[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 230 (Friday, December 1, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57021-57022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25932]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket Nos. AB 290 (Sub-No. 394X); AB 1257X]


Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--in 
Aurora, Portage County, Ohio; Cleveland Commercial Railroad Company, 
LLC--Discontinuance of Lease and Operation Authority--in Aurora, 
Portage County, Ohio

    Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) and Cleveland Commercial 
Railroad Company, LLC (CCR) (collectively, Applicants), have jointly 
filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--
Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for NSR to abandon, 
and for CCR to discontinue service over, approximately 5.5 miles of 
rail line between milepost RH 22.0 and milepost RH 27.5 in Aurora, 
Portage County, Ohio (the Line).\1\ The Line traverses United States 
Postal Service Zip Codes 44202 and 44255.
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    \1\ In 2009, CCR was authorized to lease and operate the Line as 
part of a longer, 25.3-mile line, pursuant to an agreement with NSR. 
See Cleveland Commercial R.R.--Lease & Operation Exemption--Norfolk 
S. Ry., FD 35251 (STB served May 29, 2009).
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    Applicants have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over 
the Line for at least two years; (2) no overhead traffic has moved over 
the Line for at least two years and that overhead traffic, if there 
were any, could 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 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 these exemptions, 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, these exemptions will be 
effective on January 2, 2018, 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 
December 11, 2017. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by December 21, 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 exemptions' 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 exemptions' effective 
date.
    \3\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently 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).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
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 exemptions are void ab initio.
    Applicants have 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 December 8, 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), NSR 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 NSR's filing of a notice of 
consummation by December 1, 2018, and there are no legal or regulatory

[[Page 57022]]

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: November 27, 2017.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-25932 Filed 11-30-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P