[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 168 (Thursday, August 31, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41461-41462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-18484]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 1244X]


Columbia & Cowlitz Railway, LLC--Abandonment Exemption--in 
Cowlitz County, Wash

    Columbia & Cowlitz Railway, LLC (CLC), has filed a verified notice 
of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon an approximately 7-mile rail line between milepost 1.5 at 
Longview and milepost 8.5 at Ostrander Junction,

[[Page 41462]]

in Cowlitz County, Wash. (the Line).\1\ The Line traverses United 
States Postal Service Zip Codes 98632 and 98636 and includes the Milco 
station at milepost 4.25 and the Rocky Point station at milepost 6.0.
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    \1\ In a concurrently filed joint verified notice of exemption, 
CLC seeks to discontinue service over, and Patriot Woods Railroad, 
LLC, seeks to abandon, approximately 21.50-miles of connecting rail 
line between milepost 8.5 at Ostrander Junction and the end of the 
line at milepost 30, in Cowlitz County, Wash. See Columbia & Cowlitz 
Ry.--Discontinuance of Serv. Exemption--in Cowlitz Cty., Wash., 
Docket No. AB 1244 (Sub-No. 1X) and Patriot Woods R.R.--Aban. 
Exemption--in Cowlitz Cty., Wash., Docket No. AB 1243X.
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    CLC has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years; (2) any overhead traffic can 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 a complainant 
within the two-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 this exemption, any employee adversely affected 
by the abandonment 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) has been received, this exemption will be 
effective on September 30, 2017, 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 
interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be 
filed by September 8, 2017. Petitions to reopen or requests for public 
use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by September 20, 
2017, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 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 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 $1,700. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25). Effective 
September 1, 2017, the fee will become $1,800. See Regulations 
Governing Fees for Servs. Performed in Connection with Licensing & 
Related Servs.--2017 Update, EP 542 (Sub-No. 25), slip op. App. C at 
20 (STB served July 28, 2017).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
Melanie B. Yasbin, Law Offices of Louis E. Gitomer, LLC, 600 Baltimore 
Avenue, Suite 301, Towson, MD 21204.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    CLC has filed a combined environmental and historic report that 
addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment 
and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) 
by September 5, 2017. 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 at (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), CLC 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 CLC's filing of a notice of 
consummation by August 31, 2018, 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 
WW.STB.GOV.


    Decided: August 28, 2017.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Marline Simeon,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-18484 Filed 8-30-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P