[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 55 (Thursday, March 21, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17468-17469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06537]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 463 (Sub-No. 1X)]


Alabama Railroad Co.--Abandonment Exemption--in Monroe County, AL

    Alabama Railroad Co. (ALAB) has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon approximately 7.42 miles of rail line between milepost 655.20 
(east of Route 21 at Tunnel Springs) and milepost 662.62 (west of Main 
Street in Beatrice), in Monroe County, Ala. The line traverses United 
States Postal Service Zip Codes 36425 and 36471.
    ALAB has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
line for at least two years; \1\ (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 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.
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    \1\ ALAB indicates that portions of the line may have been used 
for freight car storage during the period. It states that use of the 
line for this purpose does not disqualify ALAB from invoking the 
notice of exemption procedures. See, e.g., Indiana Southwestern 
Ry.--Abandonment Exemption--in Posey & Vanderburgh Cntys. Ind., AB 
1065X (STB served Dec. 23, 2010).
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    As a condition to this exemption, 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, this exemption will be 
effective on April 20, 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 
April 1, 2013. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by April 10, 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 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.
    \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 
ALAB's representative: William A. Mullins, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    ALAB has filed a combined environmental and historic report that 
addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment 
and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) 
by March 26, 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)

[[Page 17469]]

245-0305. Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the 
Federal Information Relay Service at (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), ALAB 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 ALAB's filing of a notice of 
consummation by March 21, 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: March 15, 2013.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Derrick A. Gardner,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2013-06537 Filed 3-20-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P