[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 80 (Thursday, April 25, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17445-17446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-08368]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 6 (Sub-No. 498X)]


BNSF Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Pawnee County, 
Okla.

    BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon approximately 0.74 miles of Line Segment 1047 (formerly 7401), 
track 5403 between milepost 6.47 and milepost 7.21 in Pawnee County, 
Okla. (the Line). The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip Code 
74058.
    BNSF has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
Line since prior to 2008; (2) 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 any U.S. District Court or has 
been decided in favor of a complainant within the two-year period; and 
(4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper publication), 49 CFR 
1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental agencies), and 49 CFR 1105.7 and 
1105.8 (environment and historic report), 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) \1\ has been received, this exemption will 
be effective on May 25, 2019, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues \2\ must be 
filed by May 3, 2019. 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 May 6, 2019. Petitions to reopen or 
requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed 
by May 15, 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 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 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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    A copy of any petition filed with Board should be sent to BNSF's 
representative, Peter Denton, Steptoe &

[[Page 17446]]

Johnson LLP, 1330 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    BNSF has filed a combined environmental and historic report that 
addresses the potential effects of the abandonment on the environment 
and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) 
by April 30, 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), BNSF 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 BNSF's filing a notice of 
consummation by April 25, 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 22, 2019.

    By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2019-08368 Filed 4-24-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P