[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44986-44987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18961]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. AB 1071]
Stewartstown Railroad Company; Adverse Abandonment; In York
County, PA
On July 7, 2011, the Estate of George M. Hart (Estate), filed an
application under 49 U.S.C. 10903, requesting that the Surface
Transportation Board (Board) authorize the third-party or adverse
abandonment of an approximately 7.4-mile line of railroad (Line) in
York County, Pa., extending from milepost 0.0 at New Freedom, Pa., to
milepost 7.4 at Stewartstown, Pa. The Line is owned by the Stewartstown
Railroad Company (SRC), and traverses United States Postal Service Zip
Codes 17349, 17361, and 17363. There are 2 rail stations on the Line.
The application is available on the Board's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov, or a copy can be secured from applicant's counsel,
whose name and address appear below.
The Estate asserts that it seeks abandonment so that it may
facilitate the sale of the Line through the Board's Offers of Financial
Assistance (OFA) procedures, or, barring that, foreclose upon SRC's
assets to satisfy SRC's debt obligations, subject to any appropriate
processes of state law. To support its abandonment application, the
Estate asserts that the Line is dilapidated, cannot safely handle train
operations in its current state, and continues to deteriorate due to a
lack of funds needed for rail line maintenance. Further, the Estate
maintains that there have been no freight operations over the Line for
nearly 20 years, that there is no foreseeable need for rail service,
and that there are no ``significant users'' of the Line as defined in
49 CFR 1152.2(l).
In a decision served in this proceeding on March 10, 2011 (March
decision), the Estate was granted exemptions from several statutory
provisions as well as waivers of certain Board regulations at 49 CFR
part 1152 that were not relevant to its adverse abandonment application
or that sought information not available to it. Specifically, the
Estate was granted waivers of and exemptions from the notice
requirements at 49 CFR 1152.20(a)(3), 49 U.S.C. 10903(a)(3)(B), 49 CFR
1152.20(a)(2)(i), 49 U.S.C. 10903(a)(3)(D) (except that the Estate must
mail a copy of its notice of intent to former shippers of the Line), 49
CFR 1152.20(a)(2)(xii), and 49 CFR 1152.21; waivers of and exemptions
from the application requirements of 49 CFR 1152.10-14, 49 CFR
1152.22(a)(5), 49 U.S.C. 10903(c), 49 CFR 1152.22(c), 49 CFR
1152.22(d), 49 CFR 1152.24(e)(1), and 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2); partial
waiver of and exemption from the offer of financial assistance (OFA)
procedures at 49 CFR 1152.27 and 49 U.S.C. 10904; and waiver of
portions of the Federal Register notice language requirements at 49 CFR
1152.22(i).
According to the Estate, the Line does not contain Federally
granted rights-of-way. Any documentation in the Estate's possession
will be made available promptly to those requesting it. The Estate
asserts that it filed its entire case for adverse abandonment with its
application.
The interests of affected railroad employees, if there are any,
will be protected by the conditions set forth in
[[Page 44987]]
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 abandonment or protests (including the protestant's entire
opposition case), by August 22, 2011. 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 in 49 CFR 1152.25. Any OFA under 49 CFR
1152.27 to acquire the lines for continued rail service must be filed
by no later than 10 days after service of a decision granting the
application.\1\ In accordance with the Board's March decision, the
Board will not consider OFAs to subsidize continued rail service.
Because this is an adverse abandonment proceeding, public use requests
are not appropriate and will not be entertained. The Estate's reply is
due by September 6, 2011.
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\1\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is
currently set at $1,500. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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The Board has not yet had occasion to decide whether the issuance
of a certificate of interim trail use in an adverse abandonment would
be consistent with the grant of such an application. Accordingly, any
request for a trail use condition under 16 U.S.C. 1247(d) (49 CFR
1152.29) must be filed by August 22, 2011, and should address that
issue. Each trail use request must be accompanied by a $250 filing fee.
See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(27).
All filings in response to this notice must refer to Docket No. AB
1071 and must be sent to: (1) Surface Transportation Board, 395 E
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001; (2) Keith G. O'Brien
(representing the Estate), Baker & Miller PLLC, 2401 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW., Ste. 300, Washington, DC 20037; and (3) Alex E. Snyder
(representing SRC), Barley Snyder LLC, 100 East Market Street, P.O. Box
15012, York, PA 17405-7012.
Filings may be submitted either via the Board's e-filing format or
in the traditional paper format. Any person using e-filing should
comply with the instructions found on the Board's http://www.stb.dot.gov Web site, at the ``e-filing'' link. Any person
submitting a filing in the traditional paper format should send the
original and 10 copies of the filing to the Board with a certificate of
service. Except as otherwise set forth in 49 CFR part 1152, every
document filed with the Board must be served on all parties to this
adverse abandonment proceeding. 49 CFR 1104.12(a).
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. Any
other persons who would like to obtain a copy of the EA (or EIS) may
contact OEA by phone at the number listed below. EAs in these
abandonment proceedings normally will be made available within 33 days
of the filing of the application. The deadline for submission of
comments on the EA will generally be within 30 days of its service. The
comments received will be addressed in the Board's decision. A
supplemental EA or EIS may be issued where appropriate.
Persons seeking further information concerning abandonment
procedures may contact the Board's Office of Public Assistance,
Governmental Affairs, and Compliance at (202) 245-0238 or refer to the
full abandonment/discontinuance regulations at 49 CFR pt. 1152.
Questions concerning environmental issues may be directed to OEA at
(202) 245-0305. Assistance for the hearing impaired is available
through the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov.
Decided: July 22, 2011.
By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2011-18961 Filed 7-26-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P