[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