Railroad services abandonment: New York Central Lines, LLC, et al.,

[Federal Register: March 25, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 57)]

[Notices]

[Page 13678-13679]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr25mr02-136]

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-565 (Sub-No. 6X); STB Docket No. AB-55 (Sub-No. 604X)]

New York Central Lines, LLC--Abandonment Exemption--in Shelby County, OH; CSX Transportation, Inc.--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in Shelby County, OH

New York Central Lines, LLC (NYC) and CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) have fileda notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 subpart F-- Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for NYC to abandon and CSXT to discontinue service over approximately .90 miles of railroad between milepost QIO 163.98 and milepost QIO 163.08 in Sidney, Shelby County, OH.\1\ The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Code 45365.

\1\ Pursuant to Board authorization in 1998, CSX Corporation, CSXT's parent company, and Norfolk Southern Corporation jointly acquired control of Conrail Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary, Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). As a result of that acquisition, certain assets of Conrail have been assigned to NYC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Conrail, to be exclusively operated by CSXT pursuant to an operating agreement. The line to be abandoned is included among the property being operated by CSXT pursuant to the NYC operating agreement.

[[Page 13679]]

NYC and CSXT have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the line for at least 2 years; (2) there is no overhead traffic on the line; (3) no formal complaint filedby 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 2-year period; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7 (environmental reports), 49 CFR 1105.8 (historic reports), 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 R. Co.--Abandonment-Goshen, 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 April 24, 2002, 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 trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filedby April 4, 2002. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filedby April 15, 2002, with: Surface Transportation Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20423.

\2\ The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Board's Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) in its independent investigation) cannot be made before the exemption's effective date. See Exemption of Out-of-Service Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any request for a stay should be filedas soon as possible so that the Board may take appropriate action before the exemption's effective date.

\3\ Each offer of financial assistance must be accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is set at $1000. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25). This fee is scheduled to increase to $1,100, effective April 8, 2002.

A copy of any petition filedwith the Board should be sent to applicants' representative: Natalie S. Rosenberg, Counsel, CSX Transportation, Inc., 500 Water Street J150, Jacksonville, FL 32202.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void ab initio.

NYC and CSXT have filedan environmental report which addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment and discontinuance on the environment and historic resources. SEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by March 29, 2002. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to SEA (Room 500, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423) or by calling SEA, at (202) 565-1552. [TDD for the hearing impaired is available at 1-800-877-8339.] Comments on environmental and historic preservation matters must be filedwithin 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), NYC 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 NYC's filing of a notice of consummation by March 25, 2003, 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.dot.gov.

Decided: March 15, 2002.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of Proceedings. Vernon A. Williams, Secretary.

[FR Doc. 02-6869Filed3-22-02; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915-00-P