Notice2021-17499
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis-Abandonment Exemption-in St. Louis County, Mo.
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 16, 2021
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 155 (Monday, August 16, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 155 (Monday, August 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 45796]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17499]
[[Page 45796]]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 122 (Sub-No. 2X)]
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis--Abandonment
Exemption--in St. Louis County, Mo.
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) has filed a
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt
Abandonments to abandon an approximately 0.1-mile segment of rail line,
between milepost 0.7 (near Bodine Industrial Drive crossing) and
milepost 0.8 (the end of the track) in St. Louis County, Mo., (the
Line). The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip Code 63114.
TRRA has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the
Line for at least two years; (2) there is no overhead traffic that
cannot 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
a complainant within the two-year period; and (4) the requirements at
49 CFR 1105.7(b) and 1105.8(c) (notice of environmental and 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 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,\1\ this exemption will be
effective on September 15, 2021, 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), and
interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be
filed by August 26, 2021.\3\ Petitions to reopen or requests for public
use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by September 7, 2021.
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\1\ 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).
\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\ 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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All pleadings, referring to Docket No. AB 122 (Sub-No. 2X), should
be filed with the Surface Transportation Board via e-filing on the
Board's website. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on
TRRA's representative, Audrey L. Brodrick, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29
North Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
TRRA has 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 August 20, 2021. The Draft EA
will be available to interested persons on the Board's website, by
writing to OEA, or by calling OEA at (202) 245-0294. 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 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), TRRA shall file
a notice of consummation with the Board to signify that it has
exercised the authority granted and fully abandoned the Line.\4\ If
consummation has not been effected by TRRA's filing of a notice of
consummation by August 16, 2022, and there are no legal or regulatory
barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically
expire.
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\4\ After TRRA filed its verified notice of exemption, West Belt
Railway LLC (WBRY) filed a verified notice of exemption to
discontinue service over the Line. WBRY Notice 1, Aug. 4, 2021, West
Belt Ry.--Discontinuance of Serv. Exemption--in St. Louis Cnty.,
Mo., AB 1318X. There, WBRY states that it leases the Line from TRRA.
See id. at 2. TRRA may not consummate abandonment of the Line until
WBRY has received authority to discontinue service over the Line.
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Board decisions and notices are available at <a href="http://www.stb.gov">www.stb.gov</a>.
Decided: August 11, 2021.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2021-17499 Filed 8-13-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 16, 2021.
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