[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 201 (Tuesday, October 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64392-64393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-26234]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 322X); Docket No. AB 414 (Sub-No. 5X)]


Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Polk 
County, IA; Iowa Interstate Railroad--Discontinuance of Service 
Exemption--in Polk County, IA

    Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) and Iowa Interstate Railroad 
(IAIS) (collectively, applicants) have jointly filed a verified notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service for NSR to abandon, and for IAIS to 
discontinue service over, a 1.70-mile line of railroad between milepost 
DU 353.00 and milepost DU 354.70, in Grimes, Polk County, Iowa.\1\ The 
line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Code 50111.
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    \1\ In 1995, IAIS was authorized to lease and operate 13.9 miles 
of rail line owned by Norfolk and Western Railway Company (NSR's 
predecessor), including the segment at issue here. Iowa Interstate 
R.R.--Lease and Operation Exemption--Norfolk and W. Ry., FD 32731 
(ICC served Oct. 13, 1995).
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    Applicants have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over 
the line for at least 2 years; (2) no overhead traffic has moved over 
the line for at least 2 years and overhead traffic, if there were 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(c) (environmental 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 these exemptions, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment or discontinuance shall be protected under Oregon 
Short Line Railroad & The Union Pacific 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, these exemptions will be 
effective on November 18, 2010, 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 must be filed by 
October 29, 2010. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by November 8, 2010, 
with: Surface Transportation Board, 395 E

[[Page 64393]]

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \2\ 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 abandonment 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.
    \3\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,500. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
applicants' representatives: (1) Daniel G. Kruger, Attorney, Norfolk 
Southern Railway Company, Three Commercial Place, Norfolk, VA 23510; 
and (2) Lanny M. Van Daele, Corporate Counsel, Iowa Interstate 
Railroad, Ltd., 5900 6th Street, SW., Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemptions are void ab initio.
    Applicants have filed a joint combined environmental and historic 
report, which addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment and 
discontinuance on the environment and historic resources. OEA will 
issue an environmental assessment (EA) by October 22, 2010. Interested 
persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to OEA (Room 1100, 
Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001) or by calling 
OEA, 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 October 19, 2011, 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: October 12, 2010.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2010-26234 Filed 10-18-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P