[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 198 (Monday, October 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48146-48147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22257]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 303 (Sub-No. 49X)]


Wisconsin Central Ltd.--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in 
Oneida and Marinette Counties, Wis.

    Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WCL) \1\ has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over a portion of 
WCL's line of railroad extending approximately 49.0 miles from milepost 
220.0 on WCL's Bradley Subdivision in Rhinelander, Waupaca County, 
Wis., to milepost 269.0 on WCL's Pembine Subdivision at Goodman, 
Marinette County, Wis. (the Line). The Line traverses United States 
Postal Service Zip Codes 54125, 54103, 54511 and 54501.
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    \1\ WCL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian National 
Railway Company.
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    WCL has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years; (2) there is no overhead traffic to be 
rerouted over other lines; (3) no formal complaint filed by a user of a 
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 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.

[[Page 48147]]

    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 November 15, 2017, 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) \2\ must be 
filed by October 26, 2017.\3\ Petitions for reconsideration must be 
filed by November 3, 2017, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \2\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which 
currently is set at $1,800. See Regulations Governing Fees for 
Servs. Performed in Connection with Licensing & Related Servs.--2017 
Update, EP 542 (Sub-No. 25), slip op. App. C at 20 (STB served July 
28, 2017).
    \3\ Because this is a discontinuance proceeding and not an 
abandonment, 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 
environmental review.
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    A copy of any petition filed with Board should be sent to WCL's 
representative, Audrey L. Brodrick, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 North 
Wacker Drive, Suite 920, Chicago, IL 60606.
    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.GOV.

    Decided: October 10, 2017.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-22257 Filed 10-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P