[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 18 (Monday, January 28, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5867-5868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01687]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. AB 1107X]
West Michigan Railroad Co.--Abandonment Exemption--in Van Buren
County, MI
West Michigan Railroad Co. (WMI) has filed a verified notice of
exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments to
abandon approximately 10.67 miles of rail line between milepost 19.88
(west of the line's crossing of 56th Street near Lawrence, Mich.) and
milepost 30.55 (east of Kalamazoo Street in Paw Paw, Mich.), in Van
Buren County, Mich. The
[[Page 5868]]
line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 49064 and 49079.
WMI has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the
line for at least two years; (2) there is no overhead traffic on the
line; (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 over the line either is pending
with the Surface Transportation Board (Board) or with any U.S. District
Court or has been decided in favor of complainant within the two-year
period; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7(c) (environmental
report), 49 CFR 1105.11 (transmittal letter), 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 abandonment 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) has been received, this exemption will be
effective on February 27, 2013, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\1\ formal
expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\2\ and
trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by
February 7, 2013. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by February 19, 2013,
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC
20423-0001.
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\1\ The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on
environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Board's
Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) in its independent
investigation) cannot be made before the exemption's effective date.
See Exemption of Out-of-Serv. Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C. 2d 377 (1989).
Any request for a stay should be filed as soon as possible so that
the Board may take appropriate action before the exemption's
effective date.
\2\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is
currently set at $1,600. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to WMI's
representative: William A. Mullins, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite
300, Washington, DC 20037.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
WMI has filed a combined environmental and historic report that
addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment
and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA)
by February 1, 2013. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by
writing to OEA (Room 1100, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC
20423-0001) or by calling OEA at (202) 245-0305. Assistance for the
hearing impaired is available through the Federal Information Relay
Service at (800) 877-8339. Comments on environmental and historic
preservation matters must be filed within 15 days after the EA becomes
available to the public.
Environmental, historic preservation, public use, or trail use/rail
banking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a subsequent
decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), WMI shall file
a notice of consummation with the Board to signify that it has
exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned the line. If
consummation has not been effected by WMI's filing of a notice of
consummation by January 28, 2014, and there are no legal or regulatory
barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically
expire.
Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at
www.stb.dot.gov.
Decided: January 23, 2013.
By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Raina S. White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2013-01687 Filed 1-25-13; 8:45 am]
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