Notice2022-24365
Flats Industrial Inc. d/b/a Flats Industrial Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Cleveland, Ohio
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
November 8, 2022
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 215 (Tuesday, November 8, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 215 (Tuesday, November 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67532-67533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24365]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 1327X]
Flats Industrial Inc. d/b/a Flats Industrial Railroad Company--
Abandonment Exemption--in Cleveland, Ohio
Flats Industrial Inc. d/b/a Flats Industrial Railroad Company (FIR)
has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart
F--Exempt Abandonments to abandon approximately 1.85 miles of rail
line, extending from milepost 10 to milepost 11.85 near West 41st
Street in Cleveland, Ohio (the Line), which constitutes FIR's entire
railroad system.\1\ The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip Code
44113.
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\1\ This is a republication of the notice of exemption
originally served and published in the Federal Register on October
31, 2022 (87 FR 65640). This notice contains corrected information.
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FIR has certified that: (1) during the past two years, FIR has
provided no local or overhead traffic over the Line; (2) overhead
traffic, if there were any, could be rerouted over other Lines; (3) no
formal complaint filed by a user of rail service on the Line (or by
state or local government on behalf of such user) regarding cessation
of service over the Line either is pending with the Surface
Transportation Board (Board) 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 government agencies) have been met.
Where, as here, the carrier is abandoning its entire system, the
Board does not normally impose labor protection under 49 U.S.C.
10502(g), unless the evidence indicates the existence of: (1) a
corporate affiliate that will continue substantially similar rail
operations, or (2) a corporate parent that will realize substantial
financial benefits over and above relief from the burden of deficit
operations by its subsidiary railroad. See Honey Creek R.R.--Aban.
Exemption--in Henry Cty., Ind., AB 865X (STB served Aug. 20, 2004);
Wellsville, Addison & Galeton R.R.--Aban., 354 I.C.C. 744 (1978); and
Northampton & Bath R.R.--Aban., 354 I.C.C. 784 (1978). According to
FIR, after abandonment FIR's parent company and corporate affiliate
will not continue similar operations, nor will FIR's parent
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company realize substantial financial benefits over and above relief
from the burden of its subsidiary railroad. Therefore, employee
protection conditions will not be imposed.
Provided no formal expression of intent to file an offer of
financial assistance (OFA) has been received,\2\ this exemption will be
effective on November 30, 2022, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\3\ 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 November 10, 2022.\4\ Petitions to reopen or requests for
public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by November
21, 2022.
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\2\ 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).
\3\ 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.
\4\ 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 1327X, must be filed with
the Surface Transportation Board either via e-filing on the Board's
website or in writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC
20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on
FIR's representative, William A. Mullins, Baker & Miller PLLC, 2401
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20037.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
FIR 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 November 4, 2022. 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 or 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), FIR 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 FIR's filing of a notice of
consummation by October 31, 2023, 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: November 3, 2022.
By the Board, Mai T. Dinh, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Tammy Lowery,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-24365 Filed 11-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 8, 2022.
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