2446 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 9 / Thursday, January 13, 2011 / Notices 

3The 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. 

4Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing 

fee, which is currently set at $1,500. See 49 CFR 

1002.2(f)(25). 

1Temple has also concurrently filed a motion for 

protective order pursuant to 49 CFR 1104.14(b) to 

allow Temple to file the unredacted Purchase and 

Sale Agreement under seal. That motion will be 

addressed in a separate decision. 

2City of Temple, Tex.—Acquisition and 

Operation Exemption—Georgetown R.R. Co., FD 

35369 (STB served Apr. 23, 2010) (April 23 notice). 

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 2-year period; and (4) the 

requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7 

(environmental report), 49 CFR 1105.8 

(historic 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 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 February 

11, 2011, unless stayed pending 

reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do 

not involve environmental issues,3

formal expressions of intent to file an 

OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),4 and 

trail use/rail banking requests under 49 

CFR 1152.29 must be filed by January 

24, 2011. Petitions to reopen or requests 

for public use conditions under 49 CFR 

1152.28 must be filed by February 1, 

2011, with the Surface Transportation 

Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, 

DC 20423–0001. 

A copy of any petition filed with the 

Board should be sent to BNSF’s 

representative: Karl Morell, 1455 F St., 

NW., Suite 225, Washington, DC 20005. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. 

BNSF has filed a combined 

environmental and historic report 

which addresses the effects, if any, of 

the abandonment on the environment 

and historic resources. OEA will issue 

an environmental assessment (EA) by 

January 14, 2011. 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), BNSF 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 

BNSF’s filing of a notice of 

consummation by January 12, 2012, 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: January 10, 2011. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Andrea Pope-Matheson, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2011–632 Filed 1–12–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. FD 35446] 

City of Temple, Tex.—Acquisition 

Exemption—Georgetown Railroad 

Company 

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board. 

ACTION: Notice instituting proceeding; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: On December 15, 2010, the 

City of Temple, Tex. (Temple), a 

noncarrier, filed a petition under 49 

U.S.C. 10502 for exemption from the 

provisions of 49 U.S.C. 10901 to acquire 

from the Georgetown Railroad Company 

(Georgetown) an approximately 6.277- 

mile line of railroad, between milepost 

0.0, near Belton, and milepost 6.277, at 

Smith, in Bell County, Tex. (the line), 

and the trackage rights granted to 

Georgetown to operate over the line.1 In 

a related transaction, Temple & Central 

Texas Railway, Inc. (TCTR), a Class III 

carrier, filed a verified notice of 

exemption under 49 CFR 1150.41 to 

operate over the line. That notice was 

served and published in the Federal 

Register on December 10, 2010 (75 FR 

77,044). Temple & Central Tex. Ry.— 

Operation Exemption—City of Temple, 

Tex., FD 35447 (STB served Dec. 10, 

2010). The Board seeks comments from 

interested persons on Temple’s request 

to acquire the line. 

DATES: Written comments must be filed 

with the Board by February 2, 2011. 

Replies must be filed by February 9, 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted either via the Board’s e-filing 

format or in the traditional paper 

format. Any person using e-filing should 

attach a document and otherwise 

comply with the instructions at the 

E-FILING link on the Board’s Web site, 

at http://www.stb.dot.gov. Any person 

submitting a filing in the traditional 

paper format should send an original 

and 10 copies to: Surface Transportation 

Board, Attn: Docket No. FD 35446, 395 

E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423– 

0001. 

In addition, send one copy of any 

comments to Louis E. Gitomer, Law 

Offices of Louis E. Gitomer, 600 

Baltimore Avenue, Suite 301, Towson, 

MD 21204. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia 

Farr at 202–245–0359. Assistance for the 

hearing impaired is available through 

the Federal Information Relay Service 

(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

December 15, 2010, Temple filed a 

petition under 49 U.S.C. 10502 for 

exemption from the provisions of 49 

U.S.C. 10901 to acquire the line. 

Previously Temple had filed a notice of 

exemption to acquire and operate over 

the line.2 Temple stated in that notice 

that the purpose of the acquisition was 

to construct a pipeline underneath the 

right-of-way and subsequently convert 

the line into a trail under the National 

Trails System Act, 16 U.S.C. 1247(d). 

The Director of the Office of 

Proceedings stated in the April 23 

notice that the Board has found that 

acquiring a line for the purpose of 

abandoning rather than operating over it 

constitutes a misuse of Board 

procedures. Accordingly, Temple’s 

notice was rejected without prejudice. 

Subsequently, Temple entered into an 

agreement with TCTR, which operates 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 9 / Thursday, January 13, 2011 / Notices 2447 

other railroad lines owned by Temple, 

to operate over the line. Temple states 

that its agreement with TCTR requires 

that TCTR solicit business over the line 

and to provide common carrier service 

for remunerative business. Temple 

states that in the event TCTR is unable 

to provide service over the line, Temple 

will assume the residual common 

carrier obligation to provide service. 

Temple requests expedited action on its 

petition. 

By issuance of this notice, the Board 

is instituting an exemption proceeding 

pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10502(b). 

Decided: January 10, 2011. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Andrea Pope-Matheson, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2011–639 Filed 1–12–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Gulf War and Health, Volume 6, 

Physiologic, Psychologic, and 

Psychosocial Effects of DeploymentRelated Stress 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: As required by law, the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

hereby gives notice that the Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs, under the authority 

granted by the Persian Gulf War 

Veterans Act of 1998, Public Law 

105–277, title XVI, 112 Stat. 2681–742 

through 2681–749 (codified at 38 U.S.C. 

