[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 60 (Tuesday, March 30, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 15767]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7015]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-317 (Sub-No. 6X)]


Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Company--Discontinuance of Trackage 
Rights Exemption--in Lake County, IN

    Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Company (IHB) has filed a verified 
notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F--Exempt Abandonments 
and Discontinuances of Service and Trackage Rights to discontinue its 
local and overhead trackage rights over approximately 1.78 miles of 
Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company's (EJE) line of railroad 
extending from milepost 47.88 at Hammond, to milepost 46.10 at Hammond 
(Hammond Line), in Lake County, IN.\1\ The line traverses United States 
Postal Service Zip Code 46320.
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    \1\ IHB notes that EJE anticipates filing for authority to 
abandon the Hammond Line.
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    IHB has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved via its 
trackage rights over the line for at least 2 years; (2) any IHB 
overhead traffic can be rerouted over other lines; (3) no formal 
complaint filed by a user of IHB 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 1105.12 (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 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 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 April 29, 2010, 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 April 9, 2010.\3\ Petitions 
to reopen must be filed by April 19, 2010, 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 IHB's 
representative: Michael J. Barron, Jr., Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 North 
Wacker Drive, Suite 920, Chicago, IL 60606-2832.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our website at 
www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: March 25, 2010.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Kulunie L. Cannon,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2010-7015 Filed 3-29-10; 8:45 am]
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