Notice2022-24846
Growth Resources of Wellsboro Foundation-Abandonment Exemption-in Tioga County, Pa.; Wellsboro & Corning Railroad, LLC-Discontinuance of Lease and Operation Authority-in Tioga County, 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
November 15, 2022
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 219 (Tuesday, November 15, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 219 (Tuesday, November 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68568-68569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24846]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket Nos. AB 1320X and AB 1325X]
Growth Resources of Wellsboro Foundation--Abandonment Exemption--
in Tioga County, Pa.; Wellsboro & Corning Railroad, LLC--Discontinuance
of Lease and Operation Authority--in Tioga County, Pa.
On July 28, 2022, Growth Resources of Wellsboro Foundation (GROW)
and Wellsboro & Corning Railroad, LLC (WCOR) (collectively,
Applicants), jointly filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR
part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments & Discontinuances of Service
for GROW to abandon, and WCOR to discontinue lease and operation
authority over, an approximately 3.27-mile rail line between milepost
0.624 and milepost 3.9 in Wellsboro, Tioga County, Pa. (the Line).\1\
GROW is the owner of the Line, and WCOR is the lessee of the Line. The
Line traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip Code 16901.
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\1\ These dockets were held in abeyance to permit the Board to
consider issues raised by an earlier verified notice and other
filings submitted in Docket No. AB 1320X. Those issues were
addressed and the abeyance lifted by decision served November 9,
2022.
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Applicants certify that (1) during the past two years, neither of
the Applicants has provided, or been requested to provide, local or
overhead common carrier service over the Line; (2) no formal complaint
filed by a user of rail service on the Line (or by a state or local
government acting on behalf of a user or potential user) regarding
cessation of service over the Line 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 past two years; and (3)
the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.11 (advance notice requirements for
environmental and historic reports), 49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper
publication), and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental
agencies) have been met. Applicants also state that GROW has prepared a
combined Environmental and Historic Report that conforms to the
requirements of 49 CFR 1105.7 and 1105.8.
As a condition to these exemptions, any employee adversely affected
by the
[[Page 68569]]
abandonment and discontinuance of service 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,\2\ the exemptions will be
effective on December 15, 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 25, 2022.\4\ Petitions to reopen and requests for
public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by December 5,
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 exemptions' 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 exemptions' 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 Nos. AB 1320X and AB 1325X, 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 GROW's representative, Brian S. Duff, Owlett & Lewis, P.C.,
One Charles Street, P.O. Box 878, Wellsboro, PA 16901, and WCOR's
representative, Eric M. Hocky, Clark Hill PLC, 2001 Market Street,
Suite 2620, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemptions are void ab initio.
GROW 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 16, 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 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 interim 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), GROW shall file
a notice of consummation with the Board to signify that it has
exercised the abandonment authority granted and fully abandoned the
Line. If consummation has not been effected by GROW's filing of a
notice of consummation by November 15, 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 9, 2022.
By the Board, Mai T. Dinh, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Aretha Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-24846 Filed 11-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 15, 2022.
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