[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 33 (Friday, February 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 10425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03438]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 733 (Sub-No. 1X)]


Housatonic Railroad Company, Inc.--Discontinuance of Service--
Dutchess and Putnam Counties, N.Y.

    Housatonic Railroad Company, Inc. (HRRC), has filed a verified 
notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt 
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service to discontinue trackage 
rights over the rail line known as the Beacon Line located between 
milepost 0.0 at Beacon, N.Y., and milepost 71.2 \1\ at the Connecticut/
New York state line, for a total distance of 41.1 miles, in Dutchess 
and Putnam Counties, N.Y. (the Line).\2\ The Line traverses U.S. Postal 
Service Zip Codes 12508, 12524, 12533, 12582, 12570, 12531, 12563, 
10509, and 12564.
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    \1\ The connecting branches that form the Line also retain their 
original milepost designations used by the former New York Central 
and New York, New Haven & Hartford, which are milepost 12.8 and 
milepost 42.9.
    \2\ The Line is owned by Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company 
(Metro-North). When the Board's predecessor, the Interstate Commerce 
Commission, authorized Metro-North's acquisition of the Line in 
1995, it exempted Metro-North from most of the provisions of 
Subtitle IV of Title 49 of the U.S. Code. (Verified Notice 2-3.)
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    HRRC has certified that: (1) it has moved no local traffic over the 
Line for at least two years; (2) any common carrier overhead traffic 
can be rerouted; (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) \3\ to subsidize continued rail service has 
been received, this exemption will be effective on March 19, 2023, 
unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not 
involve environmental issues \4\ and formal expressions of intent to 
file an OFA to subsidize continued rail service under 49 CFR 
1152.27(c)(2) \5\ must be filed by February 27, 2023.\6\ Petitions to 
reopen must be filed by March 9, 2023.
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    \3\ 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).
    \4\ Typically, a discontinuance does not require environmental 
review because the environmental review will occur during any later 
abandonment. However, in certain situations where the owner of a 
rail line proposed for discontinuance does not require Board 
approval to abandon the line, a discontinuance may require 
environmental review. See 49 CFR 1105.6(b)(3). On September 9, 2022, 
the Board's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) issued a Final 
Environmental Assessment (Final EA) covering the Line in a related 
proceeding: Metro-North Commuter Railroad--Adverse Discontinuance of 
Trackage Rights--Housatonic Railroad, Docket No. AB 1311. No 
environmental or historic preservation issues were raised by any 
party or identified by OEA in that Final EA. Accordingly, because 
OEA has recently conducted an appropriate environmental review 
concerning the Line at issue, a finding of no significant impact 
under 49 CFR 1105.10(g) will be made pursuant to 49 CFR 
1011.7(a)(2)(ix).
    \5\ The filing fee for OFAs can be found at 49 CFR 
1002.2(f)(25).
    \6\ 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, the Board 
has granted in the past a petition for partial revocation of a 49 
U.S.C. Subtitle IV exemption to permit the owner a line to seek 
abandonment authority in order to pursue interim trail use/rail 
banking. See Caldwell R.R. Comm'n--Exemption from 49 U.S.C. Subtitle 
IV, FD 32659 (Sub-No. 2) (STB served Sept. 8, 2015).
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    All pleadings, referring to Docket No. AB 733 (Sub-No. 1X), must be 
filed with the Surface Transportation 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 sent to HRRC's representative, Edward J. Rodriguez, 
Housatonic Railroad Company, Inc., 4 Huntley Road, P.O. Box 687, Old 
Lyme, CT 06371.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    This action will not significantly impact the quality of the human 
environment or the conservation of energy resources.
    Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.

    Decided: February 14, 2023.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Stefan Rice,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2023-03438 Filed 2-16-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P