[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 1 (Friday, January 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 107-108]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30502]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 371X)]


The Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company--Discontinuance of 
Service Exemption--in St. Tammany Parish, La.

    The Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company (AGS), a wholly owned 
subsidiary of Norfolk Southern Railway Company, filed a verified notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over approximately 
3.60 miles of connecting rail lines extending from: (1) Milepost 36.00 
NA (near Holly Street) to milepost 38.25 NA (near South Street and 
Route 190 [Gause Blvd., West]), and (2) milepost NN 35.31 (near Route 
11 [Front Street]) to milepost NN 36.66 (near Donya Drive), in St. 
Tammany Parish, La. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip 
Code 70460.
    AGS has 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 
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 1105.12 (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) has been received, this exemption will be 
effective on February 3, 2015, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues and formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA for continued rail service under 
49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) \1\ must be filed by January 12, 2015.\2\ 
Petitions to reopen must be filed by January 22, 2015, with the Surface 
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 is 
currently set at $1,600. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
    \2\ Because AGS is seeking to discontinue service, not to 
abandon the line, 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 AGS's 
representatives: William A. Mullins and Crystal M. Zorbaugh, Baker & 
Miller PLLC, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 
20037.

[[Page 108]]

    If the verified 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 23, 2014.

    By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Brendetta S. Jones,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2014-30502 Filed 12-31-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P