Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 204 / Friday, October 22, 2004 / Notices 62117

1The 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 Outof-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.

2Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing 

fee, which currently is set at $1,100, but is 

scheduled to increase to $1,200, effective October 

31, 2004. See Regulations Governing Fees for 

Services performed in connection with Licensing 

and Related Services—2004 Update, STB Ex Parte 

No. 542 (Sub-No. 11) (STB served Oct. 1, 2004). See

49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).

K Street NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, one copy of each 

pleading must be served on Karl Morell, 

Of Counsel, Ball Janik LLP, Suite 225, 

1455 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20005. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at http://

www.stb.dot.gov.

Decided: October 19, 2004.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–23770 Filed 10–21–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Docket No. AB–6 (Sub-No. 418X)] 

The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe 

Railway Company—Abandonment 

Exemption—in Grand Forks County, 

ND 

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 a 6.50-mile line of railroad 

between BNSF milepost 0.00 near 

Hannah Junction and milepost 6.50 near 

McCanna, in Grand Forks County, ND. 

The line traverses United States Postal 

Service Zip Code 58251. 

BNSF has certified that: (1) No local 

traffic has moved over the line for at 

least 2 years; (2) there is no overhead 

traffic to be rerouted; (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 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 

employees 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 become effective 

November 23, 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 November 1, 2004. Petitions to 

reopen or requests for public use 

conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must 

be filed by November 12, 2004, with: 

Surface Transportation Board, 1925 K 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001.

A copy of any petition filed with the 

Board should be sent to applicant’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 

abandonment’s effects, if any, on the 

environment and historic resources. 

SEA will issue an environmental 

assessment (EA) by October 29, 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 October 22, 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: October 12, 2004. 

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–23369 Filed 10–21–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Docket No. AB–57 (Sub–No. 54X)] 

Soo Line Railroad Company—

Abandonment Exemption—in Ramsey 

and Benson Counties, ND 

The Soo Line Railroad Company (Soo 

Line) has filed a notice of exemption 

under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F—Exempt 

Abandonments to abandon a 28.35 ±

mile line of railroad between milepost 

446.0 ± in Devils Lake, Ramsey County, 

ND, and milepost 474.35 ± in Harlow, 

Benson County, ND. The line traverses 

United States Postal Service Zip Codes 

58301, 58325, 58346, 58351 and 58362. 

Soo Line has certified that: (1) No 

local traffic has moved over the line for 

at least 2 years; (2) all overhead traffic 

can be and has been 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