6014 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 26 / Monday, February 9, 2004 / Notices 

transmission line in Wilson County, 

Tennessee. Acquisition of new right-ofway would not be necessary for either 

of these two upgrades. 

After the completion of scoping, TVA 

will begin detailed line routing studies 

using maps, aerial photography, and 

other relevant data. When the studies 

have progressed sufficiently, potentially 

affected landowners will be contacted 

directly, and additional field surveys 

will be conducted. 

Proposed Issues To Be Addressed 

The EIS will contain descriptions of 

the existing environmental and 

socioeconomic resources within the area 

that would be affected by construction 

and operation of the proposed 

transmission line and upgrades. TVA’s 

evaluation of potential environmental 

impacts to these resources will include, 

but will not necessarily be limited to, 

the potential impacts on water quality, 

aquatic and terrestrial ecology, 

endangered and threatened species, 

wetlands, aesthetics and visual 

resources, land use, historic and 

archaeological resources, and 

socioeconomic resources. 

Alternatives 

The results of evaluating the potential 

environmental impacts and other 

important issues identified in the 

scoping process, as well as engineering 

and economic considerations, will be 

used by TVA in selecting a preferred 

alternative. At this time, the range of 

alternatives TVA has identified for 

detailed evaluation include: (1) No 

action; and (2) construction and 

operation of a 500-kV transmission line 

from Paradise Fossil Plant to the Wilson 

500-kV Substation, along with upgrades 

to existing lines. As additional analyses 

are conducted, TVA contemplates that 

alternative routes within the study 

corridor from Paradise to the Wilson 

Substation will be identified and 

evaluated in detail. The no action 

option is included as an alternative 

consistent with applicable regulations 

implementing NEPA. Because TVA is 

legally required to provide 

interconnection service to Peabody, the 

no action alternative is not a feasible 

option. 

Scoping Process 

Scoping, which is integral to the 

process for implementing NEPA, is a 

procedure that solicits public input to 

the EIS process to ensure that: (1) Issues 

are identified early and studied 

properly; (2) issues of little significance 

do not consume substantial time and 

effort; (3) the draft EIS is thorough and 

balanced; and, (4) delays caused by an 

inadequate EIS are avoided. TVA’s 

NEPA procedures require that the 

scoping process commence soon after a 

decision has been reached to prepare an 

EIS in order to provide an early and 

open process for determining the scope 

of the analysis and for identifying the 

significant issues related to a proposed 

action. The range of alternatives and the 

issues to be addressed in the draft EIS 

will be determined, in part, from written 

comments submitted by mail or e-mail 

and comments presented orally or in 

writing at public meetings. The 

preliminary identification of reasonable 

alternatives and environmental issues in 

this notice is neither exhaustive nor 

final. The scoping process will include 

both interagency and public scoping. 

The public is invited to submit written 

comments or e-mail comments on the 

scope of this EIS no later than the date 

given under the DATES section of this 

notice. 

TVA will conduct three public 

scoping meetings within the project 

study area. Dates and locations of the 

meetings are: 

• February 24, 4–8 p.m.—Butler 

County High School, 2247 South Main 

Street, Morgantown, Kentucky. 

• February 25, 3–7 p.m.—FranklinSimpson County School Central Office, 

Board Room, 400 S. College Street, 

Franklin, Kentucky. 

• March 2, 3–7 p.m.—Gallatin Civic 

Center, Room 101, 210 Albert Gallatin 

Avenue, Gallatin, Tennessee. 

At each meeting, TVA management 

and project staff will present overviews 

of the proposed transmission line 

project and the EIS process, answer 

questions, and solicit comments on the 

issues that the public would like 

addressed in the EIS. These meetings 

will be publicized through notices in 

local newspapers, by TVA press releases 

to newspapers and radio stations in the 

study area, and on the TVA Web site 

(http://www.tva.gov/environment/

calendar.htm). 

The agencies to be included in the 

interagency scoping are U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, Kentucky Department 

for Environmental Protection, Kentucky 

State Historic Preservation Officer, 

Tennessee Department of Environment 

and Conservation, Tennessee State 

Historic Preservation Officer, and other 

federal, state, and local agencies, as 

appropriate. 

After consideration of the scoping 

comments, TVA will identify any 

additional alternatives and 

environmental issues to be addressed in 

the EIS. Following analysis of the 

environmental consequences of each 

alternative, TVA will prepare a draft EIS 

for public review and comment. Notice 

of availability of the draft EIS will be 

published by the Environmental 

Protection Agency in the Federal 

Register. TVA will solicit written 

comments on the draft EIS, and 

information about possible public 

meetings to comment on the draft EIS 

will be announced. TVA expects to 

release a draft EIS by fall 2004 and a 

final EIS by summer of 2006.

