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###### Department of Transportation

###### Surface Transportation Board 

          - [STB Docket No. AB-33 (Sub-No. 162X); STB Docket No. AB-576 (Sub-No. 1X)] 

                    Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) and Alamo Gulf Coast Railroad Company (AGCR) have filed a notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F—                    *Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service and Trackage Rights*                     for UP to abandon a 3.49-mile line of railroad on the Kerrville Subdivision (the Line) near Leon Springs from milepost 256.00 near Russell Park to milepost 259.49 near Camp Stanley; and for AGCR to discontinue service over a 1.0-mile portion of the line from milepost 256.0 to milepost 257.0, in Bexar County, TX. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 78256 and 78257.                 

UP and AGCR have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the line for at least 2 years; (2) there has been 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 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                           ( print page 70632)                        expression of intent to file an offer of financial assistance (OFA) has been received, these exemptions will be effective on December 26, 2000, 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 December 4, 2000. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by December 14, 2000, with: Surface Transportation Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423.                 

                    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to applicants' representatives: James P. Gatlin, General Attorney, Union Pacific Railroad Company, 1416 Dodge Street, Room 830, Omaha, NE 68179; and Richard A. Allen, Zuckert Scoutt & Rasenberger, LLP, 888 17th Street, NW., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20006. If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void                     *ab initio*.                 

UP and AGCR have filed an environmental report which addresses the effects of the abandonment and discontinuance, if any, on the environment and historic resources. The Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by December 1, 2000. 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) 565-1545. 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), UP 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 UP's filing of a notice of consummation by November 24, 2001, 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.DOT.GOV.” 

Decided: November 15, 2000. 

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary. 

# Footnotes

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 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.                    
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2.                             Each offer of financial assistance must be accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is set at $1000.                         *See*49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).                     
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[FR Doc. 00-29729 Filed 11-22-00; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915-00-P