Boston & Maine Corporation-Abandonment Exemption-in Merrimack County, N.H. and Springfield Terminal Railway Company-Discontinuance of Service Exemption-in Merrimack County, N.H.

Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 20 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)

Federal Register Volume 82, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)

Notices

Pages 8970-8971

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov

FR Doc No: 2017-02115

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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Docket No. AB 32 (Sub-No. 107X) and Docket No. AB 355 (Sub-No. 43X)

Boston & Maine Corporation--Abandonment Exemption--in Merrimack County, N.H. and Springfield Terminal Railway Company--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in Merrimack County, N.H.

Boston & Maine Corporation (B&M) and Springfield Terminal Railway Company (ST) (collectively, applicants), have jointly filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for B&M to abandon, and for ST to discontinue service over, an approximately 6.36-mile line of railroad known as the Northern Main Line of the Northern Railroad in Merrimack County, N.H. (the Line). The Line traverses Concord, N.H. and Boscowen, N.H., between mileposts 74.32 and 80.68, and United States Postal Service Zip Codes 03301 and 03303.

Applicants have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the Line for at least two years; (2) there is no overhead traffic on the Line; (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

Page 8971

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 these exemptions, any employee adversely affected by the abandonment or 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 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, these exemptions will be effective on March 3, 2017, unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\1\ formal expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\2\ and trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by February 13, 2017. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by February 21, 2017, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.

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\1\ 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.

\2\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is currently set at $1,700. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).

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A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to applicants' representative: Robert B. Burns, Pan Am Railways, Iron Horse Park, North Billerica, MA 01862.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemptions are void ab initio.

Applicants have filed a combined environmental and historic report that addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment and discontinuance on the environment and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by February 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 (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339. 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), B&M 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 B&M's filing of a notice of consummation by February 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: January 27, 2017.

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

Raina S. Contee,

Clearance Clerk.

FR Doc. 2017-02115 Filed 1-31-17; 8:45 am

BILLING CODE 4915-01-P