[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67215-67216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-26839]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 352X); Docket No. AB 1093 (Sub No. 1X)]


Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--in 
Fayette and Wayne Counties, Ind.; C&NC Railroad Corporation--
Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in Fayette and Wayne Counties, 
Ind.

    Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) and C&NC Railroad 
Corporation (CNUR) (collectively, applicants) have jointly filed a 
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F-Exempt 
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for NSR to abandon, and for 
CNUR to discontinue service over, approximately 0.61 miles of rail line 
between milepost CB 4.80 (near East County Road 450N in Connersville, 
Fayette County, Ind.) and milepost CB 5.41 (near Whitaker Drive in 
Washington Township, Wayne County, Ind.) (the Line). The Line traverses 
United States Postal Service Zip Codes 47331 and 47357.
    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 if there were any overhead 
traffic, it 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 or discontinuance 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 December 10, 2013, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\1\ formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\2\ and 
trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by 
November 18, 2013. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by November 29, 2013, 
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
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    \1\ 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.
    \2\ 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' representatives: Robert A. Wimbish, Baker & Miller PLLC, 
2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037, and 
Richard R. Wilson, 518 Center St., Suite 1, Ebensberg, PA 15931.
    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 addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment and 
discontinuance on the environment and historic resources. OEA will 
issue an environmental assessment (EA) by November 15, 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

[[Page 67216]]

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), NSR 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 NSR's filing of a notice of 
consummation by November 8, 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: November 4, 2013.
    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2013-26839 Filed 11-7-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P