[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 68 (Monday, April 9, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15189-15190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07226]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 33 (Sub-No. 334X)]


Union Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in 
McLennan County, Tex.

    Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuance of Service to abandon 0.5 miles of the former Mart Line 
near Waco, Tex., between milepost 173.2 and milepost 173.7 near the TX 
340 Loop crossing, in McLennan County, Tex. (the Line). The Line 
traverses United States Postal Service Zip Code 76705.\1\
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    \1\ UP filed this notice simultaneously with a verified notice 
of exemption for discontinuance of service over a portion of rail 
line connected to the Line at milepost 173.7. That notice is being 
considered in a separate docket. See Union Pac. R.R.--Discontinuance 
of Serv. Exemption--in McLennan Cty., Tex., AB 33 (Sub-No. 335X) 
(STB served April 9, 2018).
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    UP has certified that: (1) No local or overhead traffic has moved 
over the Line for at least two years; (2) there is no need to reroute 
any traffic 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 1105.12 (newspaper 
publication), and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental 
agencies) have been met.

[[Page 15190]]

    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) \2\ has been received, this exemption will 
be effective on May 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 April 19, 2018. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by April 30, 2018, with 
the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
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    \2\ 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).
    \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).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to UP's 
representative: Jeremy M. Berman, 1400 Douglas St., #1580, Omaha, NE 
68179.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    UP 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 13, 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), UP 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 UP's filing of a notice of consummation by April 9, 
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: April 4, 2018.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Marline Simeon,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018-07226 Filed 4-6-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P