[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 17 (Friday, January 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8648-8649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01856]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 768X)]


CSX Transportation, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in Greenbrier 
and Fayette Counties, W. Va.

    CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments to abandon an 
approximately 6.0-mile rail line on its Southern Region, Florence 
Division, Sewell Valley Subdivision, between milepost CAF 21.0 and the 
end of the track at milepost CAF 27.0 near Rainelle, in Greenbrier and 
Fayette Counties, W. Va. (the Line).\1\ The Line traverses United 
States Postal Service Zip Code 25962 and includes the Rainelle Jct. 
station at milepost CAF 21 (FSAC 83044/OPSL 62375). The station will 
remain open.
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    \1\ CSXT was authorized to discontinue service over the Line in 
2016. CSX Transp., Inc.--Discontinuance of Serv. Exemption--in 
Greenbrier & Fayette Ctys, W. Va., AB 55 (Sub-No. 759X) (STB served 
April 4, 2016). By letter dated May 6, 2016, CSXT informed the Board 
that it had consummated the discontinuance of the Line.
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    CSXT has certified that: (1) No local freight 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 either 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 
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 February 28, 2017, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\2\ formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\3\ and 
trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by 
February 6, 2017.\4\ Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by February 16, 2017, 
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
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    \2\ 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.
    \3\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,700. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
    \4\ In the verified notice, CSXT states that it plans to 
transfer the Line to the Greenbrier County Commission and the 
Fayette County Commission and convert the Line to a trail under a 
notice of interim trail use agreement.
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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.
    CSXT has filed environmental and historic reports that address the 
effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic 
resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by February 
3, 2017. 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), 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 January 27, 2018, and there are no legal or regulatory 
barriers

[[Page 8649]]

to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically expire.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
``WWW.STB.GOV.''

    Decided: January 24, 2017.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-01856 Filed 1-26-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P