[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 202 (Thursday, October 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52868-52869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22739]



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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD



[Docket No. AB 303 (Sub-No. 50X)]




Wisconsin Central Ltd.--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in 

Ashland and Price Counties, Wis.



    Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WCL) has filed a verified notice of 

exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 

Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over a portion of 

WCL's Ashland Subdivision extending approximately 58.4 miles from 

milepost 434.4 in the city of Ashland, Ashland County, Wis., to 

milepost 376.0 near Park Falls, Price County, Wis. (the Line). The Line 

traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 54806, 54855, 54846, 

54546, 54527, 54514, and 54552.

    WCL has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 

Line for at least two years; (2) there is no overhead traffic to be 

rerouted over other lines; (3)



[[Page 52869]]



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 

has been decided in favor of a complainant within the two-year period; 

and (4) the requirements at 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 discontinuance 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\ to subsidize continued rail service has 

been received, this exemption will be effective on November 17, 2018, 

unless stayed pending reconsideration. Formal expressions of intent to 

file an OFA to subsidize continued rail service under 49 CFR 

1152.27(c)(2) \2\ must be filed by October 26, 2018. Petitions to stay 

that do not involve environmental issues must be filed by October 29, 

2018.\3\ Petitions for reconsideration must be filed by November 7, 

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\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which 

currently is set at $1,800. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).

    \3\ Because this is a discontinuance proceeding and not an 

abandonment, trail use/rail banking and public use conditions are 

not appropriate. Because there will be an environmental review 

during abandonment, this discontinuance does not require 

environmental review.

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    A copy of any petition filed with Board should be sent to WCL's 

representative, Bradon J. Smith, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 North Wacker 

Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606.

    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 

the exemption is void ab initio.

    Board decisions and notices are available on our website at 

www.stb.gov.



    Decided: October 15, 2018.



    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 

Proceedings.

Brendetta Jones,

Clearance Clerk.

[FR Doc. 2018-22739 Filed 10-17-18; 8:45 am]

 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P