[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 36 (Friday, February 22, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5804-5805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03061]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 312 (Sub-No. 4X); Docket No. AB 1000 (Sub-No. 4X)]


South Carolina Central Railroad Company, LLC--Abandonment 
Exemption--in Terrell County, GA; Georgia Southwestern Railroad, Inc.--
Discontinuance Exemption--in Terrell County, GA

    South Carolina Central Railroad Company, LLC (SCRF), and Georgia 
Southwestern Railroad, Inc. (GSWR) (collectively, Applicants), have 
jointly filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 
subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for SCRF 
to abandon, and for GSWR to discontinue service over, approximately 
1,350 feet of rail line between milepost 72.88 and milepost 72.63 in 
the Town of Sasser, Terrell County, GA (the Line). The Line traverses 
U.S. Postal Service Zip Code 39885.
    Applicants have certified that: (1) No local or overhead traffic 
has moved over the Line for at least two years; (2) because the Line is 
not a ``through line,'' there is no overhead traffic on the Line; (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 1105.12 (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 and 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\ has been received,

[[Page 5805]]

these exemptions will be effective on March 26, 2019, 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 1152.29 must be filed by March 4, 2019. Petitions to 
reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must 
be filed by March 14, 2019, 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\ 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.
    \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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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to Eric 
M. Hocky, Clark Hill, PLC, One Commerce Square, 2005 Market Street, 
Suite 1000, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
    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 will issue an environmental 
assessment (EA) by March 1, 2019. Interested persons may obtain a copy 
of the EA by writing to OEA (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 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), SCRF 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 SCRF's filing of a notice of 
consummation by February 22, 2020, and there are no legal or regulatory 
barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically 
expire.
    Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.

    Decided: February 15, 2019.

    By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2019-03061 Filed 2-21-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P