[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 104 (Wednesday, May 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 24837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-11551]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 779X)]


CSX Transportation, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in Trumbull 
County, Ohio

    CSX Transportation (CSXT) has filed a verified notice of exemption 
under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments to abandon 
approximately 13.9 miles of rail line on its Newton Falls Subdivision, 
between milepost BGA 86.1 and milepost BGA 100.00, in Trumbull County, 
Ohio (the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip 
Codes 44430, 44444, 44446, 44483, 44484, and 44485 and serves the 
stations of Niles (FSAC 71412/SPLC 344191), Deforest, Warren (FSAC 
71414/SPLC 344150), Leavittburg, and Newton Falls (FSAC 71417/SPLC 
359883). CSXT states that these stations can be closed.
    CSXT has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years; (2) any overhead traffic on the Line can 
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 either is 
pending with the Surface Transportation Board (Board) or 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 1105.12 (newspaper 
publication), 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental agencies), 
and 49 CFR 1105.7 and 1105.8 (environment and historic report), 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) \1\ has been received, this exemption will 
be effective on June 29, 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 June 11, 2018. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by June 19, 2018, with 
the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW, Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
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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 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
CSXT's representative, Louis 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.
    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 June 4, 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 the provisions of 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 effected by CSXT's filing of a notice of 
consummation by May 30, 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: May 22, 2018.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Raina Contee,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018-11551 Filed 5-29-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P