Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 152 / Wednesday, August 6, 2008 / Notices 45801 

1On July 14, 2008, in Central Oregon & Pacific 

Railroad, Inc.—Abandonment and Discontinuance 

of Service—in Coos, Douglas, and Lane Counties, 

OR, STB Docket No. AB–515 (Sub-No. 2), CORP 

filed for authority, under 49 U.S.C. 10903, to 

abandon the Coos Bay Branch between milepost 

669.0 near Vaughn, OR, and milepost 763.13 near 

Cordes, OR, and to discontinue service over the 

segments of the Coos Bay Subdivision that are 

leased by it, including: (1) The Coquille Branch 

between milepost 763.13 near Cordes, OR, and 

milepost 785.5 near Coquille, OR, which is leased 

from the Union Pacific Railroad Company; and (2) 

the LPN Branch between CORP milepost 738.8 and 

LPN Branch milepost 2.0, which is leased from 

Longview, Portland & Northern Railway Company. 

The Federal Register notice of CORP’s 

abandonment application is being published 

August 1, 2008. 

2Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, Inc.—

Abandonment and Discontinuance of Service—in 

Coos, Douglas, and Lane Counties, OR, STB Docket 

No. AB–515 (Sub-No. 2) (STB served July 29, 2008). 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 35160] 

Oregon International Port of Coos 

Bay—Feeder Line Application—Coos 

Bay Line of the Central Oregon & 

Pacific Railroad, Inc. 

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, 

DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of acceptance of feeder 

line application and setting of 

procedural schedule. 

SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation 

Board has accepted for consideration 

the Oregon International Port of Coos 

Bay’s (the Port’s) feeder line application 

under 49 U.S.C. 10907, and has set the 

procedural schedule for the proceeding. 

The Port seeks to acquire approximately 

111.016 miles of Central Oregon & 

Pacific Railroad, Inc.’s (CORP’s) Coos 

Bay Line (the Line) between milepost 

763.130, near Cordes, OR, and milepost 

652.114, near Danebo, OR. 

DATES: Competing applications by other 

parties seeking to acquire all or any 

portion of the Line sought in the initial 

application are due by August 8, 2008. 

Any supplement by the Port to its 

application is due by August 8, 2008. 

The Board, through the Director of the 

Office of Proceedings, will issue a 

decision accepting or rejecting a 

competing application no later than 

August 22, 2008. Verified statements 

and comments addressing both the 

initial and competing applications must 

be filed by August 29, 2008. Verified 

replies by applicants and other 

interested parties must be filed by 

September 12, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send an original and 10 

copies of any competing applications, 

supplements, verified statements, 

comments, and verified replies referring 

to STB Finance Docket No. 35160 to: 

Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, send one copy of any 

competing applications, supplements, 

verified statements, comments, and 

verified replies to (1) applicant’s 

representative: Sandra L. Brown, Esq., 

Troutman Sanders LLP, 401 Ninth 

Street, NW., Suite 1000, Washington, 

DC 20004; and (2) CORP’s 

representative: Terence M. Hynes, 

Sidley Austin LLP, 1501 K Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joseph H. Dettmar, (202) 245–0395. 

[Assistance for the hearing impaired is 

available through the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339.] 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 

11, 2008, the Port filed an application 

under the feeder line provision at 49 

U.S.C. 10907 to acquire the Line from 

CORP. The Port offers $9,811,100 for the 

Line, its estimate of the Line’s net 

liquidation value. The Port asserts that 

the Line has no going concern value. 

Under 49 U.S.C. 10907(b)(1), the 

Board is authorized to require the sale 

of a rail line to a financially responsible 

person if the public convenience and 

necessity require or permit the sale. The 

Port contends that the proposed sale is 

required or permitted under the public 

convenience and necessity criteria, 49 

U.S.C. 10907(c)(1)(A)–(E), and that it is 

a financially responsible person willing 

to pay not less than the constitutional 

minimum value of the Line. 

Acceptance of the Port’s Application. 

Under 49 CFR 1151.2(b), the Board, 

through the Director of the Office of 

Proceedings, must accept a complete 

application, or reject one that is 

incomplete, no later than 30 days after 

the application is filed. Notice of an 

acceptance must be published in the 

Federal Register . 49 CFR 1151.2(b)(1). 

An application is complete if it has been 

properly served and contains 

substantially all information required by 

section 1151.3, except as modified by 

advance waiver. Id. The notice also 

provides a procedural schedule for the 

proceeding. Id. 

The Port’s application contains 

sufficient information to be accepted for 

consideration. However, because the 

Port forecasts that the Line will require 

extensive rehabilitation and that rail 

service will incur substantial losses, the 

Port is encouraged to supplement the 

information it has provided thus far 

with regard to section 1151.3(a)(7), 

which addresses the proposed operator 

of the line; section 1151.3(a)(9), which 

addresses any preconditions that would 

be placed on shippers in order for them 

to receive service, including shipper 

subsidies; and section 1151.3(a)(10), 

which addresses the sources of other 

subsidies the applicant would receive. 

Any such supplement must be filed by 

August 8 so that those responding to the 

application will have ample time to 

review the supplement. 

Procedural Schedule. The Board has 

determined that it is in the interest of 

the public, the Port, and CORP to 

complete the feeder line proceeding in 

an expedited manner. Specifically, the 

procedural schedule described above 

was adopted based in part on the 

procedural schedule of CORP’s pending 

abandonment application, which is 

being processed by the Board 

concurrently in a separate docket.1

Lastly, on July 29, 2008, the Board 

served a decision in the CORP 

abandonment proceeding granting 

requests for a public hearing, which is 

being set for August 21, 2008 in Eugene, 

OR.2 Because the Port is seeking to 

acquire a rail line that includes the line 

that CORP is seeking to abandon, and 

because both applications were filed at 

approximately the same time, the Port, 

CORP and other interested parties may 

address issues relevant to both 

proceedings at that hearing. Details 

about the public hearing, including how 

to participate, can be found in a separate 

decision that is being served on August 

1, 2008, in this proceeding and in the 

CORP abandonment proceeding. 

Copies of the application and any 

supplement filed by the applicant may 

be obtained free of charge by contacting 

applicant’s representative. 

Alternatively, the application and any 

supplement filed may be inspected at 

the offices of the Surface Transportation 

Board, Suite 131, during normal 

business hours, or copies may be 

obtained from the Board’s Web site at 

http://www.stb.dot.gov. 

To obtain a free copy of the full 

decision, visit the Board’s Web site at 

http://www.stb.dot.gov or call the 

Board’s Information Officer at (202) 

245–0245. [Assistance for the hearing 

impaired is available through Federal 

Information Relay Services (FIRS): (800) 

877–8339.] 

Decided: July 31, 2008. 

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Anne K. Quinlan, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–18183 Filed 8–5–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

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