[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 20, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60466-60467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27419]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 776X)]
CSX Transportation, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in Greenbrier
County, W. Va.
CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) has filed a verified notice of
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to
abandon an approximately 0.42-mile rail line on its Florence Division,
Sewell Valley Subdivision, between milepost CAF 20.58 to the end of
track at milepost CAF 21.0, near Rainelle, Greenbrier County, W. Va.
(the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Zip Code 25962, and
includes no stations.
CSXT has certified that: (1) No local freight traffic has moved
over the Line for at least two years; (2) because the Line is not a
through line, no overhead traffic has operated, and, thus, none needs
to be rerouted over other lines; (3) no formal complaint filed by a
user of a 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 is either pending with the Surface Transportation Board
(Board) or with any U.S. District Court or has been decided in favor of
a complainant within the two-year period; and (4) the requirements at
49 CFR 1105.11 (transmittal letter), 49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper
publication), and 49 CFR
[[Page 60467]]
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 January 19, 2018, 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
interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be
filed by December 29, 2017. Petitions to reopen or requests for public
use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by January 9, 2018,
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC
20423-0001.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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 $1,800. See Regulations Governing Fees for Servs.
Performed in Connection with Licensing & Related Servs.--2017
Update, EP 542 (Sub-No. 25), slip op. App. C at 20 (STB served July
28, 2017).
\3\ CSXT states that the Line may be suitable for other public
purposes but may be subject to reversionary interests that may
affect transfer of title for purposes other than rail.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to Louis
E. Gitomer, Law Offices of Louis E. Gitomer, LLC, 600 Baltimore Avenue,
Suite 301, Towson, MD 21204.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
CSXT has filed a combined environmental and historic report that
addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment
and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA)
by December 26, 2017. 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 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), CSXT 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 CSXT's filing of a notice
of consummation by December 20, 2018, 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 website at
WWW.STB.GOV.
Decided: December 15, 2017.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-27419 Filed 12-19-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P