[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 66 (Monday, April 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19210-19211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07174]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 1269 (Sub-No. 1X)]


Iowa Traction Railway Company--Discontinuance of Service 
Exemption--in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa

    Iowa Traction Railway Company (Iowa Railway) has filed a verified 
notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt 
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over 
a three-mile rail line between milepost 155.5, located approximately 
100 yards south of Elm Drive, and milepost 152.5, located approximately 
600 yards north of County Highway B-20, in Mason City (the City), Cerro 
Gordo County, Iowa (the Line). The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service 
Zip Code 50401.
    Iowa Railway has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved 
over the Line for at least two years; (2) no overhead traffic has moved 
over the Line for at least two years; (3) no formal complaint filed by 
a user of rail service on the Line (or 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 
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) 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

[[Page 19211]]

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\ to subsidize continued rail service has 
been received, this exemption will be effective on May 6, 2020, unless 
stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve 
environmental issues and formal expressions of intent to file an OFA to 
subsidize continued rail service under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) \2\ must be 
filed by April 16, 2020.\3\ Petitions for reconsideration must be filed 
by April 27, 2020, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street 
SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \1\ Persons interested in submitting an OFA to subsidize 
continued rail service must first file a formal expression of intent 
to file an offer, indicating the intent to file an OFA for subsidy 
and demonstrating that they are preliminarily financially 
responsible. See 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2)(i).
    \2\ The filing fee for OFAs can be found at 49 CFR 
1002.2(f)(25).
    \3\ As explained in the Board's decision served concurrently in 
this docket, requests for issuance of a notice of interim trail use 
or abandonment under the National Trails System Act will not be 
accepted. Moreover, because this is a discontinuance proceeding and 
not an abandonment, public use conditions are not appropriate. 
Furthermore, no environmental review is required because the Line 
was previously abandoned and an environmental review was conducted 
in that proceeding. See Chi. & N. W. Transp. Co.--Aban. Exemption--
Mason City, Iowa, AB 1 (Sub-No. 205X) (ICC served Jan. 19, 1988) 
(environmental review).
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    A copy of any petition filed with Board should be sent to Iowa 
Railway's representative, Thomas F. McFarland, Thomas F. McFarland, 
P.C., 208 South LaSalle Street, Suite 1666, Chicago, IL 60604-1228.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.

    Decided: April 1, 2020.

    By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2020-07174 Filed 4-3-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P