[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 107 (Monday, June 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30349-30350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11822]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 1094X]


City of Los Angeles--Abandonment Exemption--in Los Angeles 
County, Cal.

    The City of Los Angeles (the City) has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon a 2.6-mile portion of a rail line known as the San Pedro 
Subdivision extending from milepost 4.00 (north of Front Street and 
east of the Gaffey Street Lead) to the end of the line at milepost 6.60 
in Los Angeles County, Cal. (the Line). The Line traverses U.S. Postal 
Service Zip Code 90731.
    The City has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over 
the Line for at least two years; (2) no overhead traffic will need to 
be rerouted because the Line is stub-ended; (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 of 49 CFR 1105.7 and 1105.8 (notice of environmental and 
historic reports), 49 CFR 1105.9 (Coastal Zone Management Act), 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 
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,\1\ the exemption will be 
effective on July 7, 2021, unless stayed pending reconsideration. The 
City simultaneously has filed in this proceeding a petition for 
exemption from the OFA provisions at 49 U.S.C. 10904 and the public use 
provisions at 49 U.S.C. 10905.\2\ That petition will be addressed in a 
subsequent decision.
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    \1\ 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).
    \2\ While this is not the preferred procedural approach, it will 
be permitted here. See Union Pac. R.R.--Aban. Exemption--in Adams, 
Weld & Boulder Cntys., Colo., AB 33 (Sub-No. 307X), slip op. at 1 
n.2 (STB served Oct. 18, 2012) (``Even if the abandonment is 
eligible for a class exemption, if a petitioner also seeks 
exemptions that must be ruled upon by the entire Board, the better 
practice is to file one petition for exemption seeking both the 
abandonment and any other requested exemptions.'').
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    Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\3\ 
formal expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2), 
and interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must 
be filed by June 17, 2021.\4\ Petitions to reopen or requests for 
public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by June 28, 
2021.
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    \3\ 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.
    \4\ 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 1094X, should be filed 
with the Surface Transportation Board via e-filing on the Board's 
website. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on the 
City's representative, Allison I. Fultz, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell, 1001 
Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    The City 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 June 11, 2021. The Draft EA will 
be available to interested persons on the Board's website, by writing 
to OEA, or by calling OEA at (202) 245-0305. Assistance for the hearing 
impaired is available through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-
8339. Comments on environmental and historic preservation matters must 
be filed within 15 days after the Draft EA becomes available to the 
public.
    Environmental, historic preservation, public use, or interim 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), the City shall 
file a notice of consummation with the Board to

[[Page 30350]]

signify that it has exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned 
the Line. If consummation has not been effected by the City's filing of 
a notice of consummation by June 7, 2022, 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: June 1, 2021.

    By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2021-11822 Filed 6-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P