[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 146 (Thursday, July 30, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45586-45587]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18640]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. AB 551 (Sub-No. 2X)]
Knox and Kane Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--McKean
County, PA
Knox and Kane Railroad Company (Knox & Kane) has filed a verified
notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F-Exempt
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service to abandon a stub-ended
line of railroad between Mt. Jewett, Pa. (milepost 165.2) and the
Kinzua Bridge (milepost 169.1), a distance of 3.9 miles in McKean
County, Pa. (the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Service
Zip Code 16740.\1\
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\1\ By decision served on April 14, 2015, the Board directed
Knox & Kane to submit supplemental information and postponed the
effectiveness of the exemption until further order of the Board.
Knox & Kane submitted its supplemental information on June 1, 2015.
In a decision served today in this docket, the Board removes this
case from abeyance and deems the notice of abandonment exemption to
have been filed on July 9, 2015.
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Knox & Kane has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over
the Line for at least two years; (2) there is no
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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.
Where the carrier is abandoning its entire line, the Board
generally does not impose labor protective conditions under 49 U.S.C.
10502(g), unless the evidence indicates the existence of: (1) A
corporate affiliate that will continue substantially similar rail
operations; or (2) a corporate parent that will realize substantial
financial benefits over and above relief from the burden of deficit
operations by its subsidiary railroad. See, e.g., W. Ky. Ry.--Aban.
Exemption--in Webster, Union, Caldwell & Crittenden Cntys., Ky., AB 449
(Sub-No. 3X), slip op. at 2 (STB served Jan. 20, 2011). Because Knox &
Kane does not appear to have a corporate affiliate or parent that will
continue similar operations or that will realize substantial financial
benefits over and above relief from the burden of deficit operations by
Knox & Kane, employee protective conditions will not be imposed.
Provided no formal expression of intent to file an OFA has been
received, the exemption will be effective on August 31, 2015, unless
stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve
environmental issues,\2\ formal expressions of intent to file an OFA
under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\3\ and trail use/rail banking requests
under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by August 7, 2015. Petitions to
reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must
be filed by August 28, 2015, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395
E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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\2\ 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 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.
\3\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is
currently set at $1,600. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25). Although Knox &
Kane suggests that it might be appropriate for the Board to exempt
this transaction from the OFA provisions, it expressly states that
it has not sought such an exemption. Knox & Kane Notice 4 n.2.
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A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to Knox
& Kane's representative: Richard R. Wilson, 518 N. Center Street, Suite
1, Ebensburg, PA 15931.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
Knox & Kane has filed environmental and historic reports which
address the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and
historic resources. The Board's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA)
issued an environmental assessment (EA) in this proceeding, which was
served on March 23, 2015. Environmental, historic preservation, public
use/rail banking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a
subsequent decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), Knox & Kane
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 Knox & Kane's filing of a notice
of consummation by July 24, 2016, 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: July 24, 2015.
By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2015-18640 Filed 7-29-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P