[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 130 (Friday, July 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40147-40148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16573]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 1098X; Docket No. AB 355 (Sub No. 41X)]


Pan Am Southern, LLC.--Abandonment Exemption--in Worcester 
County, MA; Springfield Terminal Railway Company--Discontinuance of 
Service Exemption--in Worcester County, MA

    Pan Am Southern, LLC (PAS) and Springfield Terminal Railway Company 
(ST) (collectively, applicants) jointly filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuance of Service for PAS to abandon, and for ST to discontinue 
service over, approximately 0.31 miles of rail line known as the 
Heywood Branch, extending from milepost 26.98 to milepost 27.29 in 
Gardner, Mass. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Code 
01440.
    Applicants 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 a complainant within the 2-year 
period; and (4) the

[[Page 40148]]

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 these exemptions, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment or discontinuance shall be protected under Oregon 
Short Line Railroad--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, these exemptions will be 
effective on August 7, 2012, 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 
July 16, 2012. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by July 26, 2012, with 
the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
applicants' representative: Robert B. Burns, Corporate Counsel, Iron 
Horse Park, North Billerica, MA 01862.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemptions are void ab initio.
    Applicants have filed a combined environmental and historic report 
that addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment and 
discontinuance on the environment and historic resources. OEA will 
issue an environmental assessment (EA) July 13, 2012. Interested 
persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to OEA (Room 1100, 
Surface 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 (800) 877-
83339. 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), PAS 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 PAS's filing of a notice of 
consummation by July 6, 2013, 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 
www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: July 2, 2012.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2012-16573 Filed 7-5-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P