Illinois Central Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Jefferson County, Ill.; Union Pacific Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Jefferson County, Ill.
| Citation | 85 FR 70221 |
| Record Number | 2020-24590 |
| Published date | 04 November 2020 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Surface Transportation Board |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 214 (Wednesday, November 4, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 70221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24590]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 43 (Sub-No. 191X); Docket No. AB 33 (Sub-No. 337X)]
Illinois Central Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in
Jefferson County, Ill.; Union Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment
Exemption--in Jefferson County, Ill.
Illinois Central Railroad Company (IC) and Union Pacific Railroad
Company (UP) (collectively, the Railroads) jointly filed a verified
notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152, subpart F--Exempt
Abandonments to abandon approximately 100 feet of jointly owned
railroad line extending from milepost 10.53 to milepost 10.55 at the
railroad bridge overpass (the Bridge) of State Route 148 (County Road
600E), south of the Village of Waltonville in Jefferson County, Ill.
(the Line). The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip Codes 62894 and
62833.\1\
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\1\ The Railroads state that, after abandonment, they plan to
salvage the Line, and the Bridge will be removed to permit the
Illinois Department of Transportation to undertake a road
improvement project on State Route 148.
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The Railroads have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved
over the Line for at least two years; (2) any overhead traffic could 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 and 1105.8 (notice of environmental and historic report), 49
CFR 1105.12 (newspaper publication), and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice
to governmental agencies) have been met.
Any employee of the Railroads 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,\2\ the exemptions will be
effective on December 4, 2020, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues \3\ must be
filed by November 13, 2020. Formal expressions of intent to file an OFA
under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) and interim trail use/rail banking requests
under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by November 16, 2020.\4\ Petitions
to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28
must be filed by November 24, 2020.
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\2\ Persons interested in submitting an OFA must first file a
formal expression of intent to file an offer, indicating the type of
financial assistance they wish to provide (i.e., subsidy or
purchase) and demonstrating that they are preliminarily financially
responsible. See 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2)(i).
\3\ 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 exemptions' 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 exemptions' effective
date.
\4\ Filing fees for OFAs and trail use requests can be found at
49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25) and (27), respectively.
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A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to IC's
representative, Thomas J. Litwiler, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 North
Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606-3208; and UP's
representative, Jeremy M. Berman, Union Pacific Railroad Company, 1400
Douglas Street, Stop 1580, Omaha, NE 68179.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemptions are void ab initio.
The Railroads have filed a combined environmental and historic
report that addresses the potential effects, if any, of the abandonment
on the environment and historic resources. OEA will issue a Draft
Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) by November 9, 2020. The Draft EA
will be available to interested persons on the Board's website, by
writing to OEA, or by calling OEA at (202) 245-0305. Assistance for the
hearing impaired is available through the Federal Relay Service at
(800) 877-8339. Comments on environmental and historic preservation
matters must be filed within 15 days after the Draft 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), the Railroads
shall file a notice of consummation with the Board to signify that they
have exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned the Line. If
consummation has not been effected by the Railroads' filing of a notice
of consummation by November 4, 2021, and there are no legal or
regulatory barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will
automatically expire.
Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.
Decided: October 29, 2020.
By the Board, Allison C. Davis, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Andrea Pope-Matheson,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2020-24590 Filed 11-3-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
