59000 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 190 / Friday, October 1, 2004 / Notices 

1 IOCR will lease the right-of-way from CSXT.

2On September 13, 2004, the Brotherhood of 

Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET) filed a 

protest asking the Board to reject IOCR’s notice and 

a notice to be filed in STB Finance Docket No. 

34540, Columbus & Ohio River Railroad—

Acquisition Exemption—Lines of CSX 

Transportation, Inc., for another shortline carrier to 

operate through lease and/or purchase 

approximately 114 miles of CSXT’s rail line 

between Columbus and Cambridge and Newark and 

Mt. Vernon, Ohio. On September 15, 2004, the 

United Transportation Union (UTU) filed a 

pleading titled as a petition to revoke, seeking relief 

identical to that sought by BLET. 

On September 24, 2004, an amended petition to 

revoke was filed by UTU, and the notice of 

exemption was filed in STB Finance Docket No. 

34540. The Board will address the filings by BLET 

and UTU in a subsequent decision.

1On September 22, 2004, UP submitted a 

clarification to the milepost equation. UP states 

that, prior to 1934, the Chicago Pacific Rock Island 

Railroad (RIRR) and the St. Joseph and Grand Island 

Railway (SJ&GI), a subsidiary of UP, shared the rail 

line running from St. Joseph, MO, crossing the 

Missouri River, and extending through Wathena, 

KS. UP indicates that west of Wathena, at milepost 

7.4, the two railroads split. In 1934, UP ceased 

using its line between milepost 7.4 and Troy, KS, 

as a separate route, and substituted via trackage 

rights the route over the RIRR. UP then returned to 

its own rail line and, rather than re-milepost the 

entire balance of the SJ&GI, UP did an equation so 

it could retain the rest of the SJ&GI mileposts as 

they were. UP further states that to correct for the 

milepost shift, UP placed the milepost equation at 

Troy, and then the traditional SJ&GI mileposts ran 

from that point.

BB 12.4, and Columbus, OH, milepost 

BR 114.6.1

Because IOCR’s projected annual 

revenues will exceed $5 million, IOCR 

certified to the Board on August 12, 

2004, that it sent the required notice of 

the transaction on August 12, 2004, to 

the national offices of all labor unions 

representing employees on the line and 

posted a copy of the notice at the 

workplace of the employees on the 

affected lines on August 12, 2004. See

49 CFR 1150.42(e). 

The transaction is scheduled to be 

consummated on October 16, 2004, 

which is 60 days after IOCR’s 

certification to the Board that it has 

complied with the Board’s rule at 49 

CFR 1150.42(e). 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

may be filed at any time. The filing of 

a petition to revoke will not 

automatically stay the transaction.2

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to STB Finance 

Docket No. 34536, must be filed with 

the Surface Transportation Board, 1925 

K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of each 

pleading must be served on: Gary A. 

Laakso, IOCR Vice President Regulatory 

Counsel, 5300 Broken Sound Boulevard, 

NW., Boca Raton, FL 33487; and Louis 

E. Gitomer, Ball Janik LLP, 1455 F 

Street. NW., Suite 225, Washington, DC 

20005. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at http://

www.stb.dot.gov.

Decided: September 24, 2004.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–21982 Filed 9–30–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 34546] 

Western Rail Switching, 

Incorporated—Operation Exemption—

Rail Line of Spokane County, WA 

Western Rail Switching, Incorporated 

(WRS), a noncarrier, has filed a verified 

notice of exemption under 49 CFR 

1150.31 to operate, pursuant to an 

agreement with the county of Spokane, 

WA (the County), 4.93 miles of a line of 

railroad known as the Geiger Spur. The 

line extends from a point of connection 

with The Burlington Northern and Santa 

Fe Railway Company’s (BNSF) line at 

milepost 0.00 near Fairchild Air Force 

Base (also known as milepost 1493.95 

on BNSF’s Columbia River Subdivision) 

to milepost 4.93 on the Geiger Spur line 

near Airway Heights, in Spokane 

County, WA. 

The transaction was scheduled to be 

consummated on or after September 10, 

2004. 

