[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 29, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15549-15550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-06194]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 33 (Sub-No. 324X)]


Union Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Harris 
and Chambers Counties, Tex.

    Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon a 2.23-mile portion of the U.S. Steel Industrial Lead between 
milepost 2.4 in Baytown and milepost 4.63 at the east side of Cedar 
Bayou, in Harris and Chambers Counties, Tex. (the Line). The Line 
traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 77520 and 77523.
    UP has certified that: (1) No local or overhead traffic has moved 
over the Line for at least two years; (2) there is no need to reroute 
any traffic 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 (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 
become effective on April 28, 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 interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 
CFR 1152.29 must be filed by April 7, 2017. Petitions to reopen or 
requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed 
by April 18, 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 UP's 
representative: Mack H. Shumate, Jr., 101 North Wacker Drive, Room 
1920, Chicago, IL 60606.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    UP has filed a combined environmental and historic report that 
addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment 
and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) 
by April 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

[[Page 15550]]

filed within 15 days after the EA becomes available to the public.
    Environmental, historic preservation, public use, or interim 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), UP 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 UP's filing of a notice of consummation by March 
29, 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: March 24, 2017.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Raina S. Contee,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-06194 Filed 3-28-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P