Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 243 / Thursday, December 17, 2020 / Notices 82027 

1CLDC originally submitted a petition for 

declaratory order on March 4, 2020, requesting that 

the Board declare that the Line has been abandoned 

pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10502, or, in the alternative, 

that CLDC may satisfy the requirements for an 

exempt abandonment pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10502. 

By decision served on August 5, 2020, the Board 

docketed CLDC’s petition under Docket No. AB 

1300X for consideration under the Board’s 

abandonment exemption procedures. Cattaraugus 

Local Dev. Corp.—Pet. for Declaratory Order, FD 

36389, et al. (STB served Aug. 5, 2020). However, 

because CLDC had not obtained Board authority 

when it acquired the Line in 2000, the 

abandonment proceeding was held in abeyance to 

permit CLDC to seek authority after-the-fact for the 

acquisition. Id. at 3. CLDC did so, and the 

acquisition exemption became effective on October 

8, 2020. See Cattaraugus Local Dev. Corp.—Acquis. 

Exemption—Rail Line in Cattaraugus Cnty., N.Y., 

FD 36435 (STB served Sept. 24, 2020). In this 

abandonment docket, CLDC filed its environmental 

and historic report in on November 16, 2020, and 

a supplemental certificate of service on November 

27, 2020. By publication of this notice, the 

abandonment proceeding is removed from 

abeyance, and the petition for exemption is deemed 

to have been filed on November 27, 2020. 

2 In the acquisition docket, CLDC noted that 

milepost 414.1 is the closest mile marker to the 

southern boundary of the Line but ‘‘the actual 

[m]ilepost, if it existed,’’ would be milepost 414.36. 

CLDC Suppl., Sept. 8, 2020, Cattaraugus Local Dev. 

Corp.—Acquis. Exemption—Rail Line in 

Cattaraugus Cnty., N.Y., FD 36435. 

3CLDC states that the Line has not been 

operational since at least 2000. (CLDC Pet. 5–6.) 

4Filing fees for OFAs and trail use requests can 

be found at 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25) and (27), 

respectively. 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. AB 1300X] 

Cattaraugus Local Development 

Corp.—Abandonment Exemption—in 

Cattaraugus County, N.Y. 

Cattaraugus Local Development Corp. 

(CLDC) has filed with the Surface 

Transportation Board (Board) a petition 

under 49 CFR 10502 for exemption from 

the prior approval requirements of 49 

U.S.C. 10903 to abandon 1

approximately 12.14 miles of rail line 

extending from milepost 426.5, in the 

Town of New Albion, to the city line of 

the City of Salamanca in the Town of 

Salamanca, which is near milepost 

414.1,2 in Cattaraugus County, N.Y. (the 

Line).3

CLDC states that, based on 

information in its possession, the Line 

does not contain federally granted 

rights-of-way. Any documentation in 

CLDC’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 Railroad— 

Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch 

Between Firth & Ammon, in Bingham & 

Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 360 I.C.C. 

91 (1979). 

By issuing this notice, the Board is 

instituting an exemption proceeding 

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

decision will be issued by March 17, 

2021. 

Any offer of financial assistance 

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

be due no later than 120 days after the 

filing of the petition for exemption, or 

10 days after service of a decision 

granting the petition for exemption, 

whichever occurs sooner. Persons 

interested in submitting an OFA must 

first file a formal expression of intent to 

file an offer by December 28, 2020, 

indicating the type of financial 

assistance they wish to provide (i.e., 

subsidy or purchase) and demonstrating 

that they are preliminarily financially 

responsible. See 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(1)(i). 

Following abandonment, the Line 

may be suitable for other public use, 

including interim trail use. Any request 

for a public use condition under 49 CFR 

1152.28 or for interim trail use/rail 

banking under 49 CFR 1152.29 will be 

due no later than January 6, 2021.4

All pleadings, referring to Docket No. 

AB 1300X, should be filed with the 

Surface Transportation Board via efiling on the Board’s website. In 

addition, a copy of each pleading must 

be served on CLDC’s representative, 

Robert J. McLaughlin, McLaughlin Law, 

P.C., 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, 

NY 12207. Replies to the petition are 

due on or before January 6, 2021. 

Persons seeking further information 

concerning abandonment procedures 

may contact the Board’s Office of Public 

Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and 

Compliance at (202) 245–0238 or refer 

to the full abandonment regulations at 

49 CFR part 1152. Questions concerning 

environmental issues may be directed to 

the Board’s Office of Environmental 

Analysis (OEA) at (202) 245–0305. 

Assistance for the hearing impaired is 

available through the Federal Relay 

Service at (800) 877–8339. 

An environmental assessment (EA) (or 

environmental impact statement (EIS), if 

necessary) prepared by OEA will be 

served upon all parties of record and 

upon any other agencies or persons who 

comment during its preparation. Other 

interested persons may contact OEA to 

obtain a copy of the EA (or EIS). EAs in 

abandonment proceedings normally will 

be made available within 60 days of the 

filing of the petition. The deadline for 

submission of comments on the EA 

generally will be within 30 days of its 

service. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available at www.stb.gov. 

Decided: December 11, 2020. 

By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Director, 

Office of Proceedings. 

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27718 Filed 12–16–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Docket Number FRA–2020–0093] 

Petition for Waiver of Compliance 

Under part 211 of title 49 Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR), this 

document provides the public notice 

that on December 2, 2020, the 

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers 

and Trainmen (BLET) and the 

Transportation Division of the 

International Association of Sheet 

Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation 

Workers (SMART TD) petitioned the 

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 

for a waiver of compliance from certain 

provisions of the Federal railroad safety 

regulations contained at 49 CFR parts 

240 and 242. FRA assigned the petition 

Docket Number FRA–2020–0093. 

Paragraphs (c) and (d) of § 240.403 

require petitions seeking review of a 

railroad’s decision to deny or revoke a 

locomotive engineer’s certification or 

recertification to be filed with FRA no 

more than 180 or 120 days, respectively, 

after the date of a railroad’s decision. 

Paragraph (c) of § 242.503 requires 

petitions seeking review of a railroad’s 

decision to revoke a conductor’s 

certification to be filed with FRA no 

more than 120 days after a railroad’s 

decision. Due to the coronavirus disease 

2019 (COVID–19) public health 

emergency, FRA granted relief by letter 

dated April 7, 2020, and renewed that 

relief on June 3, 2020, July 30, 2020, and 

September 24, 2020. BLET and SMART 

TD once again request to renew this 

emergency relief. In light of the 

continued renewal requests, FRA now 

considers whether longer-term relief is 

necessary. 

In support of their initial March 30, 

2020, request for relief, petitioners 

noted FRA’s March 25, 2020, waiver 

from certain requirements of 49 CFR 

parts 240 and 242 related to deadlines 

for responding to petitions submitted to 

FRA’s Operating Crew Review Board 

granted to the Association of American 

Railroads, the American Short Line and 

Regional Railroad Association, and the 

American Public Transportation 

Association (together referred to as the