[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 5 (Monday, January 8, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 936-937]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00137]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 775X)]
CSX Transportation, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in Clark, Floyd,
Lawrence, Orange, & Washington Counties, Ind.
CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), has filed a verified notice of
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments to
abandon an approximately 62.3-mile rail line on its Northern Region,
Louisville Division, Hoosier Subdivision between milepost 00Q 251.7,
near Bedford, and milepost 00Q 314.0, near New Albany, in Clark, Floyd,
Lawrence, Orange, and Washington Counties, Ind. (the Line). The Line
traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 47150, 47172, 47106,
47143, 47165, 47167, 47108, 47452, 47446, and 47421 and serves the
stations of Orleans (milepost 00Q 262), Leipsic (milepost 00Q 267),
Campbellsburg (milepost 00Q 273), Salem (milepost 00Q 284), Pekin
(milepost 00Q 295), and Borden (milepost 00Q 300). CSXT was previously
granted authority to discontinue service over the Line.\1\
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\1\ CSX Transp., Inc.--Discontinuance of Serv. Exemption--in
Clark, Floyd, Lawrence, Orange, & Wash. Ctys., Ind., AB 55 (Sub-No.
698X) (STB served Apr. 7, 2010).
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CSXT has certified that: (1) No local freight traffic has moved
over the Line for at least two years; (2) any overhead traffic on the
Line can 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
a complainant within the two-year period; and (4) the requirements at
49 CFR 1105.7(c) (environmental report), 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 be
effective on February 7, 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
interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be
filed by January 18, 2018. Petitions to reopen or requests for public
use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by January 29, 2018,
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 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.
\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 Louis
E. Gitomer, Law Offices of Louis E. Gitomer, LLC, 600 Baltimore Avenue,
Suite 301, Towson, MD 21204.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
[[Page 937]]
CSXT 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 January 12, 2018. 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 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), CSXT 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 affected by CSXT's filing of a notice of consummation by January
8, 2019, 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 website at
WWW.STB.GOV.
Decided: January 3, 2018.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018-00137 Filed 1-5-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P