[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63697-63698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26807]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[STB Docket No. AB 1271X]


Savage, Bingham & Garfield Railroad Company--Discontinuance of 
Trackage Rights Exemption--in Whiting, Ind.

    On November 21, 2018, Savage, Bingham & Garfield Railroad Company

[[Page 63698]]

(SBG) filed a petition \1\ under 49 U.S.C. 10502 to (1) revoke the 
exemption that authorized SBG to operate pursuant to a trackage rights 
agreement entered into between SBG and Elgin, Joliet and Eastern 
Railway Company (CN),\2\ over a 0.6-mile rail line owned by CN in 
Whiting, Ind. (the Line) and (2) allow the trackage rights to 
terminate. The Line is located between milepost J 47.4 (south end of 
CN's Whiting Line) and Bridge Number 631 at or near milepost J 46.8 on 
CN's Calumet Spur on CN's Matteson Subdivision in Whiting, Ind.
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    \1\ SBG's petition is styled as a petition to revoke. However, 
petitions to revoke trackage rights agreements typically are 
appropriate when filed concurrently with a trackage rights verified 
notice of exemption. See, e.g., Union Pac. R.R.--Trackage Rights 
Exemption--Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry., FD 33631 (Sub-No. 1), slip 
op. at 2 (STB served July 30, 1998) (``We see nothing objectionable 
with this procedure when, as here, the petition and notice are filed 
together.''). Here, the appropriate procedure is a petition under 49 
U.S.C. 10502 for exemption from the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 10903 to 
discontinue SBG's trackage rights over the Line.
    \2\ Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company is an indirect 
subsidiary of Canadian National Railway Company.
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    The interest of railroad employees will be protected by the 
conditions set forth in Oregon Short Line Railroad--Abandonment--
Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979).
    By issuance of this notice, the Board is instituting an exemption 
proceeding pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10502(b). A final decision will be 
issued by March 11, 2019.
    Because this is a discontinuance proceeding and not an abandonment, 
trail use/rail banking and public use conditions are not appropriate. 
Similarly, no environmental or historic documentation is required under 
49 CFR 1105.6(c)(5) and 1105.8(b)(3).
    Any offer of financial assistance (OFA) for subsidy under 49 CFR 
1152.27(b)(2) will be due no later than 120 days after the filing of 
the petition for exemption, or 10 days after service of a decision 
granting the petition for exemption, whichever occurs sooner.\3\ 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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    \3\ The Board modified its OFA procedures effective July 29, 
2017. Among other things, the OFA process now requires potential 
offerors in all abandonment and discontinuance proceedings to file a 
formal expression of intent to file an offer. The process also 
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).
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    All filings in response to this notice must refer to STB Docket No. 
AB 1271X and must be sent to: (1) Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 
Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001 and (2) Richard F. Riley Jr., 
Foley & Lardner LLP, 3000 K Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20007-
5109. Replies to the petition are due on or before December 31, 2018.
    Persons seeking further information concerning discontinuance 
procedures may contact the Board's Office of Public Assistance, 
Governmental Affairs, and Compliance at (202) 245-0238 or refer to the 
full abandonment and discontinuance regulations at 49 CFR part 1152. 
Questions concerning environmental issues may be directed to the 
Board's Office of Environmental Analysis at (202) 245-0305. Assistance 
for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal Information 
Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our website at 
www.stb.gov.

    Decided: December 6, 2018.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018-26807 Filed 12-10-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P