[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 235 (Friday, December 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 58045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26515]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 6 (Sub-No. 497X)]


BNSF Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Benton County, 
Minn.

    BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon a 1.75-mile line of railroad located between milepost 0.0 and 
milepost 1.75 in Benton County, Minn. (the Line).\1\ The Line traverses 
United States Postal Zip Code 56379.
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    \1\ As originally filed, the verified notice indicated that the 
Line is in Stearns County, Minn. On December 4, 2017, BNSF filed a 
correction (including an updated map) indicating that the Line is 
located in Benton County, Minn., a short distance north and east of 
Stearns County. According to BNSF, its notice is correct in all 
other respects.
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    BNSF has certified that: (1) No local or overhead freight rail 
traffic has traveled over the Line since July 2015; (2) 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 
(3) the requirements at 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.\2\
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    \2\ BNSF's December 4 correction indicates that the St. Cloud 
Times, where notice of the proposed abandonment was published, is a 
newspaper of general circulation in Benton County. BNSF also states 
that it will serve a copy of the Environmental Report on the 
Administrator for Benton County, Minn.
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    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 January 9, 2018, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\3\ formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\4\ and 
interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be 
filed by December 18, 2017. Petitions to reopen or requests for public 
use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by December 28, 2017, 
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 
20423-0001.\5\
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    \3\ 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.
    \4\ 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).
    \5\ BNSF states that the Line may be suitable for other public 
purposes and that there are 18.60 acres on the Line of which 0.02 
acres are reversionary.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to Karl 
Morell, Karl Morell & Associates, 440 1st Street NW., Suite 440, 
Washington, DC 20001.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    BNSF 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 December 15, 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), BNSF 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 BNSF's filing of a notice 
of consummation by December 7, 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: December 5, 2017.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-26515 Filed 12-7-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P