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###### Surface Transportation Board

          - [Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 772X)]

                    CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F—                    *Exempt Abandonments*                     to abandon an approximately 14.4-mile rail line, known as the G&E Subdivision, in the Southern Region, Florence Division, between milepost CAJ 0.0 at the switch to the Sewell Valley Subdivision mainline track in Rainelle, and the end of the line at milepost CAJ 14.43 about two miles northeast of Green Valley, in Greenbrier and Nicholas Counties, W. Va. (the Line).[1]                                          The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 25962, 25981, and 26676 and includes the Quinwood station (FSAC 83070/SPLC 278129), the Bellburn station (FSAC 83062/SPLC 278121), and the Rainelle Jct. station (FSAC 83044/SPLC 278176). CSXT states that these stations can be closed.                

CSXT has certified that: (1) No local freight traffic has moved over the Line for at least two years; (2) because the Line is not a through route, no overhead traffic has operated; and, therefore, none needs to 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 1105.7(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 October 17, 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 25, 2017. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by October 5, 2017, 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 Louis E. Gitomer, 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.

CSXT 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 22, 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), CSXT 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 CSXT's filing of a notice of consummation by September 15, 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                     *WWW.STB.GOV.*

Decided: September 12, 2017.

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

Kenyatta Clay,

Clearance Clerk.

# Footnotes

1.                             In the verified notice, CSXT states that, following abandonment, it plans to consummate the abandonment, reclassify the Line as a spur track, and lease it to a customer who plans to redevelop the site and use the track to reach its facility.                    
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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.                    
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3.                             Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is currently set at $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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[FR Doc. 2017-19646 Filed 9-14-17; 8:45 am]

 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P