55206 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 181 / Tuesday, September 20, 2005 / Notices 

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 (SEA) 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 OFA must be accompanied by the filing 

fee, which currently is set at $1,200. See 49 CFR 

1002.2(f)(25). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board 

will hold a public hearing to provide a 

forum for the expression of views on the 

impact, effectiveness, and future of the 

Staggers Act. Interested persons, 

including large and small rail 

customers, large and small railroad 

companies, representatives of local 

communities, and State and Federal 

government officials, are invited to 

participate. The hearing is not intended 

to offer a forum for discussion of 

pending cases, but rather is intended as 

an opportunity for interested persons to 

address broader issues regarding the 

Staggers Act generally. 

Date of Hearing. The hearing will 

begin at 10 am on Wednesday, October 

19, 2005, in the 7th floor hearing room 

at the Board’s headquarters in 

Washington, DC, and will continue, 

with short breaks if necessary, until 

every person scheduled to speak has 

been heard. 

Notice of Intent To Participate. Any 

person wishing to speak at the hearing 

should file with the Board a written 

notice of intent to participate, and 

should identify the party, the proposed 

speaker, the time requested, and topic(s) 

to be covered, as soon as possible, but 

no later than October 7, 2005. 

Testimony. Each speaker should file 

with the Board his/her written 

testimony by October 12, 2005. Also, 

any interested person who wishes to 

submit a written statement without 

appearing at the October 19 hearing 

should file that statement by October 12, 

2005. 

Board Releases and Live Audio 

Available Via the Internet. Decisions 

and notices of the Board, including this 

notice, are available on the Board’s Web 

site at ‘‘http://www.stb.dot.gov.’’ This 

hearing will be available on the Board’s 

Web site by live audio streaming. To 

access the hearing, click on the ‘‘Live 

Audio’’ link under ‘‘Information Center’’

at the left side of the Home page 

beginning at 10 a.m. on October 19, 

2005. 

This action will not significantly 

affect either the quality of the human 

environment or the conservation of 

energy resources. 

Dated: September 14, 2005. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 05–18681 Filed 9–19–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Docket No. AB–43 (Sub-No. 176X)] 

Illinois Central Railroad Company—

Abandonment Exemption—in Rankin 

County, MS 

Illinois Central Railroad Company (IC) 

has filed a notice of exemption under 49 

CFR 1152 Subpart F—Exempt 

Abandonments to abandon a 1.52-mile 

line of railroad, on its Flowood 

Trackage, between milepost 70.20 and 

milepost 71.72, in Flowood, Rankin 

County, MS. The line traverses United 

States Postal Service Zip Code 39232. 

IC has certified that: (1) No local 

traffic has moved over the line for at 

least 2 years; (2) there is no overhead 

traffic on the line; (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 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 October 

20, 2005, 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 September 

30, 2005. Petitions to reopen or requests 

for public use conditions under 49 CFR 

1152.28 must be filed by October 11, 

2005, with the Surface Transportation 

Board, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, 

DC 20423–0001. 

A copy of any petition filed with the 

Board should be sent to IC’s 

representative: Michael J. Barron, Jr., 

Illinois Central Railroad Company, c/o 

CN, 17641 S. Ashland Avenue, 

Homewood, IL 60430. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. 

IC has filed environmental and 

historic reports which address the 

effects, if any, of the abandonment on 

the environment and historic resources. 

SEA will issue an environmental 

assessment (EA) by September 23, 2005. 

Interested persons may obtain a copy of 

the EA by writing to SEA (Room 500, 

Surface Transportation Board, 

Washington, DC 20423–0001) or by 

calling SEA, at (202) 565–1539. 

[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), IC 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 

IC’s filing of a notice of consummation 

by September 20, 2006, 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: September 14, 2005. 

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 05–18746 Filed 9–19–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P