[Federal Register: December 22, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 245)]
[Notices]
[Page 71223-71224]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22de03-111]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[STB Docket No. AB-601 (Sub-No. 1X)]
Pine Belt Southern Railroad Company, Inc.--Abandonment
Exemption--in Lee and Chambers Counties, AL
Pine Belt Southern Railroad Company, Inc. (PBRR) has filed a notice
of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to
abandon a 17.4-mile line of railroad between milepost T-322.40 at
Roanoke Junction and milepost T-339.66 at Lafayette, in Lee and
Chambers Counties, AL.\1\ The line traverses United States Postal
Service Zip Codes 36801, 36802, 36803, 36804 and 36862.
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\1\ The City of Opelika (City) filed a request for imposition of
a public use condition and for issuance of a notice of interim trail
use for the entire line pursuant to section 8(d) of the National
Trails System Act, 16 U.S.C. 1247(d). The Board will address the
City's public use and trail use requests, and any others that may be
filed, in a subsequent decision.
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PBRR has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the
line for at least 2 years; (2) there has been no overhead traffic on
the line during the past 2 years; (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 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 this exemption, any employees adversely affected
by the
[[Page 71224]]
abandonment shall be protected under Oregon Short Line R. Co.--
Abandonment--Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979). To address whether this
condition adequately protect 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 be effective on January 21, 2004,
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 filed by January 2, 2004.
Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR
1152.28 must be filed by January 12, 2004, with: Surface Transportation
Board, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423.
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\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 filed as soon as possible so that
the Board may take appropriate action before the exemption's
effective date.
\3\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which
currently is set at $1,100. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to
PBRR's representative: G. Richard Abernathy, P.O. Box 1317,
Shelbyville, TN 37162.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
PBRR has filed an environmental report which addresses the
abandonment's effects, if any, on the environment and historic
resources. SEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by December
23, 2003. 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) 565-1539. [Assistance for the hearing impaired
is available through 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), PBRR 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 PBRR's filing of a notice of
consummation by December 22, 2004, 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 http://www.stb.dot.gov
.
Decided: December 10, 2003.
By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-31082 Filed 12-19-03; 8:45 am]
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