Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 27 / Tuesday, February 10, 2004 / Notices 6373

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 $1,100. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).

3On February 2, 2004, the Bucks County 

Transportation Management Association (Bucks 

County) filed a letter in opposition to the 

abandonment of the rail line. Bucks County states 

that the line represents the only existing rail line 

between Philadelphia and the Allentown/

Bethlehem area and that abandonment of the line 

would eliminate any possibility of restoring 

commuter rail service through this area. Bucks 

County and any other interested person may file 

petitions for relief within the deadlines established 

in this notice.

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), HCRRA 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 HCRRA’s filing of a notice of 

consummation by February 10, 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 

‘‘www.stb.dot.gov.’’

Decided: February 2, 2004.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–2590 Filed 2–9–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Docket No. AB–859 (Sub-No. 1X) and 

STB Docket No. AB–290 (Sub-No. 245X)] 

Pennsylvania Lines LLC—

Abandonment Exemption—in 

Northampton County, PA, and Norfolk 

Southern Railway Company—

Discontinuance of Service 

Exemption—in Northampton County, 

PA 

Pennsylvania Lines LLC (PRR) and 

Norfolk Southern Railway Company 

(NSR) (collectively, petitioners) have 

jointly filed a notice of exemption under 

49 CFR Part 1152, Subpart F—Exempt 

Abandonments and Discontinuances of 

Service for PRR to abandon, and NSR to 

discontinue service over, a 3.7-mile line 

of railroad between milepost EK–53.0 at 

Hellertown and milepost EK–56.7 at 

Bethlehem, in Northampton, PA. The 

line traverses United States Postal 

Service Zip Codes 18015, 18016, 18017, 

18018, 18020, 18025 and 18055. 

PRR and NSR have certified that: (1) 

No local traffic has moved over the line 

for at least 2 years; (2) no overhead 

traffic has moved over the line for at 

least 2 years and overhead traffic, if 

there were any, could 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 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 these exemptions, 

any employee adversely affected by the 

abandonment or 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 

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, these exemptions will be 

effective on March 11, 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 February 20, 

2004. Petitions to reopen or requests for 

public use conditions under 49 CFR 

1152.28 must be filed by March 1, 2004, 

with: Surface Transportation Board, 

1925 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20423–0001.3

A copy of any petition filed with the 

Board should be sent to applicants’

representative: James R. Paschall, 

General Attorney, Norfolk Southern 

Corporation, Three Commercial Place, 

Norfolk Southern Railway Company, 

Norfolk, VA 23510. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio.

PRR and NSR have 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) 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), PRR 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 

PRR’s filing of a notice of 

consummation by February 10, 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 

www.stb.dot.gov.

Decided: February 4, 2004.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–2718 Filed 2–9–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

February 2, 2004. 

The Department of Treasury has 

submitted the following public 

information collection requirement(s) to 

OMB for review and clearance under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. 

L. 104–13. Copies of the submission(s) 

may be obtained by calling the Treasury 

Bureau Clearance Officer listed. 

Comments regarding this information 

collection should be addressed to the 

OMB reviewer listed and to the 

Treasury Department Clearance Officer, 

Department of the Treasury, Room