[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 10, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74227-74228]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29429]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 718X)] [Docket No. AB 507 (Sub-No. 1X)]


CSX Transportation, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in Alachua 
County, Fla. and Florida Northern Railroad Company, Inc.--
Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in Alachua County, Fla.

    CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), and Florida Northern Railroad 
Company, Inc. (FNOR), jointly filed a verified notice of exemption 
under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service for CSXT to abandon approximately 11.62 
miles of rail line on CSXT's Southern Region, Jacksonville Division, 
West Coast Subdivision, between milepost AR 716.88, at High Springs, 
and milepost AR 726.69, at Newberry, and milepost ARB 717.11, at High 
Springs, and milepost ARB 718.92, at High Springs, in Alachua County, 
Fla. (the Line); and (2) FNOR to discontinue service over approximately 
9.81 miles of rail between milepost AR 716.88, at High Springs, and 
milepost AR 726.69, at Newberry (the FNOR Line).\1\ The Line traverses 
United States Postal Service Zip Codes 32643 and 32669.
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    \1\ The FNOR Line is a portion of the Line. CSXT leased the FNOR 
Line to FNOR in 2005 as part of the transaction in Florida Northern 
Railroad--Lease Exemption--Line of CSX Transportation, Inc., FD 
34689 (STB served June 15, 2005). Since that time, FNOR also has 
operated the CSXT trackage between milepost ARB 717.11, and milepost 
ARB 718.92, the remainder of the Line, as exempt industry track.
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    CSXT and FNOR 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 overhead traffic, if there 
were any, 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 before the Surface 
Transportation Board or before any U.S. District Court or has been 
decided in favor of the complainant within the two-year period; and (4) 
the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7(c) (environmental reports), 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.\2\
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    \2\ The Line has been embargoed due to track condition since 
July 22, 2011. Prime Conduit, the only shipper on the FNOR Line, 
receives service via transloading at Jacksonville, Fla., or other 
nearby transloading locations.
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    As a condition to this exemption, 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, this exemption will be 
effective on January 9, 2014, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\3\ formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\4\ and 
trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by 
December 20, 2013. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by December 30, 2013, 
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
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    \3\ 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.
    \4\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1600. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
CSXT's representative: Louis E. Gitomer, Law Offices of Louis E. 
Gitomer, 600 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 301, Towson, MD 21204. A copy of 
any petition filed with the Board also should be sent to FNOR's 
representative: Thomas J. Litwiler, Fletcher & Sippel, LLC, 29 North 
Wacker Drive, Suite 920, Chicago, IL 60606-2832.

[[Page 74228]]

    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    Applicants have filed environmental and historic reports that 
address the effects, if any, of the abandonment and discontinuance on 
the environment and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental 
assessment (EA) by December 13, 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 
environmental and historic preservation matters must be filed with 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), CSXT 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 CSXT's filing of a notice of 
consummation by December 10, 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: December 5, 2013.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Raina S. White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2013-29429 Filed 12-9-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P