Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 210 / Wednesday, November 1, 2017 / Notices 50729 

1 In the verified notice, UP states that after the 

proposed abandonment, UP will continue to 

provide rail service from the remaining portion of 

the Rockwell Industrial Lead, as well as the Mason 

City and Albert Lea Subdivisions of the Spine Line, 

which lie within one mile of the Line. 

2The 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. 

3Each 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). 

the competitive balance with carriers 

outside the corporate family. 

Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), the Board 

may not use its exemption authority to 

relieve a rail carrier of its statutory 

obligation to protect the interests of its 

employees. Section 11326(c), however, 

does not provide for labor protection for 

transactions under Sections 11324 and 

11325 that involve only Class III rail 

carriers. The exemption here was filed 

by ORP and ORPS. Only Class III 

carriers are involved. Accordingly, labor 

protective conditions will not be 

imposed. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

may be filed at any time. The filing of 

a petition to revoke will not 

automatically stay the exemption. 

Petitions for stay must be filed no later 

than November 8, 2017 (at least seven 

days before the exemption becomes 

effective). 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 

36152, must be filed with the Surface 

Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20423–0001. In 

addition, one copy of each pleading 

must be served on Terrence M. Hynes, 

Sidley Austin LLP, 1501 K Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20005. 

According to the Parties, this action is 

categorically excluded from 

environmental review under 49 CFR 

1105.6(c). 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at 

WWW.STB.GOV. 

Decided: October 27, 2017. 

By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Brendetta S. Jones, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23766 Filed 10–31–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. AB 33 (Sub-No. 327X)] 

Union Pacific Railroad Company— 

Abandonment and Discontinuance of 

Service Exemption—in Cerro Gordo 

County, Iowa 

Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) 

has filed a verified notice of exemption 

under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F— 

Exempt Abandonments and 

Discontinuance of Service for UP to: (1) 

Abandon a 2.0-mile portion of UP’s 

Rockwell Industrial Lead in Mason City, 

Iowa, between milepost 155.5 near Elm 

Street and milepost 157.5 near 19th 

Street; and (2) discontinue service over 

a 0.5-mile portion of UP’s Rockwell 

Industrial Lead near Swifts, Iowa, 

between milepost 157.5 and milepost 

158.0, near Swifts, Iowa (the Line).1 The 

Line is entirely within Cerro Gordo 

County, Iowa, and traverses United 

States Postal Service Zip Code 50401. 

UP has certified that: (1) No local or 

overhead traffic has moved over the 

Line for at least two years; (2) there is 

no need to reroute any traffic 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 become effective on 

December 1, 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 November 9, 2017. 

Petitions to reopen or requests for 

public use conditions under 49 CFR 

1152.28 must be filed by November 21, 

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 UP’s 

representative: Jeremy M. Berman, 

General Attorney, 1400 Douglas Street, 

Stop 1580, Omaha, NE 68179. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. 

UP 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 

November 6, 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 interim 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), UP 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 

UP’s filing of a notice of consummation 

by November 1, 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: October 26, 2017. 

By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Brendetta S. Jones, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23765 Filed 10–31–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 


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