Notice2021-18972
Kiski Junction Railroad, Inc.-Abandonment Exemption-in Armstrong and Westmoreland Counties, Pa.
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
September 2, 2021
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 168 (Thursday, September 2, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 168 (Thursday, September 2, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49409-49410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18972]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 1317X]
Kiski Junction Railroad, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in
Armstrong and Westmoreland Counties, Pa.
Kiski Junction Railroad, Inc. (KJRR), has filed a verified notice
of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to
abandon two segments of rail line: (1) Line Code 2229, from at or near
milepost 30.0 in Alladin, Pa., to milepost 28.8, in Armstrong and
Westmoreland Counties, Pa.; and (2) Line Code 2242, from milepost 0.0
at the connection of Line Code 2229, to milepost 4.0, in Armstrong
County (together, the Line). The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip
Codes 15656, 15682, 15690, and 16226.
KJRR has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the
Line for at least two years; (2) there is no overhead traffic on the
Line that would need 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
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 1105.12 (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 October 2, 2021, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues must be
filed by September 10, 2021.\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 September 13, 2021.\3\
Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR
1152.28 must be filed by September 22, 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 1317X, 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 KJRR's
representative, Justin J. Marks, Clark Hill PLC, 1001 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW, Suite 1300 South, Washington, DC 20004.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
KJRR 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 September 7, 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), KJRR 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 KJRR's filing of a notice of
consummation by September 2, 2022, and there are no legal or regulatory
barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically
expire.
Board decisions and notices are available at <a href="http://www.stb.gov">www.stb.gov</a>.
Decided: August 30, 2021.
[[Page 49410]]
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Raina White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2021-18972 Filed 9-1-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 2, 2021.
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