67364 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 250 / Friday, December 29, 1995 / Notices

1 Legislation to sunset the Commission on

December 31, 1995, and transfer remaining

functions is now under consideration in Congress.

Until further notice, parties submitting pleadings

should continue to use the current name and

address.

services on the line from milepost 415.0

to milepost 403.2, pursuant to the

agreement of the parties. The portion of

the line between milepost 431.593 and

milepost 415.0, was approved for

discontinuance of service by the

Commission in Southern Pacific

Transportation Company—

Discontinuance of Service Exemption—

In Ventura County, CA, Docket No. AB–

12 (Sub-No. 143X), (ICC served Nov. 30,

1992). The proposed acquisition was

expected to be consummated on or

about October 31, 1995.

Any comments must be filed with the

Commission and served on: Mary Redus

Gayle, Esq., Burke, Williams &

Sorensen, 2310 E. Ponderosa Drive,

Suite 1, Camarillo, CA 93010.

This notice is filed under 49 CFR

1150.31. If the notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10505(d)

may be filed at any time. The filing of

a petition to revoke will not

automatically stay the transaction.

Decided: December 21, 1995.

By the Commission, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–31405 Filed 12–28–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7035–01–P

[Docket No. AB–33 (Sub-No. 70)]

Union Pacific Railroad Company—

Abandonment—Wallace Branch, ID

AGENCY: Interstate Commerce

Commission.

ACTION: Request for comments.

SUMMARY: The Rails to Trails

Conservancy (RTC) seeks the immediate

issuance of a certificate of interim trail

use (CITU) under section 8(d) of the

National Trails System Act, 16 U.S.C.

1247(d) (Trails Act), for a 71.5-mile rail

line of Union Pacific Railroad Company

(UP) between milepost 16.5, near

Plummer, and milepost 7.6, near

Mullan, via milepost 80.4/0.0, near

Wallace, in Benewah, Kootenai, and

Shoshone Counties, ID. This notice is to

request comments from all interested

parties, agencies, and members of the

public as to whether there is any

impediment to the issuance of Trails

Act authority in the unusual

circumstances of this case.

In Union Pacific RR. Co.—Aband.—

Wallace Branch, ID, 9 I.C.C.2d 325

(1992), 9 I.C.C.2d 377 (1992), and 9

I.C.C.2d 446 (1993), the Commission

granted UP’s application to abandon

this line, subject to various conditions.

Specifically, the Commission allowed

UP to discontinue service on the line,

but provided that the carrier could not

fully abandon the line (i.e., salvage the

line and give up the right-of-way) until

the environmental impacts of those

actions are fully addressed and

resolved. A request for a CITU was filed

in 1992, but it was not acted on because

an offer of financial assistance (OFA)

under 49 U.S.C. 10905 was filed to

acquire the line for continued rail

service. The OFA process, however,

terminated without a sale agreement or

a request to the agency to set terms.

On judicial review of the

abandonment decision, the United

States Court of Appeals for the District

of Columbia Circuit affirmed in part and

reversed in part. State of Idaho et al. v.

ICC, 35 F.3d 585 (D.C. Cir. 1994). As

pertinent here, the court affirmed the

Commission’s decision to permit UP to

discontinue rail operations on the line.

But the court concluded that the

Commission had attempted to delegate

away too much of its responsibility to

look at the potential environmental

impacts of salvage activity and

accordingly remanded the conditional

salvage authorization.

By decision served December 2, 1994,

the Commission reopened the

abandonment proceeding. The

Commission’s decision vacated the

conditional authorization of salvage

activity here, except for the portion of

the line within a ‘‘Superfund’’ site,

where section 121(e)(1), 42 U.S.C.

962(e)(1), relieves UP of the requirement

to obtain permission from the

Commission if it does so in compliance

with the Comprehensive Environmental

Response Compensation and Liability

Act. The decision also clarified that UP

may not engage in any other salvage

activity on this line until it has

complied with the six environmental

conditions previously imposed by the

agency (under Commission supervision)

and appropriate environmental

documentation is prepared taking a final

look at the environmental impacts of

salvage followed by a determination as

to whether the economic benefits of

salvage outweigh the potential

environmental harm.

Following the issuance of that

decision, RTC, in August 1995,

requested the immediate issuance of a

CITU to permit trail use under section

8(d) on the entire 71.5-mile right-ofway, including the portion of the line

within the Superfund site. RTC

submitted the statement of willingness

to assume financial responsibility and

liability for the right-of-way required by

the Commission’s Trails Act rules and

agreed to rail banking. UP stated that it

is willing to negotiate with RTC. In

addition, the railroad, in view of the

outstanding environmental conditions

imposed in this case, stated that if there

is an agreement in principle between UP

and RTC or any other group for trail use

or other use of this right-of-way, it

would request Commission approval of

that use prior to execution of any

written agreement between the parties.

Given the unusual circumstances of

this case, we request comments from all

interested parties, agencies, and

members of the public as to whether

there are any impediments to the

issuance of Trails Act authority here.

DATES: Comments are due by January

29, 1996.

ADDRESSES: An original and 10 copies of

all comments, referring to Docket No.

AB–33 (Sub-No. 70), should be filed

with the Office of the Secretary, Case

Control Branch, Interstate Commerce

Commission, 1201 Constitution Avenue

NW, Washington, DC 20423.1 In

addition, a copy of all comments must

be served on all parties of record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Joseph H. Dettmar, (202) 927–5660.

[Assistance for the hearing-impaired is

available through TDD at (202) 927–

5721.]

Decided: December 22, 1995.

By the Commission, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–31404 Filed 12–28–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7035–01–P

[Docket Nos. AB–464X and AB–290 (Sub.

No. 174X)]

Piedmont and Atlantic Railroad Co.,

Inc., d/b/a Yadkin Valley Railroad

Company; Discontinuance of Service

Exemption and Norfolk Southern

Railway Company—Abandonment

Exemption

Piedmont and Atlantic Railroad Co.,

Inc., d/b/a Yadkin Valley Railroad

Company (YVRR), and Norfolk Southern

Railway Company (NS) have filed a

notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152

Subpart F—Exempt Abandonments and

Discontinuances for YVRR to

discontinue service over and NS to

abandon 8.7 miles of rail line between

milepost CF–29.8 at Rural Hall and

milepost CF–38.5 at Brook Cove, in