[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 4, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14539-14540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-06893]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 43 (Sub-No. 188X)]


Illinois Central Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in 
Hinds County, MS

    Illinois Central Railroad Company (IC) has filed a verified notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon approximately 1.8 miles of rail line extending northward from 
milepost 185.15 near McNutt Street to milepost 186.95 near High Street 
in Jackson, Hinds County, Miss. (the Line). The Line traverses United 
States Postal Zip Codes 39201 and 39202.
    IC has certified that: (1) There has been no local rail traffic 
over the Line for at least two years; (2) there is no overhead traffic 
on the Line to be rerouted; (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 had been decided in favor of a 
complainant within the two-year period; and (4) 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.
    As a condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment 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.
    Provided no formal expression of intent to file an offer of 
financial assistance (OFA) \1\ has been received, this exemption will 
be effective on May 3, 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\ 
must be filed by April 13, 2018. Petitions to reopen or requests for 
public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by April 23, 
2018, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20423-0001.\4\
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    \1\ The Board modified its OFA procedures effective July 29, 
2017. Among other things, the OFA process now requires potential 
offerors, in their formal expression of intent, to make a 
preliminary financial responsibility showing based on a calculation 
using information contained in the carrier's filing and publicly 
available information. See Offers of Financial Assistance, EP 729 
(STB served June 29, 2017); 82 FR 30,997 (July 5, 2017).
    \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 
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).
    \4\ IC states that the Line is not suitable for any other public 
purpose and that it believes much of the Line will be subject to 
reversionary interests. (Notice 3.)
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    A copy of any petition filed with Board should be sent to IC's 
representative, Bradon J. Smith, 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.
    IC 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 6, 2018. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by 
writing to OEA (Room 1100, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 
20423-0001) or

[[Page 14540]]

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), IC 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 IC's filing of a notice of 
consummation by April 3, 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: March 28, 2018.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Marline Simeon,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018-06893 Filed 4-3-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P