Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Department of Transportation

###### Surface Transportation Board 

          - [STB Docket No. AB-6 (Sub-No. 426X)] 

                    The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) has filed a notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F-                    *Exempt Abandonments*                     to abandon 20.89 miles of rail line between BNSF milepost 66.95 in Bay City and milepost 54.00 near Cane Junction and between milepost 0.00 near Cane Junction and milepost 7.94 near Newgulf, in Matagorda and Wharton Counties, TX. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 77414, 77420 and 77482.                 

BNSF has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the line for at least 2 years; (2) any overhead traffic can 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 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 reports), 49 CFR 1105.8 (historic reports), 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 R. Co.—Abandonment—Goshen,*                     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 October 29, 2004, 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 trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by October 12, 2004. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by October 19, 2004, with the Surface Transportation Board, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.                 

A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to UP's representative: Michael Smith, Freeborn & Peters, 311 S. Wacker Dr., Suite 3000, Chicago, IL 60606-6677. 

                    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void                     *ab initio.*

                    BNSF has filed an environmental report which addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the                           ( print page 58228)                        environment and historic resources. SEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by October 4, 2004. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to SEA (Room 500, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001) or by calling SEA, at (202) 565-1539. [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 September 29, 2005, 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                     *http://www.stb.dot.gov.*

Decided: September 22, 2004.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary. 

# Footnotes

1.                             The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Board's Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) in its independent investigation) cannot be made before the exemption's effective date.                         *See Exemption of Out-of-Service 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.                    
        Back to Citation      

2.                             Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is set at $1,100.                         *See*49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).                    
        Back to Citation      

[FR Doc. 04-21779 Filed 9-28-04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915-01-P