[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 182 (Thursday, September 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 57682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-22795]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 357X)]


Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Discontinuance of Service 
Exemption--in Monroe County, Mich.

    Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) has filed a verified notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over an approximately 
1.7-mile line of railroad extending between milepost XV 0.0 and 
milepost XV 1.7, in Monroe County, Mich. (the Line). The Line traverses 
United States Postal Service Zip Code 48161.
    NSR has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years; (2) no overhead traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years, and that 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 over the Line either is pending before the Surface 
Transportation Board or before any U.S. District Court or has been 
decided in favor of the 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 USC 10502(d) must be filed.
    Provided no formal expression of intent to file an offer of 
financial assistance (OFA) to subsidize continued rail service has been 
received, this exemption will be effective on October 19, 2013, unless 
stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve 
environmental issues and formal expressions of intent to file an OFA to 
subsidize continued rail service under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) \1\ must be 
filed by September 30, 2013.\2\ Petitions to reopen must be filed by 
October 9, 2013, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street 
SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \1\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,600. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
    \2\ Because applicants are seeking to discontinue service, not 
to abandon the Line, trail use/rail banking and public use 
conditions are not appropriate. Likewise, no environmental or 
historic documentation is required here under 49 CFR 1105.6(c) and 
49 CFR 1105.8(b), respectively.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to NSR's 
representative: Robert A. Wimbish, Baker & Miller PLLC, 2401 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037.
    If the notice contains false or misleading information, the 
exemption is void ab initio.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: September 16, 2013.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Derrick A. Gardner,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2013-22795 Filed 9-18-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P