[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 235 (Friday, December 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73585-73586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29187]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 1068 (Sub-No. 2X); Docket No. AB 1070 (Sub-No. 2X)]


Missouri Central Railroad Company--Discontinuance of Trackage 
Rights Exemption--in Cass and Jackson Counties, MO; Central Midland 
Railway Company--Discontinuance of Trackage Rights Exemption--in Cass 
and Jackson Counties, MO

    Missouri Central Railroad Company (MCRR) and Central Midland 
Railway Company (CMR) jointly filed a verified notice of exemption 
under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service to discontinue trackage rights over a rail 
line owned by the Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) between Pleasant 
Hill, Mo. (milepost 263.5), and Leeds Junction, Mo. (milepost 288.3) 
(the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 
64080, 64034, 64082, 64081, 64138, 64133, and 64129. This notice 
replaces both a Notice of Exemption filed by MCRR on October 17, 2013, 
and an Amended Notice of Exemption filed by MCRR on October 30, 2013, 
in Docket No. AB 1068 (Sub-No. 2X).\1\
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    \1\ MCRR obtained trackage rights over the Line as part of the 
transaction involved in Missouri Central Railroad--Acquisition & 
Operation Exemption--Lines of Union Pacific Railroad, FD 33508 (STB 
served Jan. 27, 1998). CMR obtained rights to the Line when it filed 
a notice of operation exemption in Central Midland Railway--
Operation Exemption--Lines of Missouri Central Railroad, FD 33988 
(STB served Jan. 29, 2001). Neither MCRR nor CMR has ever utilized 
these trackage rights. Upon discontinuance of service by MCRR and 
CMR over the Line, UP will continue to be a common carrier 
authorized to operate on the Line.
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    MCRR and CMR have certified that: (1) MCRR and CMR have not moved 
any local traffic over the Line for at least two years; (2) they have 
not moved any overhead traffic over the Line for at least two years, 
and that 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 before the Surface Transportation Board or before any U.S. 
District Court or has been decided in

[[Page 73586]]

favor of the 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 January 7, 2014, 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) \2\ must be 
filed by December 16, 2013.\3\ Petitions to reopen must be filed by 
December 26, 2013, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street 
SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \2\ Because this is a discontinuance and not an abandonment, 
only OFAs to subsidize continued rail service are permitted. Each 
OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is set at 
$1,600. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
    \3\ Because this is a discontinuance proceeding and not an 
abandonment, 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 
MCRR's representative: Sandra L. Brown, Thompson Hine LLP, 1919 M St 
NW., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036. A copy of any petition filed with 
the Board also should be sent to CMR's representative: Lon Van Gemert, 
Central Railway Company, c/o Progressive Rail Incorporated, 21778 
Highview Avenue, Lakeville, MN 55044.
    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: December 3, 2013.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Raina S. White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2013-29187 Filed 12-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P