[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8970-8971]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02115]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 32 (Sub-No. 107X) and Docket No. AB 355 (Sub-No. 43X)]
Boston & Maine Corporation--Abandonment Exemption--in Merrimack
County, N.H. and Springfield Terminal Railway Company--Discontinuance
of Service Exemption--in Merrimack County, N.H.
Boston & Maine Corporation (B&M) and Springfield Terminal Railway
Company (ST) (collectively, applicants), have jointly filed a verified
notice of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for B&M to abandon, and for
ST to discontinue service over, an approximately 6.36-mile line of
railroad known as the Northern Main Line of the Northern Railroad in
Merrimack County, N.H. (the Line). The Line traverses Concord, N.H. and
Boscowen, N.H., between mileposts 74.32 and 80.68, and United States
Postal Service Zip Codes 03301 and 03303.
Applicants have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over
the Line for at least two years; (2) there is no overhead traffic on
the Line; (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
[[Page 8971]]
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 these exemptions, any employee adversely affected
by the abandonment or discontinuance 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, these exemptions will be
effective on March 3, 2017, 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 13, 2017. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by February 21, 2017,
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC
20423-0001.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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 is
currently set at $1,700. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to
applicants' representative: Robert B. Burns, Pan Am Railways, Iron
Horse Park, North Billerica, MA 01862.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemptions are void ab initio.
Applicants have filed a combined environmental and historic report
that addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment and
discontinuance on the environment and historic resources. OEA will
issue an environmental assessment (EA) by February 6, 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 (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
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), B&M 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 B&M's filing of a notice of
consummation by February 1, 2018, 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.GOV.''
Decided: January 27, 2017.
By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Raina S. Contee,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-02115 Filed 1-31-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P