This transaction is related to STB 

Finance Docket No. 34541, Spokane 

County—Acquisition Exemption—The 

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe 

Railway Company, wherein the County 

has filed a verified notice of exemption 

for its acquisition of the 4.93-mile line 

of railroad from BNSF. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

may be filed at any time. The filing of 

a petition to revoke will not 

automatically stay the transaction. 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to STB Finance 

Docket No. 34546, must be filed with 

the Surface Transportation Board, 1925 

K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of each 

pleading must be served on Thomas F. 

McFarland, P.C., 208 South LaSalle 

Street, Suite 1890, Chicago, IL 60604–

1112. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web-site at ‘‘http://

www.stb.dot.gov.’’

Decided: September 24, 2004.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–22092 Filed 9–30–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Docket No. AB–33 (Sub–No. 220X)] 

Union Pacific Railroad Company—

Abandonment Exemption–in Brown 

and Doniphan Counties, KS 

On September 13, 2004, Union Pacific 

Railroad Company (UP) filed with the 

Surface Transportation Board a petition 

under 49 U.S.C. 10502 for exemption 

from the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 10903 

to abandon a line of railroad known as 

the St. Joseph Industrial Lead, extending 

from milepost 2.52 near Elwood to 

milepost 33.60 near Robinson, a 

distance of 30.98 miles in Brown and 

Doniphan Counties, KS (13.9 = 14.0).1

The line traverses United States Postal 

Service ZIP Codes 66024, 66087, 66090, 

66434, and 66532, and includes no 

stations.

The line does not contain federally 

granted rights-of-way. Any 

documentation in UP’s possession will 

be made available promptly to those 

requesting it. 

The interest of railroad employees 

will be protected by the conditions set 

forth in Oregon Short Line R. Co.—

Abandonment—Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 91 

(1979). 

By issuance of this notice, the Board 

is instituting an exemption proceeding 

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

decision will be issued by December 30, 

2004. 

Any offer of financial assistance 

(OFA) under 49 CFR 1152.27(b)(2) will 

be due no later than 10 days after 

service of a decision granting the 

petition for exemption. Each OFA must 

be accompanied by a $1,100 filing fee. 

See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25). 

All interested persons should be 

aware that, following abandonment of 

rail service and salvage of the line, the 

line may be suitable for other public 

use, including interim trail use. Any 

request for a public use condition under 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 190 / Friday, October 1, 2004 / Notices 59001

49 CFR 1152.28 or for trail use/rail 

banking under 49 CFR 1152.29 will be 

due no later than October 21, 2004. Each 

trail use request must be accompanied 

by a $200 filing fee. See 49 CFR 

1002.2(f)(27). 

All filings in response to this notice 

must refer to STB Docket No. AB–33 

(Sub-No. 220X) and must be sent to: (1) 

Surface Transportation Board, 1925 K 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001, and (2) Mack H. Shumate, Jr., 101 

North Wacker Drive, Room 1920, 

Chicago, IL 60606. Replies to the UP 

petition are due on or before October 21, 

2004. 

Persons seeking further information 

concerning abandonment procedures 

may contact the Board’s Office of Public 

Services at (202) 565–1592 or refer to 

the full abandonment or discontinuance 

regulations at 49 CFR part 1152. 

Questions concerning environmental 

issues may be directed to the Board’s 

Section of Environmental Analysis 

(SEA) at (202) 565–1539. (Assistance for 

the hearing impaired is available 

through the Federal Information Relay 

Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339.) 

An environmental assessment (EA) (or 

environmental impact statement (EIS), if 

necessary), prepared by SEA, will be 

served upon all parties of record and 

upon any agencies or other persons who 

commented during its preparation. 

Other interested persons may contact 

SEA to obtain a copy of the EA (or EIS). 

EAs in these abandonment proceedings 

normally will be available within 60 

days of the filing of the petition. The 

deadline for submission of comments on 

the EA will generally be within 30 days 

of its service. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at http://

www.stb.dot.gov.

Decided: September 24, 2004.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–21983 Filed 9–30–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P