3272 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 8 / Tuesday, January 14, 2025 / Notices 

1By decision served on January 22, 2024, the 

Board held this proceeding in abeyance and 

directed MAN to 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 

MAN has complied with the Board’s directive and 

therefore removes this proceeding from abeyance. 

2On April 5, 2024, MAN submitted a verified 

supplement and amendment to its verified notice of 

exemption, which included a revised E&H Report. 

On May 12, 2024, MAN submitted additional 

revisions to its E&H Report. 

3Persons 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). 

4The 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. 

5The 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. 

6Filing fees for OFAs and trail use requests can 

be found at 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25) and (27), 

respectively. 

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.) 

2By 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. 

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 Boardauthorized ownership of the Line for at least two 

years in order to qualify for a class exemption under 

49 CFR part 1152 subpart F. 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. AB 768X] 

Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern 

Railroad Corporation—Abandonment 

Exemption—in Lewis and Jefferson 

Counties, N.Y. 

Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern 

Railroad Corporation (MAN), has filed a 

verified notice of exemption under 49 

CFR part 1152 subpart F—Exempt 

Abandonments to abandon (1) an 

approximately 16-mile rail line that 

runs between milepost 58.1 and 

milepost 74.0 located between the 

Village of Lowville, N.Y., and the 

Village of Carthage, N.Y.; and (2) 0.5 

miles of an unused spur track and 300 

feet of terminal end of main line all 

within the Village of Lyons Falls, N.Y.1

The lines traverse U.S. Postal Service 

Zip Codes 13367, 13368 and 13619. 

MAN has certified that: (1) no local 

freight traffic has moved over the Line 

during the past two years; (2) any 

overhead traffic 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 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 two-year period; and (4) the 

requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7(b) and 

1105.8(c) (notice of environmental and 

historic reports),2 49 CFR 1105.12 

(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR 

1152.50(d)(1) (notice to government 

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,3

this exemption will be effective on 

February 13, 2025, unless stayed 

pending reconsideration.4 Petitions to 

stay that do not involve environmental 

issues,5 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, 2025.6 Petitions to 

reopen and requests for public use 

conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must 

be filed February 3, 2025. 

All pleadings, referring to Docket No. 

AB 768X, 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 MAN’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. 

MAN 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), MAN 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 

MAN’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. 2025–00627 Filed 1–13–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

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. 

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 


khammond on DSK9W7S144PROD with NOTICES