108 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 1 / Friday, January 2, 2015 / Notices 

1Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing 

fee, which is currently set at $1,600. See 49 CFR 

1002.2(f)(25). 

2Because this is a discontinuance proceeding and 

not an abandonment, 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. 

1ABS was granted authority to lease and operate 

the rail line in Alabama Southern Railroad—Lease 

& Operation Exemption—The Kansas City Southern 

Railway, FD 34754 (STB served Dec. 2, 2005). 

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: December 23, 2014. 

By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Brendetta S. Jones, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30502 Filed 12–31–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 363X] 

Norfolk Southern Railway Company— 

Discontinuance of Service 

Exemption—in Henry County, Va. 

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 

1.40 miles of rail line from milepost DW 

45.8 (near Highway 220B) to milepost 

DW 47.2 (near Woodvale Ct.) in Henry 

County, Va. (the Line). The Line 

traverses United States Postal Service 

Zip Code 24112. 

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 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 two-year period; and (4) the 

requirements at 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 

discontinuance 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 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 become effective on 

February 3, 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 rail service 

under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),1 must be 

filed by January 12, 2015.2 Petitions to 

reopen must be filed by January 22, 

2015, 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 NSR’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: December 24, 2014. 

By the Board, Jonathon P. Binet, Acting 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Brendetta S. Jones, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30731 Filed 12–31–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[Docket No. FD 35889] 

Alabama Southern Railroad, L.L.C.— 

Lease and Operation Exemption 

Including Interchange Commitment— 

The Kansas City Southern Railway 

Company 

Alabama Southern Railroad, L.L.C. 

(ABS), a Class III rail carrier, has filed 

a verified notice of exemption under 49 

CFR 1150.41 to continue to lease from 

The Kansas City Southern Railway 

Company (KCS) and operate 

approximately 85.6 miles of rail lines 

located between: (1) Milepost 17.0, near 

Columbus, Miss., and milepost 78.9, 

near Tuscaloosa, Ala., on the Tuscaloosa 

Subdivision; (2) milepost 0.0, at 

Tuscaloosa and milepost 9.3, near Fox, 

Ala., on the Warrior Branch; and (3) 

milepost 443.5, at Brookwood Jct., Ala., 

and milepost 429.1, at Brookwood, Ala., 

on the Brookwood Branch (the Lines).1

ABS states that it has entered into an 

amended and restated lease agreement, 

which will extend the term of the lease 

until November 30, 2024, and make 

other minor changes to the lease. ABS 

also states that it will continue to be the 

operator of the Lines. 

According to ABS, the new agreement 

between ABS and KCS contains an 

interchange commitment that affects 

interchange with carriers other than 

KCS. ABS notes that the affected 

interchange points are Northport, Ala., 

Tuscaloosa, Brookwood, and Columbus. 

As required under 49 CFR 1150.43(h)(1), 

ABS provided additional information 

regarding the interchange commitment. 

ABS has certified that its projected 

annual revenues as a result of this 

transaction will not result in ABS’s 

becoming a Class II or Class I rail 

carrier, but that its projected annual 

revenues will exceed $5 million. 

Accordingly, ABS is required, at least 60 

days before this exemption is to become 

effective, to send notice of the 

transaction to the national offices of the 

labor unions with employees on the 

affected lines, post a copy of the notice 

at the workplace of the employees on 

the affected lines, and certify to the 

Board that it has done so. 49 CFR 

1150.42(e). ABS asserts that providing 

the 60-day notice would serve no useful 

purpose because ABS already operates 

the Lines. 

ABS, concurrently with its verified 

notice of exemption, filed a petition for 

waiver of the 60-day advance labor 

notice requirement under § 1150.42(e), 

asserting that: (1) No KCS employee will 

be affected by the lease because no KCS 

employee has performed operations or 

maintenance on the Lines since 2005; 

(2) no ABS employee will be affected by 

the lease because ABS will continue to 

provide the same service and perform 

the same maintenance as it has since 

2005; and (3) providing advance labor 

notice would be a futile act because the 

transaction will simply extend the term 

of the lease agreement between ABS and 

KCS. ABS’s waiver request will be 

addressed in a separate decision. 

ABS states that that it expects to 

consummate the transaction on or 

shortly after the effective date of this 

exemption. The Board will establish in 

the decision on the waiver request the 

earliest date this transaction may be 

consummated. 


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