[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 5 (Monday, January 8, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 936-937]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00137]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 775X)]


CSX Transportation, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in Clark, Floyd, 
Lawrence, Orange, & Washington Counties, Ind.

    CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F-Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon an approximately 62.3-mile rail line on its Northern Region, 
Louisville Division, Hoosier Subdivision between milepost 00Q 251.7, 
near Bedford, and milepost 00Q 314.0, near New Albany, in Clark, Floyd, 
Lawrence, Orange, and Washington Counties, Ind. (the Line). The Line 
traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 47150, 47172, 47106, 
47143, 47165, 47167, 47108, 47452, 47446, and 47421 and serves the 
stations of Orleans (milepost 00Q 262), Leipsic (milepost 00Q 267), 
Campbellsburg (milepost 00Q 273), Salem (milepost 00Q 284), Pekin 
(milepost 00Q 295), and Borden (milepost 00Q 300). CSXT was previously 
granted authority to discontinue service over the Line.\1\
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    \1\ CSX Transp., Inc.--Discontinuance of Serv. Exemption--in 
Clark, Floyd, Lawrence, Orange, & Wash. Ctys., Ind., AB 55 (Sub-No. 
698X) (STB served Apr. 7, 2010).
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    CSXT has certified that: (1) No local freight traffic has moved 
over the Line for at least two years; (2) any overhead traffic on the 
Line can 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 
a complainant within the two-year period; and (4) the requirements at 
49 CFR 1105.7(c) (environmental report), 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 
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) has been received, this exemption will be 
effective on February 7, 2018, 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 
interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be 
filed by January 18, 2018. Petitions to reopen or requests for public 
use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by January 29, 2018, 
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
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    \2\ 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.
    \3\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,800. See Regulations Governing Fees for Servs. 
Performed in Connection with Licensing & Related Servs.--2017 
Update, EP 542 (Sub-No. 25), slip op. App. C at 20 (STB served July 
28, 2017).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to Louis 
E. 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.

[[Page 937]]

    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 January 12, 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 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 affected by CSXT's filing of a notice of consummation by January 
8, 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: January 3, 2018.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2018-00137 Filed 1-5-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P