 
County, VA, and Granville County, NC (the line).\1\ The line traverses 
United States Postal Service Zip Codes 23927, 27507 and 27565.
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    \1\ NCVA was authorized to lease the line and a connecting 
portion of a line between milepost D-0.0 and milepost D-37.9 
(northern portion) from NSR. NSR has agreed to lease the northern 
portion to the Buckingham Branch Railroad Company (BBRR), and NCVA 
has assigned its common carrier obligation over that portion of the 
line north of Clarksville to BBRR. See Buckingham Branch Railroad 
Company--Change in Operators Exemption--Rail Line in Nottoway, 
Luneburg, Charlotte, and Mecklenberg Counties, VA, STB Finance 
Docket No. 35226 (STB served May 7, 2009).
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    Applicants have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over 
the line for at least 2 years; (2) any overhead traffic can be rerouted 
over other lines; (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 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 1105.12 (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 discontinuance of service 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

[[Page 22631]]

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, this exemption will be 
effective on June 12, 2009, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues and formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA for continued rail service under 
49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\2\ must be filed by May 26, 2009.\3\ Petitions to 
reopen must be filed by June 2, 2009, with: Surface Transportation 
Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \2\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which 
currently is set at $1,500. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
    \3\ Because this is a discontinuance proceeding and not an 
abandonment, trail use/rail banking and public use conditions are 
not appropriate. Likewise, no environmental or historical 
documentation is required here under 49 CFR 1105.6(c) and 1105.8(b), 
respectively.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to NSR's 
representative: John M. Scheib, General Attorney, Norfolk Southern 
Railway Company, Three Commercial Place, Norfolk, VA 23510; and NCVA's 
representative: Louis E. Gitomer, Law Offices of Louis E. Gitomer, 600 
Baltimore Avenue, Suite 301, Towson, MD 21204.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: May 7, 2009.
    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. E9-11061 Filed 5-12-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P