[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 72 (Monday, April 15, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15278-15279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-07443]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 400 (Sub-No. 7X)]


Seminole Gulf Railway, L.P.--Exempt Abandonment--in Sarasota 
County, Fla.

    Seminole Gulf Railway, L.P. (SGLR), has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon an approximately 7.68-mile segment of its rail line known as 
the Venice Branch. The segment to be abandoned extends between milepost 
SW 890.29 on the north side of Ashton Road and milepost SW 884.70, and 
between milepost AZA 930.30 and milepost AZA 928.21 on the north side 
of State Highway 780 (Fruitville Road), partly lying within the City of 
Sarasota, Sarasota County, Fla., with the remainder lying within 
unincorporated Sarasota County (the Line). The Line traverses U.S. 
Postal Service Zip Codes 34232, 34233, and 34237.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ SGLR originally filed its verified notice on March 8, 2019. 
By letter filed on March 18, 2019, SGLR notified the Board that the 
verified notice inadvertently included an incorrect Zip Code and 
requested that the Board hold the proceeding in abeyance to allow 
the correction to be made and the required notice periods satisfied. 
That request was granted, subject to receipt of a supplemental 
filing. SGLR submitted that filing on March 26, 2019, and that date 
therefore is considered the verified notice's filed date and the 
basis for all dates in this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    SGLR has certified that: (1) No local freight traffic has moved 
over the Line for at least two years; (2) because the Line is stub-
ended (not a through line), there is no overhead traffic to be rerouted 
over other lines; (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 
and 1105.8 (environmental report and historic 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 this exemption, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment 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) \2\ has been received, this exemption will 
be effective on May 15, 2019, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\3\ formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\4\ and 
trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by 
April 25, 2019. Petitions for reconsideration or requests for public 
use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by May 6, 2019, with 
the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ 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).
    \3\ 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.
    \4\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,800. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
SGLR's representative, 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 exemption is void ab initio.
    SGLR has filed a combined environmental and historic report that

[[Page 15279]]

addresses the potential effects, if any, of the abandonment on the 
environment and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental 
assessment (EA) by April 19, 2019. The EA will be available to 
interested persons on the Board's website, by writing to OEA, or by 
calling OEA at (202) 245-0305. Assistance for the hearing impaired is 
available through the Federal 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), SGLR 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 SGLR's filing of a notice of 
consummation by April 15, 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: April 9, 2019.

    By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.

Raina Contee,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2019-07443 Filed 4-12-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P