[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60375-60376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23922]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 358X); Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 732X)]


Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Discontinuance of Service 
Exemption--in Claiborne County, TN, and Bell County, KY; CSX 
Transportation, Inc.--Discontinuance of Trackage Rights Exemption--in 
Claiborne County, TN, and Bell County, KY

    Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) and CSX Transportation, Inc. 
(CSXT) (collectively, applicants), have jointly filed a verified notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 Subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service and Trackage Rights for NSR to discontinue 
service over, and for CSXT to discontinue trackage rights operations 
over, approximately 5.0 miles of rail line between milepost 80.0 C, 
north of Clairfield in Claiborne County, Tenn., and milepost 85.0, at 
Fonde in Bell County, Ky. (the Line). The Line traverses United States 
Postal Service Zip Codes 37715 and 40940.
    NSR and CSXT have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved 
over the Line for at least two years; (2) any overhead traffic can 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 of 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 service discontinuance/discontinuance of trackage rights 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, these exemptions will be effective on November 1, 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 October 15, 2013.\2\ Petitions to reopen must be 
filed by October 22, 2013, with the Surface

[[Page 60376]]

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 
currently is 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 
historical documentation is required here under 49 CFRSec.  
1105.6(c) and 1105.8(b), respectively.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
applicants' representatives: Louis E. Gitomer, 600 Baltimore Ave., 
Suite 301, Towson, MD 21204, and Robert A. Wimbish, 2401 Pennsylvania 
Ave. NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemptions are void ab initio.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
``www.stb.dot.gov.''

    Decided: September 26, 2013.

    By the Board, Richard Armstrong, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2013-23922 Filed 9-30-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P