[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 60 (Friday, March 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17650-17651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06919]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. AB 1115X]
Nebraska Central Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in
Merrick County, Neb.
Nebraska Central Railroad Company (NCRC) has filed a verified
notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt
Abandonments to abandon the 1.81-mile rail line located between
milepost 17.5, near Central City, and milepost 19.31, in Central City,
Merrick County, Neb. The line traverses United States Postal Service
Zip Code 68826.
NCRC has certified that: (1) No local traffic has been handled to
or from any customer over the line for at least two years; (2) no
overhead traffic has been handled on the line for at least two years;
(3) no formal complaint filed by a user of rail service on the line (or
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 (Board) or 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 1105.7(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 April 29, 2014, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do
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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 April 7, 2014. Petitions
to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28
must be filed by April 17, 2014, 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
NCRC's representative: Karl Morell, Ball Janik LLP, 655 Fifteenth
Street NW., Suite 225, Washington, DC 20005.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
NCRC has filed environmental and historic reports that address the
effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic
resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by April 4,
2014. 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 (FIRS) 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), NCRC 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 NCRC's filing of a notice of
consummation by March 28, 2015, 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: March 24, 2014.
By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2014-06919 Filed 3-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P