Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Department of Transportation

###### Surface Transportation Board

          - [Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 373X)]

                    Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F—                    *Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service*                     to discontinue service over approximately 31.5 miles of rail line extending from milepost CT 73.50 at Plum Run to milepost 105.00 at Vera (West Portsmouth), in Adams and Scioto Counties, Ohio (the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 45652, 45657, 45660, and 45663.                

NSR has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the Line for at least two years; (2) no overhead traffic has moved over the Line for at least two years and overhead traffic, 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 or with any U.S. District Court or has been decided in favor of complainant within the two-year period; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper publication) and 40 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental agencies) have been met.

                    As a condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected by the discontinuance of service 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) to subsidize continued rail service has been received, this exemption will be effective January 2, 2015, unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues and formal expressions of intent to file an OFA to subsidize continued service under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) [1]                                          must be filed by December 15, 2014.[2]                                          Petitions to reopen must be filed by December 23, 2014, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.                

A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to applicant's representative: William A. Mullins, Baker & Miller PLLC, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037.

                    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void                     *ab initio.*

                    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at                     *www.stb.dot.gov*.                

Decided: November 25, 2014.

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of Proceedings.

Brendetta S. Jones,

Clearance Clerk.

# Footnotes

1.                             Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is currently set at $1,600.                         *See*49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).                    
        Back to Citation      

2.                             Because NSR is seeking to discontinue service, not to abandon the line, trail use/rail banking and public use conditions are not appropriate. Likewise, no environmental or historic documentation is required here under 49 CFR 1105.6(c) and 49 CFR 1105.8(b), respectively.                    
        Back to Citation      

[FR Doc. 2014-28222 Filed 12-2-14; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915-01-P