[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 213 (Friday, November 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Page 55232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24034]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 784X)]


CSX Transportation, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in Cobb County, 
Ga.

    CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon an approximately 2.3-mile rail line on its Atlanta Terminal 
Subdivision, Atlanta Division, between milepost SG 579.29 near Plant 
Atkinson Road and milepost SG 581.61 just west of East-West Connector, 
in Cobb County, Ga. (the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal 
Zip Codes 30080 and 30082 and includes one station at Edna (FSAC 
23500).
    CSXT has certified that: (1) no local rail traffic has moved over 
the Line during the past two years; (2) any overhead traffic on the 
Line can be rerouted over other lines; (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) has been received,\1\ this exemption will be 
effective on December 2, 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 
trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 152.29 must be filed by 
November 9, 2018.\4\ Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by November 23, 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 30997 (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 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. B at 13 (STB served Aug. 
8, 2018).
    \4\ CSXT states that it is working on an agreement with the 
State of Georgia to transfer the corridor and convert the Line to a 
trail under a notice of interim trail use or abandonment (NITU) 
agreement contingent on Board approval for authority to abandon.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
CSXT's representative, Louis E. 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 November 9, 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 November 2, 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: October 30, 2018.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Tammy Lowery,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018-24034 Filed 11-1-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P