[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 235 (Monday, December 8, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72757-72758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28658]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. AB 1068 (Sub-No. 3X); Docket No. AB 1070 (Sub-No. 3X)]
Missouri Central Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in
Cass, Pettis, Benton, Morgan, Miller, Cole, Osage, Maries, Gasconade,
and Franklin Counties, Mo.; Central Midland Railway Company--
Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in Cass, Pettis, Benton, Morgan,
Miller, Cole, Osage, Maries, Gasconade, and Franklin Counties, Mo.
Missouri Central Railroad Company (MCRR) and Central Midland
Railway Company (CMR) (collectively, applicants) have jointly filed a
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for MCRR to abandon, and
for CMR to discontinue service over, approximately 144.3 miles of rail
line in two segments: (1) Between mileposts 263.5 and 262.906 near
Pleasant Hill, in Cass County, Mo., and (2) between milepost 215.325
near Windsor, in Pettis County, Mo., and milepost 71.6 near Beaufort,
in Franklin County, Mo. The line traverses United States Postal Service
Zip Codes 64080, 65360, 65335, 65325, 65078, 65084, 65011, 65026,
65032, 65040, 65075, 65058, 65085, 65048, 65001, 65035, 65013, 65014,
65066, 63091, 63037, 63056, and 63013.
Applicants have 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 these exemptions, any employee adversely affected
by the abandonment or discontinuance 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,
[[Page 72758]]
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, these exemptions will be
effective on January 7, 2015, 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
December 18, 2014. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by December 29, 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
applicants' representatives: Sandra L. Brown, Thompson Hine LLP, 1919 M
St. NW., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036, and Lon Van Gemert, 21778
Highview Ave., Lakeville, MN 55044.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemptions are void ab initio.
Applicants have filed a combined environmental and historic report
which addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment and
discontinuance on the environment and historic resources. OEA will
issue an environmental assessment (EA) by December 12, 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 1-800-877-8339.
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), MCRR 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 MCRR's filing of a notice of
consummation by December 8, 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: November 26, 2014.
By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2014-28658 Filed 12-5-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P