[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 5 (Friday, January 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1211-1212]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-126]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 33 (Sub-No. 293X)]


Union Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--In Wright 
County, IA

    Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to abandon a 
line of railroad known as Kanawha Industrial Lead, extending from 
milepost -0.55 to milepost -0.1, a distance of .45 miles, near Belmond, 
in Wright County, Iowa. The line traverses United States Postal Service 
Zip Code 50421.
    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 to 
be rerouted; (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(c) 
(environmental 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 this exemption, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment shall be protected under Oregon Short Line--
Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch Between Firth & Ammon, in Bingham & 
Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 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 February 8, 2011, 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 
January 18, 2011. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by January 27, 2011, with 
the 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 
Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) in its independent 
investigation) cannot be made before the exemption's effective date. 
See Exemption of Out-of-Serv. 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 is 
currently set at $1,500. 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., 101 North Wacker Drive, 
1920, Chicago, IL 60606.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    UP has filed a combined environmental and historic report which 
addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment 
and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) 
by January 14, 2011. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by 
writing to OEA (Room 1100, Surface

[[Page 1212]]

Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001) or by calling OEA, 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), UP 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 UP's filing of a notice of consummation by January 
7, 2012, 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: January 3, 2011.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Andrea Pope-Matheson,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2011-126 Filed 1-6-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P