[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 31 (Friday, February 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9042-9043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03292]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 57 (Sub-No. 61X)]


Soo Line Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Racine 
County, WI

    Soo Line Railroad Company, d/b/a Canadian Pacific (Soo Line) has 
filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--
Exempt Abandonments to abandon a 10.63-mile line of railroad located 
approximately between milepost 7.8 and milepost 18.43 in Racine County, 
Wis. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 53139, 
53182, and 53177.
    Soo Line has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over 
the line for at least two years; (2) any overhead traffic on the line 
can be and has been 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

[[Page 9043]]

1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental agencies) have been met.
    As a condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment 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 March 19, 2014, 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 
February 24, 2014. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by March 6, 2014, 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 
currently is 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 Soo 
Line's representative: Leigh K. Currie, Stinson Leonard Street, 150 
South Fifth Street, Suite 2300, Minneapolis, MN 55402.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    Soo Line has filed a combined environmental and historic report 
that addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the 
environment and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental 
assessment (EA) by February 21, 2014. 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 at (800) 877-8339. Comments on 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), Soo Line 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 Soo Line's filing of a notice of 
consummation by February 14, 2015, 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: February 11, 2014.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Raina S. White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2014-03292 Filed 2-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P