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[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30211-30212]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13791]

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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 778X)]

CSX Transportation, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in Fulton 
County, Ga.

    CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon an approximately 2.04-mile rail line referred to as the Kudzu 
Line in its Southern Region, Atlanta Division, Atlanta Terminal 
Subdivision between milepost ANB 862.66 and milepost ANB 862.95 and 
between milepost ANB 862.66 and former milepost ANB 863.94, including 
any industry leads or spur tracks, in Fulton County, Ga. (the Line). 
The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Code 30318.
    CSXT has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years; (2) any overhead traffic on the Line can 
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 Surface Transportation Board (Board) or any U.S. 
District Court or has been decided in favor of a complainant within the 
two-year period; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper 
publication), 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental agencies), 
49 CFR 1105.11 (transmittal letter), and 49 CFR 1105.7 and 1105.8 
(environment and historic report), have been met.
    As a condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment shall be protected under Oregon Short Line 
Railroad--Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch Between Firth & Ammon, in 
Bingham & Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 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) \1\ has been received, this exemption will 
be effective on July 27, 2018, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Formal expressions of

[[Page 30212]]

intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) \2\ must be filed by 
July 6, 2018. Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental 
issues \3\ and interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 
1152.29 must be filed by July 9, 2018. Petitions to reopen or requests 
for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by July 
17, 2018, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \1\ The Board modified its OFA procedures effective July 29, 
2017. Among other things, the OFA process now requires potential 
offerors, in their formal expression of intent, to make a 
preliminary financial responsibility showing based on a calculation 
using information contained in the carrier's filing and publicly 
available information. See Offers of Financial Assistance, EP 729 
(STB served June 29, 2017); 82 FR 30,997 (July 5, 2017).
    \2\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which 
currently is set at $1,800. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
    \3\ The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on 
environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Board's 
Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) in its independent 
investigation) cannot be made before the exemption's effective date. 
See Exemption of Out-of-Serv. 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.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
CSXT's representative, Louis Gitomer, Law Offices of Louis E. Gitomer, 
LLC, 600 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 301, Towson, MD 21204.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    CSXT has filed a combined environmental and historic report that 
addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment 
and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) 
by July 2, 2018. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by 
writing to OEA (Room 1100, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 
20423-0001) or by calling OEA at (202) 245-0305. Assistance for the 
hearing impaired is available through the Federal Information Relay 
Service at (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 the Line. If 
consummation has not been effected by CSXT's filing of a notice of 
consummation by June 27, 2019, 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 website at 
WWW.STB.GOV.

    Decided: June 20, 2018.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Marline Simeon,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018-13791 Filed 6-26-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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