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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3272-3273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00628]

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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 180X]

The Lowville & Beaver River Railroad Company--Abandonment 
Exemption--in Lewis County, N.Y.

    The Lowville & Beaver River Railroad Company (LBRR) has filed a 
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt 
Abandonments to abandon a 10.57-mile rail line extending from milepost 
0.0 in Lowville, N.Y., to milepost 10.57 \1\ in Croghan, N.Y. (the 
Line).\2\ The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip Codes 13367 and 
13327.
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    \1\ In its verified notice of exemption, LBRR states that the 
Line terminates at milepost 10.44. (Verified Notice 2.) In a 
subsequent filing, LBRR clarifies that the endpoint is actually 
milepost 10.57 in Croghan. (LBRR Suppl. 2, Sept. 27, 2023.)
    \2\ By decision served on January 22, 2024, the Board held this 
proceeding in abeyance and directed LBRR to (1) seek after-the-fact 
authority to acquire the Line; and (2) update its Environmental and 
Historic Report (E&H Report), serve that updated report on the 
parties required to receive it, and allow 20 days for responses. 
Mohawk, Adirondack & N. R.R.--Aban. Exemption--in Lewis & Jefferson 
Cntys., N.Y., AB 768X et al., slip op. at 3-4, 8 (STB served Jan. 
22, 2024). By a separate decision served concurrently with this 
notice, the Board finds that LBRR has complied with the Board's 
directives and therefore removes this proceeding from abeyance.
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    LBRR has certified that: (1) no local or overhead freight traffic 
has moved over the Line in at least 15 years; \3\ (2) there is no 
overhead traffic to reroute; (3) no formal complaint filed by a user of 
rail

[[Page 3273]]

service on the Line (or by a state or local government on behalf of 
such user) regarding cessation of service over the Line is pending with 
either the Surface Transportation Board (Board) or any U.S. District 
Court or has been decided in favor of a complainant within the past two 
years; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7(b) and 1105.8(c) 
(notice of environmental and historic reports),\4\ 49 CFR 1105.12 
(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to government 
agencies) have been met.
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    \3\ In the decision being served concurrently with this notice, 
the Board grants LBRR's motion to waive the Board's regulation at 49 
CFR 1152.50(b) to the extent it requires LBRR to have had Board-
authorized ownership of the Line for at least two years in order to 
qualify for a class exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F.
    \4\ On April 5, 2024, LBRR submitted a verified supplement and 
amendment to its verified notice of exemption, which included a 
revised E&H Report. On April 29, 2024, LBRR submitted additional 
revisions to its E&H Report.
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    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,\5\ this exemption will be 
effective on February 13, 2025, unless stayed pending 
reconsideration.\6\ Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental 
issues,\7\ formal expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 
1152.27(c)(2), and interim trail use/railbanking requests under 49 CFR 
1152.29 must be filed by January 24, 2025.\8\ Petitions to reopen and 
requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed 
February 3, 2025.
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    \5\ Persons interested in submitting an OFA must first file a 
formal expression of intent to file an offer, indicating the type of 
financial assistance they wish to provide (i.e., subsidy or 
purchase) and demonstrating that they are preliminarily financially 
responsible. See 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2)(i).
    \6\ The Board received numerous comments in this docket from 
parties opposing the abandonment. In the decision served 
concurrently with this notice, the Board considers these comments as 
petitions to reject the verified notice and denies the petitions.
    \7\ 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.
    \8\ Filing fees for OFAs and trail use requests can be found at 
49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25) and (27), respectively.
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    All pleadings, referring to Docket No. AB 180X, must be filed with 
the Surface Transportation Board either via e-filing on the Board's 
website or in writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 
20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on 
LBRR's representative, John K. Fiorilla, Dyer & Peterson PC, 605 Main 
Street, Suite 104, Riverton, NJ 08077-1440.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    LBRR has filed a combined environmental and historic report that 
addresses the potential effects, if any, of the abandonment on the 
environment and historic resources. OEA will issue a Draft 
Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) by January 17, 2025. The Draft EA 
will be available to interested persons on the Board's website, by 
writing to OEA, or by calling OEA at (202) 245-0294. If you require an 
accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please call 
(202) 245-0245. Comments on environmental or historic preservation 
matters must be filed within 15 days after the Draft EA becomes 
available to the public.
    Environmental, historic preservation, public use, or trail use/
railbanking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a 
subsequent decision.
    Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), LBRR 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 LBRR's filing of a notice of 
consummation by January 14, 2026, and there are no legal or regulatory 
barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically 
expire.
    Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.

    Decided: January 8, 2025.

    By the Board, Valerie O. Quinn, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2025-00628 Filed 1-13-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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