[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