Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 47 / Tuesday, March 11, 1997 / Notices 11251

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 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.

2The Board will accept late-filed trail use

requests as long as the abandonment has not been

consummated and the abandoning railroad is

willing to negotiate an agreement.

3The Board is scheduled to relocate to the K

Street address on March 16, 1997.

4SEA would normally issue its EA 5 days after

publication of the notice in the Federal Register.

However, due to the Board’s scheduled relocation

on March 16, 1997, the EA in this proceeding will

be issued on March 19, 1997.

the inclusion of metric equivalents in

the pipeline safety regulations (49 CFR

Part 190–199). The meeting was held on

January 10, 1997, in Dallas, Texas.

RSPA specifically requested public

comment on seven questions. Among

the comments received was a detailed

example of how to present metric

equivalents in the pipeline safety

regulations. RSPA is providing an

additional 30 days to receive comments

on this comment.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received by April 10, 1997 to be

considered.

ADDRESSES: Send all comments on this

notice to Marvin Fell, DOT, RSPA,

Office of Pipeline Safety, 400 Seventh

Street SW, Room 2335, Washington, DC

20590, or via the Internet at

fellm@rspa.dot.gov. A copy of the

transcript of the public meeting and the

comments received from the public are

available for review at the RSPA Docket

Office, Room 8119, 400 Seventh Street,

SW, Washington, DC 20590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marvin Fell, (202) 366–6205, U.S.

Department of Transportation, RSPA,

Room 2335, 400 Seventh Street, SW,

Washington, D.C. 20590, or

fellm@rspa.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

October 23, 1996, RSPA published a

notice of a public meeting on

Metricating Pipeline Safety Regulations

that also requested public comment on

seven questions. One of the comments

received was from Mr. Lawrence J.

Stempnik, who prepared a complete set

of metric equivalents of measurements

in the pipeline safety regulations.

Although RSPA is not taking a position

on the accuracy or validity of his

approach, RSPA does recognize the

effort that Mr. Stempnik put forth to

provide his comment to RSPA.

In particular, RSPA is interested in

additional comments on how precise

the metric equivalents should be.

Should the number of decimal places be

considered, should the number of

significant figures be considered, or

both? For example, is a conversion from

15 feet to 4.6 meters sufficiently

accurate, or is a conversion to 4.57

meters necessary? Comments on this

issue were requested in question #6 of

the October 23, 1996 notice. Further

comments on the other questions in that

notice are also encouraged.

Issued in Washington, DC March 5, 1997.

Richard B. Felder,

Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.

[FR Doc. 97–5896 Filed 3–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB–33 (Sub–No. 108X)]

Union Pacific Railroad Company—

Abandonment Exemption—in Contra

Costa County, CA

Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP)

has filed a notice of exemption under 49

CFR 1152 Subpart F—Exempt

Abandonments and Discontinuances of

Service and Trackage Rights to abandon

and discontinue service over a 1.845-

mile portion of its line of railroad

known as the Port Chicago Industrial

Lead from the end of the line at

milepost 37.06 near Clyde, to milepost

38.905 near Port Chicago, in Contra

Costa County, CA.

UP has certified that: (1) No local

traffic has moved over the line for at

least 2 years; (2) there is no overhead

traffic moving over 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 this exemption, any

employee 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 10,

1997, 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), and

trail use/rail banking requests under 49

CFR 1152.29 2 must be filed by March

21, 1997. Petitions to reopen or requests

for public use conditions under 49 CFR

1152.28 must be filed by March 31,

1997, with: Office of the Secretary, Case

Control Unit, Surface Transportation

Board, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington,

DC 20423.3

A copy of any petition filed with the

Board should be sent to applicant’s

representative: Joseph D. Anthofer,

General Attorney, Union Pacific

Railroad Company, 1416 Dodge Street,

Room 830, Omaha, NE 68179.

If the verified notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio.

UP has filed an environmental report

which addresses the abandonment’s

effects, if any, on the environment and

historic resources. The Section of

Environmental Analysis (SEA) will

issue an environmental assessment (EA)

by March 19, 1997.4 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 March 11, 1998, and there are no

legal or regulatory barriers to

consummation, the authority to

abandon will automatically expire.

Decided: March 4, 1997.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–6031 Filed 3–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P