[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 36 (Friday, February 22, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5804-5805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03061]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 312 (Sub-No. 4X); Docket No. AB 1000 (Sub-No. 4X)]
South Carolina Central Railroad Company, LLC--Abandonment
Exemption--in Terrell County, GA; Georgia Southwestern Railroad, Inc.--
Discontinuance Exemption--in Terrell County, GA
South Carolina Central Railroad Company, LLC (SCRF), and Georgia
Southwestern Railroad, Inc. (GSWR) (collectively, Applicants), have
jointly filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152
subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for SCRF
to abandon, and for GSWR to discontinue service over, approximately
1,350 feet of rail line between milepost 72.88 and milepost 72.63 in
the Town of Sasser, Terrell County, GA (the Line). The Line traverses
U.S. Postal Service Zip Code 39885.
Applicants have certified that: (1) No local or overhead traffic
has moved over the Line for at least two years; (2) because the Line is
not a ``through line,'' 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 1105.12 (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 and 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) \1\ has been received,
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these exemptions will be effective on March 26, 2019, 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 March 4, 2019. Petitions to
reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must
be filed by March 14, 2019, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395
E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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\1\ The Board modified its OFA procedures effective July 29,
2017. Among other things, the OFA process now requires potential
offerors, in their formal expression of intent, to make a
preliminary financial responsibility showing based on a calculation
using information contained in the carrier's filing and publicly
available information. See Offers of Financial Assistance, EP 729
(STB served June 29, 2017); 82 FR 30,997 (July 5, 2017).
\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 (OEA) in its independent
investigation) cannot be made before the exemptions' 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 exemptions' effective
date.
\3\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is
currently set at $1,800. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to Eric
M. Hocky, Clark Hill, PLC, One Commerce Square, 2005 Market Street,
Suite 1000, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemptions are void ab initio.
Applicants have 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 March 1, 2019. Interested persons may obtain a copy
of the EA by writing to OEA (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), SCRF 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 SCRF's filing of a notice of
consummation by February 22, 2020, and there are no legal or regulatory
barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically
expire.
Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.
Decided: February 15, 2019.
By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2019-03061 Filed 2-21-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P