[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26139-26140]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12044]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 6 (Sub-No. 496X); Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 400X)]


BNSF Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--in the City of Des 
Moines, Polk County, Iowa; Norfolk Southern Railway Company--
Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in the City of Des Moines, Polk 
County, Iowa

    BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), and Norfolk Southern Railway Company 
(NSR) (collectively, Applicants), have jointly filed a verified notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service for BNSF to abandon, and for NSR to 
discontinue service over, approximately 0.45 miles of rail line between 
milepost 67.38 and milepost 66.93 in the City of Des Moines, Polk 
County, Iowa (the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal 
Service Zip Code 50309.
    Applicants have certified that: (1) No local rail traffic has moved 
over the Line for at least two years; (2) no overhead rail traffic has 
moved over the Line for at least two years; (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 1105.11 
(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 these exemptions, 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

[[Page 26140]]

assistance (OFA) \1\ has been received, these exemptions will be 
effective on July 5, 2018,\2\ 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 
trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by 
June 15, 2018. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by June 25, 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\ Applicants initially filed their verified notice of 
exemption on April 30, 2018. BNSF filed a supplemental certificate 
of service for the environmental and historic report on May 16, 
2018. Therefore, the official filing date is May 16, 2018.
    \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 exemptions' 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 exemptions' effective 
date.
    \4\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently 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 Karl 
Morell, Karl Morell & Associates, 440 1st Street NW, Suite 440, 
Washington, DC 20001 and Crystal M. Zorbaugh, Baker & Miller PLLC, 2401 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemptions are void ab initio.
    Applicants have filed a combined environmental and historic report 
that addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the 
environment and historic resources. OEA issued an environmental 
assessment (EA) on May 25, 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 (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339. Comments on 
environmental and historic preservation matters must be filed by June 
11, 2018.
    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 June 5, 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 31, 2018.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018-12044 Filed 6-4-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P