[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64532-64533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23191]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 857 (Sub-No. 2)]


Colorado Landowners--Adverse Abandonment--Great Western Railway 
of Colorado, LLC in Weld County, Colo.

    On October 5, 2022, a group of landowners (Landowners) \1\ filed an 
application \2\ under 49 U.S.C. 10903 requesting that the Surface 
Transportation Board (Board) authorize the third-party, or adverse, 
abandonment of 6.2 miles of rail line extending from milepost 0.0 at 
Johnstown, Colo., to milepost 6.2 near Welty, Colo. (the Line), owned 
by Great Western Railway of Colorado, LLC (Great Western). The Line 
traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip Codes 80534 and 80513.
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    \1\ The 27 landowners are listed in Appendix 1 to the 
application.
    \2\ The application is considered filed 20 days after the 
Landowners filed a September 15, 2022 amendment to a September 13, 
2022 revised environmental and historic report. See Colo. 
Landowners--Adverse Aban.--Great W. Ry. of Colo., LLC, in Weld 
Cnty., Colo., AB 857 (Sub-No. 2), slip op. at 1 (STB served Sept. 7, 
2022).
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    According to the Landowners, the Line was constructed in 1902 and 
1903 to transport sugar beets from a sugar beet dump facility, which 
closed in the 1970s. In 2008, Great Western filed a verified notice of 
exemption to abandon the Line. See Great W. Ry. of Colo., LLC--Aban. 
Exemption--in Weld Cnty., Colo., Docket No. AB 857 (Sub-No. 1X). After 
notice of the exemption was served and published in the Federal 
Register, the Board issued a notice of interim trail use or abandonment 
authorizing negotiations for interim trail use/rail banking of the Line 
under the Board's regulations at 49 CFR 1152.29 and granted six one-
year extensions of the deadline to exercise abandonment authority. 
However, in 2014, Great Western filed a letter stating that it had 
decided to reopen the Line and would not be consummating the 
abandonment.
    According to the Landowners, the Line has not been used for Board-
regulated rail transportation for approximately 43 years and there is 
no reasonable prospect for such use in the foreseeable future. The 
Landowners state that no shippers have used the Line since 1979, and 
that the Line has been used only for random and sporadic rail car 
storage between 2008 and 2016. The Landowners further claim that Great 
Western has performed no maintenance on the railroad right-of-way, such 
that use of the Line for rail transportation is impossible and/or cost 
prohibitive. The Landowners state that they are seeking the adverse 
abandonment to pave the way for action under Colorado law to free the 
land from Great Western's easement.
    In a decision served on February 11, 2022, the Landowners were 
granted exemptions from several statutory provisions and waivers of 
certain Board regulations that were unnecessary to the adverse 
abandonment application or that sought information not available to the 
Landowners.
    The Landowners state that, to their knowledge, the Line does not 
contain any federally granted rights-of-way. Any documentation in the 
Landowners' possession will be made available promptly to those 
requesting it. The Landowners' entire case-in-chief for adverse 
abandonment was filed with the application.
    The Landowners state that the interests of railroad employees will 
be protected by the conditions set forth in Oregon Short Line 
Railroad--Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch Between Firth & Ammon, in 
Bingham & Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979).
    Any interested person may file written comments concerning the 
proposed adverse abandonment or protests (including protestant's entire 
opposition case) by November 21, 2022. Persons who may oppose the 
proposed adverse abandonment but who do not wish to participate fully 
in the process by submitting verified statements of witnesses 
containing detailed evidence should file comments. Persons opposing the 
proposed adverse abandonment who wish to participate actively and fully 
in the process should file a protest, observing the filing, service, 
and content requirements of 49 CFR 1152.25. The Landowners' reply is 
due by December 5, 2022.
    Any request for an interim trail use/rail banking condition under 
16 U.S.C. 1247(d) and 49 CFR 1152.29 must be

[[Page 64533]]

filed by November 21, 2022,\3\ and should address whether the issuance 
of a certificate of interim trail use in this case would be consistent 
with the grant of an adverse abandonment application.
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    \3\ Filing fees for trail use requests can be found at 49 CFR 
1002.2(f)(27).
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    All filings in response to this notice must refer to Docket No. AB 
857 (Sub-No. 2) and must be filed with the Board either via e-filing on 
the Board's website or in writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading filed 
with the Board must be served on the Landowners' representatives: 
Thomas F. McFarland, Thomas F. McFarland, P.C., 2230 Marston Lane, 
Flossmoor, IL 60422-1336; and Thomas S. Stewart, Stewart, Wald & 
McCulley, 2100 Central Street, Suite 22, Kansas City, MO 64108.
    An environmental assessment (EA) (or environmental impact statement 
(EIS), if necessary) prepared by the Board's Office of Environmental 
Analysis (OEA) will be served upon all parties of record and upon any 
agencies or other persons who commented during its preparation.\4\ A 
copy of the EA (or EIS) will be available to interested persons on the 
Board's website, by writing to OEA, or by calling OEA at (202) 245-
0294. Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the 
Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
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    \4\ On October 14, 2022, Great Western filed a reply 
challenging, among other things, the sufficiency of Landowners' 
environmental and historic reports submitted to date and the 
Landowners' compliance with certain service and publication 
requirements. To the extent that these objections need to be 
addressed, the Board will do so in a future decision in this docket.
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    Persons seeking further information concerning abandonment 
procedures may contact the Board's Rail Customer and Public Assistance 
program at (202) 245-0238 or refer to the text of the abandonment 
regulations at 49 CFR part 1152.
    Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.

    Decided: October 20, 2022.

    By the Board, Mai T. Dinh, Director, Office of Proceedings.

Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-23191 Filed 10-24-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P