[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 136 (Friday, July 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 46151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16773]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 383X)]


Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Discontinuance of Service 
Exemption--In Shenandoah County, VA

    Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) has filed a verified notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152, subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuance of Service to discontinue service over an approximately 
16.9-mile rail line extending from milepost B 62.0 (at Strasburg, VA) 
to milepost B 78.9 (near Edinburg, VA) in Shenandoah County, VA (the 
Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 22657, 
22660, 22644, 22664, and 22824.
    NSR 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 
route, 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 (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) to subsidize continued rail service has been 
received, this exemption will be effective on August 16, 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 July 25, 2016.\2\ Petitions to reopen must be filed by August 
4, 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 discontinue 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 NSR's 
representative: William A. Mullins, Baker & Miller PLLC, 2401 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037.
    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: July 12, 2016.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Raina S. Contee,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2016-16773 Filed 7-14-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P