Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 132 / Friday, July 10, 1998 / Notices 37445

1SCRR is a noncarrier corporation formed for the

purpose of leasing the rail lines acquired by ODOT

from BNSF and operating the 124.78 miles of rail

line.

2On May 15, 1998, Applicants filed a petition for

exemption seeking Board approval to indirectly

control the Blue Mountain Railroad, Inc., and the

Southeast Kansas Railroad Company in STB

Finance Docket No. 33603, Richard B. Webb and

Susan K. Lundy—Control Exemption—Blue

Mountain Railroad, Inc. and Southeast Kansas

Railroad Company. This proceeding is currently

pending.

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.

2Each offer of financial assistance must be

accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is

set at $1000. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).

By the Board, Elaine K. Kaiser, Chief,

Section of Environmental Analysis.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–18455 Filed 7–9–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33619]

Richard B. Webb and Susan K.

Lundy—Continuance in Control

Exemption—Stillwater Central

Railroad, Inc.

Richard B. Webb and Susan K. Lundy

(Applicants), have filed a verified notice

of exemption to continue in control of

Stillwater Central Railroad, Inc. (SCRR),

upon SCRR becoming a Class III

railroad.

The transaction was scheduled to be

consummated on or shortly after June

19, 1998.

This transaction is related to two

simultaneously filed verified notices of

exemption: (1) STB Finance Docket No.

33620, State of Oklahoma by and

through the Oklahoma Department of

Transportation—Acquisition

Exemption—The Burlington Northern

and Santa Fe Railway Company,

wherein the State of Oklahoma by and

through the Oklahoma Department of

Transportation (ODOT) seeks to acquire

rail lines from The Burlington Northern

and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF),

and (2) STB Finance Docket No. 33621,

Stillwater Central Railroad, Inc.—Lease

and Operation Exemption—Oklahoma

Department of Transportation, wherein

SCRR seeks to lease and operate the

lines being acquired by ODOT.

In addition to SCRR,1 Applicants

control two Class III rail carriers.: These

carriers are South Kansas and Oklahoma

Railroad Company, operating in the

States of Kansas and Oklahoma, and the

Palouse River & Coulee City Railroad,

Inc., operating in the States of

Washington and Idaho.2

Applicants state that: (i) the rail lines

operated by SCRR do not connect with

any railroad in the corporate family; (ii)

the transaction is not part of a series of

anticipated transactions that would

connect SCRR’s lines with any railroad

in the corporate family; and (iii) the

transaction does not involve a Class I

carrier. Therefore, the transaction is

exempt from the prior approval

requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49

CFR 1180.2(d)(2).

Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), the Board

may not use its exemption authority to

relieve a rail carrier of its statutory

obligation to protect the interests of its

employees. Section 11326(c), however,

does not provide for labor protection for

transactions under sections 11324 and

11325 that involve only Class III rail

carriers. Because this transaction

involves Class III rail carriers only, the

Board, under the statute, may not

impose labor protective conditions for

this transaction.

If the verified notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)

may be filed at any time. The filing of

a petition to revoke will not

automatically stay the transaction.

An original and 10 copies of all

pleadings, referring to STB Finance

Docket No. 33619, must be filed with

the Surface Transportation Board, Office

of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925

K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of each

pleading must be served on Karl Morell,

Esq., BALL JANIK, LLP, 1455 F Street,

N.W., Suite 225, Washington, DC 20005.

Board decisions and notices are

available on our website at

‘‘WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.’’

Decided: July 1, 1998.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–18454 Filed 7–9–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB–31 (Sub–No. 35X)]

Grand Trunk Western Railroad

Incorporated—Abandonment

Exemption—in Macomb County, MI

Grand Trunk Western Railroad

Incorporated (GTW) has filed a notice of

exemption under 49 CFR, Part 1152

Subpart F—Exempt Abandonments to

abandon a 19.08-mile line of its railroad

on the Romeo Subdivision between

Richmond and Washington from

milepost 0.42 to milepost 19.50 in

Macomb County, MI. The line traverses

United States Postal Service Zip Codes

48062, 48005, 48065, 48094 and 48095.

GTW has certified that: (1) no local

traffic has moved over the line for at

least 2 years; (2) any overhead traffic

that previously moved over the line can

be rerouted over other GTW lines; (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 August 9, 1998, 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 July 20, 1998.

Petitions to reopen or requests for

public use conditions under 49 CFR

1152.28 must be filed by July 30, 1998,

with: Surface Transportation Board,

Office of the Secretary, Case Control

Unit, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington,

DC 20423.

A copy of any petition filed with the

Board should be sent to applicant’s

representative: Robert P. vom Eigen,