[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 57 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14169-14170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5339]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-254 (Sub-No. 9X)]


Providence and Worcester Railroad Company--Abandonment 
Exemption--Slatersville Secondary Track (Woonsocket, RI and Blackstone, 
MA)

    Providence and Worcester Railroad Company (P&W) has filed a notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon a portion of the Slatersville Secondary Track located in 
Woonsocket, Providence County, RI, extending from milepost 0.85 +/- at 
the north side of Boyden Street and continuing to a point that is 1,480 
+/- feet northerly of the end of the track at milepost 0.0 in 
Blackstone, Worcester County, MA, a total distance of approximately 1.1 
miles. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 02895 
and 01504.
    P&W 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 or with any U.S. District Court 
or has been decided in favor of complainant within the 2-year period; 
and (4) the requirements of 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)(l) (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 be 
effective on April 25, 2007, 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 
April 5, 2007. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by April 16, 2007, with: 
Surface Transportation Board, 395

[[Page 14170]]

E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \1\ The 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 Out-of-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.
    \2\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee which is 
currently set at $1,300. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to P&W's 
representative: Edward D. Greenberg, 1054 Thirty-First Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20007.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    P&W has filed environmental and historic reports which address the 
effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic 
resources. SEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by March 30, 
2007. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to SEA 
(Room 1100, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001) or 
by calling SEA, at (202) 245-0305. [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), P&W 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 P&W's filing of a notice of 
consummation by March 26, 2008, 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: March 16, 2007.

    By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E7-5339 Filed 3-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P