Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Department of Transportation

###### Surface Transportation Board 

          - [STB Docket No. AB-290 (Sub-No. 300X)] 

                    Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F—                    *Exempt Abandonments*                     to abandon a 1.81-mile line of railroad between milepost CV 277.30 (Big Stone Gap) and milepost CV 279.11 (Appalachia), in Wise County, VA.[1]                                          The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 24216 and 24219.                 

NSR has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the line for at least 2 years; (2) overhead traffic on the line, if any, could be rerouted over other 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 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)(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, 2009, unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,[2]                                          formal expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),[3]                                          and trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by March 23, 2009.[4]                                          Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by March 31, 2009, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.                 

A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to NSR's representative: James R. Paschall, Senior General Attorney, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Three Commercial Place, Norfolk, VA 23510. 

                    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void                     *ab initio.*

NSR has filed environmental and historic reports that address the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources. SEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by March 16, 2009. 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), NSR shall file a notice of consummation with the Board to signify that it has exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned the line. If                           ( print page 10646)                        consummation has not been effected by NSR's filing of a notice of consummation by March 11, 2010, 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: February 27, 2009. 

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

Jeffrey Herzig, 

Clearance Clerk.

# Footnotes

1.                             According to NSR, the proposed line for abandonment has been out of service since the late 1980s, when the owner, CSX Transportation, Inc., rerouted its traffic to NSR's line between Big Stone Gap and Frisco, TN.                     
        Back to Citation      

2.                             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.                     
        Back to Citation      

3.                             Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is set at $1,500.                         *See*49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).                     
        Back to Citation      

4.                             NSR states that it is not aware of any restriction on the title to the right-of-way that would affect the transfer of title or the use of property for other than rail purposes but will provide full title information promptly if it receives a proposal to acquire the property for public purposes.                     
        Back to Citation      

 [FR Doc. E9-4878 Filed 3-10-09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915-01-P