48310 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 199 / Tuesday, October 17, 2017 / Notices 

pursuant to the authority vested in me 

by the Act of October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 

985; 22 U.S.C. 2459), E.O. 12047 of 

March 27, 1978, the Foreign Affairs 

Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 

(112 Stat. 2681, et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 6501 

note, et seq.), Delegation of Authority 

No. 234 of October 1, 1999, Delegation 

of Authority No. 236–3 of August 28, 

2000 (and, as appropriate, Delegation of 

Authority No. 257–1 of December 11, 

2015). I have ordered that Public Notice 

of these determinations be published in 

the Federal Register. 

Alyson Grunder, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Bureau 

of Educational and Cultural Affairs, 

Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22410 Filed 10–16–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–05–P 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. AB 1247; Docket No. AB 1248] 

Buckeye East Chicago Railroad LLC— 

Abandonment Exemption—in Lake 

County, Ind.; Landisville Railroad, 

LLC—Discontinuance Exemption—in 

Lake County, Ind. 

On September 27, 2017, Buckeye East 

Chicago Railroad LLC (BECR) and 

Landisville Railroad, LLC (Landisville) 

(collectively, Petitioners) jointly filed 

with the Surface Transportation Board 

(Board) a petition under 49 U.S.C. 10502 

for exemption from the prior approval 

requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10903 to 

abandon and discontinue, respectively, 

approximately 1.34 miles of rail line 

located within the East Chicago 

Transload Facility (Facility) at or near 

400 East Columbus Drive in East 

Chicago, Lake County, Ind. (the Line). 

The Line traverses United States Postal 

Service ZIP Code 46312. Petitioners 

state the Line does not include stations 

other than the Facility and does not 

have milepost designations. 

According to Petitioners, Landisville 

exclusively provides transloading and 

interchange services on behalf of BECR 

to a connection with the Indiana Harbor 

Belt Railroad (IHBR). Petitioners state 

that Buckeye Terminals, LLC, the 

operator of the Facility, is the only 

shipper on the Line. Upon 

consummation of the proposed 

transaction, Petitioners state that IHBR 

would continue to pick up and deliver 

traffic to the Facility as a common 

carrier. Petitioners also state that 

Buckeye Terminals, which will be 

BECR’s successor as owner of the Line, 

or Landisville, as a private contract 

operator to Buckeye Terminals, will 

move cars around the Facility and 

provide the transload services, but 

would do so over private track that 

would no longer be subject to the 

Board’s jurisdiction. Petitioners state 

that no other customers have requested 

common carrier service from either 

BECR or Landisville. 

The parties state that Buckeye 

Partners, as the parent of both BECR and 

Buckeye Terminals, has consented to 

and supports the proposed 

abandonment and discontinuance. 

Petitioners state that Landisville is also 

willing to accommodate the 

abandonment of the Line by seeking 

discontinuance of its common carrier 

operating right over the Line. 

According to the Petitioners, the Line 

is stub-ended and therefore may not 

accommodate overhead traffic. The 

Petitioners state that, based on 

information in BECR’s and Buckeye 

Terminals’ possession, the Line does not 

contain federally granted rights-of-way. 

Any documentation in their possession 

will be made available promptly to 

those requesting it. 

The interest of railroad employees 

will be protected by the conditions set 

forth in Oregon Short Line Railroad— 

Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch 

Between Firth & Ammon, in Bingham & 

Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 360 I.C.C. 

91 (1979). 

By issuing this notice, the Board is 

instituting an exemption proceeding 

pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10502(b). A final 

decision will be issued by January 12, 

2018. 

Any offer of financial assistance 

(OFA) under 49 CFR 1152.27(b)(2) will 

be due no later than 10 days after 

service of a decision granting the 

petition for exemption. Each OFA must 

be accompanied by a $1,800 filing fee. 

See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25). 

All interested persons should be 

aware that, following discontinuance 

and abandonment, the Line may be 

suitable for other public use, including 

interim trail use. Any request for a 

public use condition under 49 CFR 

1152.28 or for interim trail use/rail 

banking under 49 CFR 1152.29 will be 

due no later than November 6, 2017. 

Each interim trail use request must be 

accompanied by a $300 filing fee. See 49 

CFR 1002.2(f)(27). 

All filings in response to this notice 

must refer to Docket Nos. AB 1247 and 

AB 1248 and must be sent to: (1) Surface 

Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20423–0001; (2) 

Charles A. Spitulnik, Kaplan Kirsch & 

Rockwell LLP, 1001 Connecticut 

Avenue NW., Suite 800, Washington, 

DC 20036; and (3) Eric M. Hocky, Clark 

Hill PLC, One Commerce Square, 2005 

Market Street, Suite 1000, Philadelphia, 

PA 19102. Replies to the petition are 

due on or before November 6, 2017. 

Persons seeking further information 

concerning abandonment or 

discontinuance procedures may contact 

the Board’s Office of Public Assistance, 

Governmental Affairs, and Compliance 

at (202) 245–0238 or refer to the full 

abandonment or discontinuance 

regulations at 49 CFR part 1152. 

Questions concerning environmental 

issues may be directed to the Board’s 

Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) 

at (202) 245–0305. Assistance for the 

hearing impaired is available through 

the Federal Information Relay Service 

(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339. 

An environmental assessment (EA) (or 

environmental impact statement (EIS), if 

necessary) prepared by OEA will be 

served upon all parties of record and 

upon any agencies or other persons who 

comment during its preparation. Other 

interested persons may contact OEA to 

obtain a copy of the EA (or EIS). EAs in 

abandonment proceedings normally will 

be made available within 60 days of the 

filing of the petition. The deadline for 

submission of comments on the EA 

generally will be within 30 days of its 

service. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at 

WWW.STB.GOV. 

By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Decided: October 12, 2017. 

Tammy Lowery, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22465 Filed 10–16–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. AB 1249] 

Buckeye Hammond Railroad LLC— 

Abandonment Exemption—in Lake 

County, Ind. 

On September 27, 2017, Buckeye 

Hammond Railroad LLC (BHRR) filed 

with the Surface Transportation Board 

(Board) a petition under 49 U.S.C. 10502 

for exemption from the prior approval 

requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10903 to 

abandon approximately 1.29 miles of 

rail line located within the Hammond 

Transload Facility (Facility) in 

Hammond, Lake County, Ind., traversing 

United States Postal Service Zip Codes 

46320 and 46312 (the Line). BHRR 

states that the Line does not include 

stations other than the Facility and does 

not have milepost designations. 

According to BHRR, Buckeye 

Terminals, LLC, is the only shipper on 

the Line, which is used exclusively for 


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