[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 32 (Thursday, February 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 8327]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03356]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 753X)]


CSX Transportation, Inc.--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in 
Harlan County, KY

    CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over an approximately 
1.6-mile rail line on its Southern Region, Huntington Division, CV 
Subdivision, Engineering Appalachian Division, also known as the Merna 
Spur from milepost 0MV 248.5 to milepost 0MV 250.1, in Harlan County, 
Ky. (the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip 
Code 40818, and includes the station of Creech (FSAC 43739/OPSL 20395) 
at milepost 0MV 250.
    CSXT has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years; (2) because the Line is not a through 
line, no overhead traffic has operated, and, therefore, none needs to 
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 is pending either with the Surface Transportation Board or any 
U.S. District Court or has been decided in favor of a 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 become effective on March 19, 2016, 
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) 
\1\ must be filed by February 29, 2016.\2\ Petitions to reopen must be 
filed by March 9, 2016, 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 this is a discontinuance proceeding and not an 
abandonment, interim trail use/rail banking and public use 
conditions are not appropriate. Because there will be an 
environmental review during abandonment, this discontinuance does 
not require an environmental review.
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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, LLC, 600 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 301, Towson, MD 21204.
    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: February 12, 2016.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Brendetta S. Jones,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2016-03356 Filed 2-17-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P