[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 5, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14414-14415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05043]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 335X; Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 340X]


The Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company--Abandonment 
Exemption--in Gadsden, Etowah County, Ala.; Tennessee, Alabama, and 
Georgia Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Gadsden, Etowah 
County, AL

    The Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company (AGS) and Tennessee, 
Alabama, and Georgia Railway Company (TAG) (collectively, applicants) 
\1\ have jointly filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 
subpart F--Exempt Abandonments for AGS and TAG to abandon service over 
approximately 4.25 miles of interconnected rail line in Gadsden, Etowah 
County, Ala. Specifically, AGS proposes to: (1) Abandon 3.10 miles of 
rail line (the AGS segment) between milepost 2.40 AG (near Cabot Ave.) 
and milepost 5.50 AG (near the intersection of River and Coosa 
Streets); and (2) TAG proposes to abandon approximately 1.15 miles of 
rail line (the TAG segment) between milepost TA 90.30 (located between 
the north end of Brookside Drive and Owls Hollow Road) and milepost TA 
91.45 (at TAG Segment's connection with the AGS Segment west of N 5th 
Street) (the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip 
Codes 35901 and 35904.
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    \1\ Both applicants are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Norfolk 
Southern Railway Company.
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    Applicants have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over 
the Line for at least two years; (2) no overhead traffic has moved over 
the Line for at least two years and overhead traffic, if there were 
any, could 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 Surface Transportation 
Board (Board) or with any U.S. District Court or has been decided in 
favor of complainant within the two-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 these exemptions, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment 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 April 4, 2013, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\2\ formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\3\ and 
trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by 
March 15, 2013. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by March 25, 2013, with 
the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
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    \2\ 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 exemptions' 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 exemptions' effective 
date.
    \3\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,600. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
applicants' representative: Robert A. Wimbish, Baker & Miller PLLC, 
2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037.
    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

[[Page 14415]]

addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment 
and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) 
by March 8, 2013. 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 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), applicants 
shall jointly file a notice of consummation with the Board to signify 
that each has exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned its 
portion of the Line. If consummation has not been effected by 
applicants' filing of a notice of consummation by March 5, 2014, 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: February 28, 2013.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Derrick A. Gardner,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2013-05043 Filed 3-4-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P