Dated: February 2, 2004. 

Kathryn J. Jackson, 

Executive Vice President, River System 

Operations and Environment.

[FR Doc. 04–2703 Filed 2–6–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8120–08–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Docket No. AB–55 (Sub-No. 645X)] 

CSX Transportation, Inc.—

Abandonment Exemption—in Floyd 

County, KY 

CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) has 

filed a notice of exemption under 49 

CFR 1152 subpart F—Exempt 

Abandonments to abandon 

approximately 9.1 miles of railroad 

between milepost COQ–1.0 at McNalley 

and milepost COQ–10.1 near East 

David, in Floyd County, KY. The line 

traverses United States Postal Service 

Zip Codes 41653 and 41616. The 

stations on the line are located at 

McNally, Samson, Joyce, Marie, 

Permele, Beverly Ann and David. 

CSXT has certified that: (1) No local 

traffic has moved over the line for at 

least 2 years; (2) 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 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 and discontinuance 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 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 26 / Monday, February 9, 2004 / Notices 6015

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 offer of financial assistance must be 

accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is 

set at $1000. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).

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 March 10, 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 FR 

1152.29 must be filed by February 19, 

2004. Petitions to reopen or requests for 

public use conditions under 49 CFR 

1152.28 must be filed by March 1, 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 CSXT’s 

representative: Natalie S. Rosenberg, 

Senior Counsel, CSX Transportation, 

Inc., 500 Water Street, J150, 

Jacksonville, FL 32202. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio.

CSXT has filed an environmental 

report which addresses the effects, if 

any, of the abandonment and 

discontinuance on the environment and 

historic resources. SEA will issue an 

environmental assessment (EA) by 

February 13, 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), CSXT shall file a notice of 

consummation with the Board to signify 

that it has exercised the authority 

granted and fully abandoned its line. If 

consummation has not been effected by 

CSXT’s filing of a notice of 

consummation by February 9, 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: February 2, 2004.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–2702 Filed 2–6–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service 

[REG–107186–00] 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request for Regulation Project

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Treasury, as part of its continuing effort 

to reduce paperwork and respondent 

burden, invites the general public and 

other Federal agencies to take this 

opportunity to comment on proposed 

and/or continuing information 

collections, as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is 

soliciting comments concerning an 

existing notice of proposed rulemaking 

and temporary regulations, REG–

107186–00 (TD 8942), Electronic Payee 

Statements (§§ 1.6041–2T, 1.6050S–1T, 

1.6050S–2T, and 31.6051–1T).

DATES: Written comments should be 

received on or before April 9, 2004, to 

be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments 

to Glenn P. Kirkland, Internal Revenue 

Service, room 6411, 1111 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or 

copies of regulations should be directed 

to Carol Savage at Internal Revenue 

Service, room 6407, 1111 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20224, 

or at (202) 622–3945, or through the 

Internet at CAROL.A.SAVAGE@irs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title:

Electronic Payee Statements. 

OMB Number: 1545–1729. 

Regulation Project Number: REG–

107186–00. 

Abstract: In general, under these 

regulations, a person required to furnish 

a statement on Form W–2 under Code 

sections 6041(d) or 6051, or Forms 

1098–T or 1098–E under Code section 

6050S, may furnish these statements 

electronically if the recipient consents 

to receive them electronically, and if the 

person furnishing the statement (1) 

Makes certain disclosures to the 

recipient, (2) annually notifies the 

recipient that the statement is available 

on a Web site, and (3) provides access 

to the statement on that Web site for a 

prescribed period of time. 

Current Actions: There is no change to 

these existing regulations. 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations, and individual or 

households. 

Estimated Number of Responses/

Recordkeepers: 28,449,495. 

Estimated Average Annual Burden 

Per Response/Recordkeeper: 6 minutes. 

Estimated Total Annual Reporting/

recording Hours: 2,844,950. 

The following paragraph applies to all 

of the collections of information covered 

by this notice: 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless the collection of information 

displays a valid OMB control number. 

Books or records relating to a collection 

of information must be retained as long 

as their contents may become material 

in the administration of any internal 

revenue law. Generally, tax returns and 

tax return information are confidential, 

as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103. 

Request for Comments: Comments 

submitted in response to this notice will 

be summarized and/or included in the 

request for OMB approval. All 

comments will become a matter of 

public record. Comments are invited on: 

(a) Whether the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the collection of 

information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on respondents, including 

through the use of automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology; and (e) estimates of capital 

or start-up costs and costs of operation, 

maintenance, and purchase of services 

to provide information.