2330 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 17 / Thursday, January 25, 1996 / Notices

1The ICC Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. No.

104–88, 109 Stat. 803 (the Act), which was enacted

on December 29, 1995, and took effect on January

1, 1996, abolished the Interstate Commerce

Commission (ICC) and transferred certain functions

and proceedings to the Surface Transportation

Board (Board). Section 204(b)(1) of the Act

provides, in general, that proceedings pending

before the ICC on the effective date of that

legislation shall be decided under the law in effect

prior to January 1, 1996, insofar as they involve

functions retained by the Act. This notice relates to

a proceeding that was pending with the ICC prior

to January 1, 1996, and to functions that are subject

to Board jurisdiction pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10903.

Therefore, this notice applies the law in effect prior

to the Act, and citations are to the former sections

of the statute, unless otherwise indicated.

2A stay will be issued routinely by the Board in

those proceedings where an informed decision on

environmental issues (whether raised by a party or

by the Board’s Section of Environmental Analysis

in its independent investigation) cannot be made

prior to the effective date of the notice of

exemption. See Exemption of Out-of-Service Rail

Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any entity seeking a

stay on environmental concerns is encouraged to

file its request as soon as possible in order to permit

the Board to review and act on the request before

the effective date of this exemption.

3See Exempt. of Rail Abandonment—Offers of

Finan. Assist., 4 I.C.C.2d 164 (1987).

4The Board will accept a late-filed trail use

request as long as it retains jurisdiction to do so.

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)

(now 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)) may be filed

at any time. The filing of a petition to

revoke will not automatically stay the

transaction.

Decided: January 19, 1996.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–1227 Filed 1–24–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

[Docket No. AB–3 (Sub-No. 127X)]

Missouri Pacific Railroad Company—

Abandonment Exemption—in

Muskogee County, OK

Missouri Pacific Railroad Company

(MPRR) has filed a notice of exemption

under 49 CFR Part 1152 Subpart F—

Exempt Abandonments to abandon a

portion of the former Oklahoma

Subdivision near Muskogee from

milepost 128.6 to the end of the line at

milepost 129.5, a distance of

approximately 0.9-mile in Muskogee

County, OK.

MPRR 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

Board or with any U.S. District Court or

has been decided in favor of the

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 use of 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. 10505(d)

(now 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 February

24, 1996, unless stayed pending

reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do

not involve environmental issues,2

formal expressions of intent to file an

OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),3 and

trail use/rail banking requests under 49

CFR 1152.29 4 must be filed by February

5, 1996. Petitions to reopen or requests

for public use conditions under 49 CFR

1152.28 must be filed by February 14,

1996, with: Office of the Secretary, Case

Control Branch, Surface Transportation

Board, 1201 Constitution Ave., N.W.,

Washington, DC 20423.

A copy of any pleading filed with the

Board should be sent to applicant’s

representative: Joseph D. Anthofer, 1416

Dodge Street, Room 830, Omaha, NE

68179.

If the notice of exemption contains

false or misleading information, the

exemption is void ab initio.

MPRR has filed an environmental

report which addresses the

abandonment’s effects, if any, on the

environmental and historic resources.

The Section of Environmental Analysis

(SEA) will issue an environmental

assessment (EA) by January 30, 1996.

Interested persons may obtain a copy of

the EA by writing to SEA (Room 3219,

Surface Transportation Board,

Washington, DC 20423) or by calling

Elaine Kaiser, Chief of SEA, at (202)

927–6248. Comments on environmental

and historic preservation matters must

be filed within 15 days after the EA is

available to the public.

Environmental, historic preservation,

public use, or trail use/rail banking

conditions will be imposed, where

appropriate, in a subsequent decision.

Decided: January 19, 1996.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–1228 Filed 1–24–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

UNITED STATES INFORMATION

AGENCY

Summer Institute for Russian Social

Scientists on Approaches to Political

Science as a Scholarly Discipline

ACTION: Notice—Request for Proposals.

SUMMARY: The Advising, Teaching, and

Specialized Programs Division of the

Office of Academic Programs in the

United States Information Agency’s

Bureau of Educational and Cultural

Affairs announces an open competition

for an assistance award to develop a

program for a Summer Institute for

Russian Social Scientists on Approaches

to Political Science as a Scholarly

Discipline. Public and private nonprofit

organizations meeting the provisions

described in IRS regulation 26 CFR

1.501(c)(3)–1 may apply to develop a

six-week graduate-level program

designed for a group of 10 Russian

university professors who are currently

teaching courses in political science.

The purpose of the Institute is to

enhance the participants’ ability to

teach political science at their home

institutions by engaging the participants

in a multi-faceted discussion of the

discipline of political science as

currently practiced in the United States.

Overall grant making authority for

this program is contained in the Mutual

Educational and Cultural Exchange Act

of 1961, Pub. L. 87–256, as amended,

also known as the Fulbright-Hays Act.

The purpose of the Act is ‘‘to enable the

Government of the United States to

increase mutual understanding between

the people of the United States and the

people of other countries * * *; to

strengthen the ties which unite us with

other nations by demonstrating the

educational and cultural interests,

developments, and achievements of the

people of the United States and other

nations * * * and thus to assist in the

development of friendly, sympathetic

and peaceful relations between the

United States and the other countries of

the world.’’

The funding authority for the program

cited above is provided through the

Freedom Support Act (FSA). Programs

and projects must conform with agency