[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 1 (Friday, January 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 107-108]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30502]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 371X)]
The Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company--Discontinuance of
Service Exemption--in St. Tammany Parish, La.
The Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company (AGS), a wholly owned
subsidiary of Norfolk Southern Railway Company, filed a verified notice
of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and
Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over approximately
3.60 miles of connecting rail lines extending from: (1) Milepost 36.00
NA (near Holly Street) to milepost 38.25 NA (near South Street and
Route 190 [Gause Blvd., West]), and (2) milepost NN 35.31 (near Route
11 [Front Street]) to milepost NN 36.66 (near Donya Drive), in St.
Tammany Parish, La. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip
Code 70460.
AGS 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 if there were any overhead traffic, it
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 with the Surface Transportation 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 1105.12 (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 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 3, 2015, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues and formal
expressions of intent to file an OFA for continued rail service under
49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) \1\ must be filed by January 12, 2015.\2\
Petitions to reopen must be filed by January 22, 2015, 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 AGS is 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 AGS's
representatives: William A. Mullins and Crystal M. Zorbaugh, Baker &
Miller PLLC, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC
20037.
[[Page 108]]
If the verified 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: December 23, 2014.
By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Brendetta S. Jones,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2014-30502 Filed 12-31-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P