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[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 5, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45526-45527]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17675]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-290 (Sub-No. 289X)]

Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--in 
Hamilton County, OH

    Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) has filed a verified notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F-Exempt Abandonments to abandon 
a 1.10-mile line of railroad between milepost CT 2.50 (Cincinnati) and 
milepost CT 3.60 (Norwood), in Hamilton County, OH. The line traverses 
United States Postal Service Zip Codes 45207 and 45212.
    NSR has certified that: (1) No local or overhead traffic has moved 
over the line for at least 2 years; (2) overhead traffic on the line, 
if any, could 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 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 complainant within the 2-year period; and (4) the requirements 
at 49 CFR 1105.7 (environmental report), 49 CFR 1105.8 (historic 
report), 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 September 4, 2008, 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 
August 15, 2008.\3\ Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by August 25, 2008, with 
the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
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    \1\ The 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 Out-of-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.
    \2\ Effective July 18, 2008, the filing fee for an OFA increased 
to $1,500. See Regulations Governing Fees for Services Performed in 
Connection with Licensing and Related Services--2008 Update, STB Ex 
Parte No. 542 (Sub-No. 15) (STB served June 18, 2008).
    \3\ NSR states that it does not have fee title to the entire 
right-of-way underlying the line proposed for abandonment and, 
therefore, that it will not have a contiguous corridor available for 
public use.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to NSR's

[[Page 45527]]

representative: James R. Paschall, Senior General Attorney, Norfolk 
Southern Corporation, Three Commercial Place, Norfolk, VA 23510.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    NSR has filed environmental and historic reports that address the 
effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic 
resources. SEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by August 8, 
2008. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to SEA 
(Room 1100, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001) or 
by calling SEA, at (202) 245-0305. [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), NSR 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 NSR's filing of a notice of 
consummation by August 5, 2009, 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: July 28, 2008.

    By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Anne K. Quinlan,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-17675 Filed 8-4-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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