[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6801-6802]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02075]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 1321X]


Ohi-Rail Corporation--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in 
Perry and Muskingum Counties, Ohio

    Ohi-Rail Corporation (Ohi-Rail) has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service and terminate its 
lease operations over approximately 14.8 miles of rail line owned by 
the Ohio Rail Development Commission, including the Fultonham Running 
Track from milepost 0.0 to milepost 3.1 (Glass Rock-East) and Z&W 
Industrial Track from milepost 45.8 to milepost 57.5 (Glass Rock-West), 
in Perry and Muskingum Counties, Ohio (the Line).\1\ The Line traverses 
U.S. Postal Service Zip Codes 43701, 43735, 43739, 43760, 43777, and 
43791.
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    \1\ Ohi-Rail was authorized to lease and operate the Line in 
Ohi-Rail Corp.--Lease & Operation Exemption--Ohio Department of 
Transportation, FD 30986 (ICC served Feb. 27, 1987).
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    Ohi-Rail has certified that: (1) it has not moved any local traffic 
over the Line for at least two years; (2) it has not moved any overhead 
traffic over the Line for at least two years, and overhead traffic, if 
there were any, could 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 on the Line is either pending with the Surface 
Transportation Board (Board) or with 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 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) \2\ to subsidize

[[Page 6802]]

continued rail service has been received, this exemption will be 
effective on March 3, 2023, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues must be 
filed by February 10, 2023, and formal expressions of intent to file an 
OFA to subsidize continued rail service under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) \3\ 
must be filed by February 13, 2023.\4\ Petitions for reconsideration 
must be filed by February 21, 2023.
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    \2\ 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).
    \3\ The filing fee for OFAs can be found at 49 CFR 
1002.2(f)(25).
    \4\ Because this is a discontinuance proceeding and not an 
abandonment, interim trail use/rail banking and public use 
conditions are not appropriate in this docket. However, as explained 
in Ohio Rail Development Commission--Petition for Declaratory Order, 
FD 36387, slip op. at 6-7 (STB served Dec. 22, 2020), once Ohi-Rail 
is authorized to discontinue service on the Line, requests for 
issuance of a certificate of interim trail use or abandonment for 
the Line's right-of-way may be filed by a potential trail sponsor in 
the abandonment docket, Conrail Abandonment of Lines in Zanesville 
Ohio, Docket No. AB 167 (Sub-No. 445N). In addition, because the 
Line has already been authorized for abandonment, this 
discontinuance does not require an environmental review.
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    All pleadings, referring to Docket No. AB 1321X, must be filed with 
the Surface Transportation Board 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 sent to 
Ohi-Rail's representative, Crystal M. Zorbaugh, Baker & Miller PLLC, 
2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037.
    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: January 27, 2023.

    By the Board, Mai T. Dinh, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Aretha Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2023-02075 Filed 1-31-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P