74 FR 224 pg. 61202 - Wisconsin Central Ltd.—Abandonment Exemption—in Brown County, WI
Type: NOTICEVolume: 74Number: 224Page: 61202
Docket number: [STB Docket No. AB-303 (Sub-No. 34X)]
FR document: [FR Doc. E9-28026 Filed 11-20-09; 8:45 am]
Agency: Transportation Department
Sub Agency: Surface Transportation Board
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board
[STB Docket No. AB-303 (Sub-No. 34X)]
Wisconsin Central Ltd.-Abandonment Exemption-in Brown County, WI
Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WCL) has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F- Exempt Abandonments to abandon a 0.25-mile line of railroad between milepost 97.50 and milepost 97.75, in Denmark, Brown County, WI.1The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Code 54208.
Footnotes:
1 WCL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian National Railway Company.
WCL has 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 to be rerouted; (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 report), 49 CFR 1105.8 (historic 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 this exemption, any employee adversely affected by the abandonment 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, this exemption will be effective on December 23, 2009, unless stayed pending reconsideration.2Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,3formal expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),4and trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by December 3, 2009.5Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by December 14, 2009, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
Footnotes:
2 Pursuant to 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(2), the railroad must file a verified notice with the Board at least 50 days before the abandonment or discontinuance is to be consummated. WCL has indicated a proposed consummation date of December 22, 2009, but, because the verified notice was filed on November 3, 2009, consummation may not take place prior to December 23, 2009.
3 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.
4 Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is set at $1,500. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
5 WCL states that it has entered into a contract with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) under which WDNR will purchase the right-of-way for use as a trail.
A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to WCL's representative: Jeremy M. Berman, Fletcher Sippel LLC, 29 N. Wacker Dr., Suite 920, Chicago, IL 60606.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void ab initio.
WCL has filed a combined environmental and historic report that addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources. SEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by November 27, 2009. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to SEA (Room 1100, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001) or by calling SEA, 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), WCL 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 WCL's filing of a notice of consummation by November 23, 2010, 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 November 17, 2009.
By the Board.
Rachel D. Campbell,
Director, Office of Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. E9-28026 Filed 11-20-09; 8:45 am]
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