[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 171 (Friday, September 3, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54215-54216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21948]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[Docket No. AB 1020 (Sub-No. 1X)]
East Penn Railroad, LLC--Abandonment Exemption--in Montgomery
County, PA
East Penn Railroad, LLC (ESPN) filed a verified notice of exemption
under 49
[[Page 54216]]
CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to abandon a 2.14-mile
line of railroad between milepost 0.0 in the Borough of Bridgeport, and
milepost 2.14 at Henderson Road in Upper Merion Township, in Montgomery
County, Pa. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes
19401 and 19406.
ESPN has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the
line for at least 2 years; (2) no overhead traffic has been handled on
the line; \1\ (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(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.
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\1\ According to ESPN, the line is stub-ended and not capable of
handling overhead traffic.
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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 be
effective on October 6, 2010, 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
September 13, 2010. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by September 23, 2010,
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington,
DC 20423-0001.
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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
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.
\3\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is
currently set at $1,500. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to
ESPN's representative: Karl Morell, Ball Janik LLP, 1455 F Street, NW.,
Suite 225, Washington, DC 20005.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
ESPN has filed environmental and historic reports that address the
effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic
resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by September
10, 2010. 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), ESPN 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 ESPN's filing of a notice of
consummation by September 3, 2011, 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: August 30, 2010.
By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2010-21948 Filed 9-2-10; 8:45 am]
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