1118), has determined that there is no 

basis to establish any new presumptions 

of service connection at this time for 

any of the diseases, illnesses, or health 

effects discussed in the November 15, 

2007, National Academy of Sciences 

(NAS) report titled, ‘‘Gulf War and 

Health, Volume 6, Physiologic, 

Psychologic, and Psychosocial Effects of 

Deployment-Related Stress.’’ This 

determination does not in any way 

preclude VA from granting service 

connection on a direct basis for any 

disease, including those specifically 

discussed in this notice, nor does it 

change any existing rights or 

procedures. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gerald Johnson, Regulations Staff 

(211D), Compensation and Pension 

Service, Veterans Benefits 

Administration, Department of Veterans 

Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20420, telephone (202) 

461–9727. (This is not a toll-free 

number.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Statutory Requirements 

The Persian Gulf War Veterans Act of 

1998, Public Law 105–277, title XVI, 

112 Stat. 2681–742 through 2681–749 

(codified at 38 U.S.C. 1118), and the 

Veterans Programs Enhancement Act of 

1998, Public Law 105–368, 112 Stat. 

3315, directed the Secretary to enter 

into an agreement with NAS to review 

and evaluate the available scientific 

evidence regarding associations between 

illnesses and exposure to toxic agents, 

environmental or wartime hazards, or 

preventive medicines or vaccines to 

which service members may have been 

exposed during service in the Southwest 

Asia theater of operations during the 

Persian Gulf War. Congress prescribed 

the inquiry it expected NAS to carry out 

in the event such an agreement was 

reached. Congress directed NAS to 

identify agents, hazards, medicines, and 

vaccines to which service members may 

have been exposed during the Persian 

Gulf War. Congress mandated that NAS 

determine, to the extent possible: (1) 

Whether there is a statistical association 

between exposure to the agent, hazard, 

medicine, or vaccine and the illness, 

taking into account the strength of the 

scientific evidence and the 

appropriateness of the scientific 

methodology used to detect the 

association; (2) the increased risk of 

illness among individuals exposed to 

the agent, hazard, medicine or vaccine; 

and (3) whether a plausible biological 

mechanism or other evidence of a causal 

relationship exists between exposure to 

the agent, hazard, medicine, or vaccine 

and the illness. Public Law 105–277, 

112 Stat. 2681–747. 

II. NAS Reports and VA Action 

In 1998, NAS began a program to 

examine the scientific and medical 

literature on the potential health effects 

of specific agents and hazards to which 

Gulf War veterans might have been 

exposed during their deployment. Five 

reports have examined health outcomes 

related to: Depleted uranium, 

pyridostigmine bromide, sarin, and 

vaccines (Volume 1); insecticides and 

solvents (Volume 2); fuels, combustion 

products, and propellants (Volume 3); 

health effects of serving in the Gulf War 

irrespective of exposure information 

(Volume 4); and infectious diseases 

(Volume 5). Among the 700,000 U.S. 

military personnel deployed to the 

theater, many veterans have reported 

chronic symptoms and illnesses that 

they have attributed to their service in 

the Gulf. 

Upon receipt of each NAS report, VA 

must determine whether a presumption 

of service connection is warranted for 

any disease or illness discussed in the 

report. The statute provides that a 

presumption of service connection is 

warranted if VA determines that there is 

a positive association (i.e., the credible 

evidence for an association is equal to 

or outweighs the credible evidence 

against an association) between 

exposure of humans or animals to a 

biological, chemical, or other toxic 

agent, environmental or wartime hazard, 

or preventive medicine or vaccine 

known or presumed to be associated 

with service in the Southwest Asia 

theater of operations during the Persian 

Gulf War and the occurrence of a 

diagnosed or undiagnosed illness in 

humans or animals. 38 U.S.C. 1118(b). 

If the Secretary determines that a 

presumption of service connection is 

not warranted, he is to publish a notice 

of that determination, including an 

explanation of the scientific basis for 

that determination. 38 U.S.C. 

1118(c)(3)(A). 

III. NAS Report: ‘‘Gulf War and Health, 

Volume 6, Physiologic, Psychologic, 

and Psychosocial Effects of 

Deployment-Related Stress 

In ‘‘Gulf War & Health, Volume 6, 

Physiologic, Psychologic, and 

Psychosocial Effects of DeploymentRelated Stress,’’ available at http:// 

www.nap.edu/ 

catalog.php?record_id=11922 (accessed 

September 2, 2010), NAS evaluated the 

association between deployment-related 

stress and long-term adverse health 

effects for veterans deployed to the 

Persian Gulf and the Middle East to 

include not only veterans of the 1990– 

1991 Gulf War, but also veterans 

returning from Operation Enduring 

Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi 

Freedom (OIF). This study was 

conducted at the request of VA to 

determine the possibility of an 

association between exposure to 

deployment-related stressors in the Gulf 

War and long-term adverse health 

effects. 

The NAS committee reviewed 

published and peer-reviewed scientific 

and medical literature to characterize 

and weigh the strengths and limitations 

of the available evidence regarding the 

association between deployment to a 

war zone and specific adverse health 

effects. The committee considered 

studies of veterans of World War II, the 

Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the 

1991 Gulf War. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES