[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 67 (Monday, April 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 21006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-08146]



[[Page 21006]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket Nos. AB 167 (Sub-No. 1192X); AB 55 (Sub-No. 723X); AB 290 (Sub-
No. 342X)]


Consolidated Rail Corporation, CSX Transportation, Inc., and 
Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Discontinuance Exemptions--In 
Middlesex County, N.J.

    On March 19, 2013, Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), CSX 
Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), and Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) 
(collectively, applicants) jointly filed a verified notice of exemption 
under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service for each carrier to discontinue service over 
an approximately 2.23-mile line of railroad extending from milepost 
0.77 to milepost 3.00 in Middlesex County, N.J. 
The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 08901, 08903, 
and 08906.
    Applicants have certified that: (1) No local or overhead traffic 
has moved over the line for at least two years; (2) any overhead 
traffic that has moved or could move over the line can 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 or with any U.S. District Court or has 
been decided in favor of a complainant within the two-year period; and 
(4) the requirements at 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 discontinuance of service 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) to subsidize continued rail service has been 
received, this exemption will be effective on May 8, 2013, unless 
stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve 
environmental issues and formal expressions of intent to file an OFA to 
subsidize continued rail service under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) \1\ must be 
filed by April 18, 2013.\2\ Petitions to reopen must be filed by April 
29, 2013, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \1\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,600. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
    \2\ Because applicants are seeking to discontinue service, not 
to abandon the line, trail use/rail banking and public use 
conditions are not appropriate. Likewise, no environmental or 
historic documentation is required here under 49 CFR 1105.6(c) and 
49 CFR 1105.8(b), respectively.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to the 
applicants' representative: Benjamin C. Dunlap, Jr., Nauman, Smith, 
Shissler and Hall, LLP, 200 North Third Street, 18th Floor, Harrisburg, 
PA 17101.
    If the notice contains false or misleading information, the 
exemption is void ab initio.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
``www.stb.dot.gov.''

    Decided: April 2, 2013.
    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Raina S. White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2013-08146 Filed 4-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P