Notice2024-07020
Allegheny Valley Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Allegheny 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
April 3, 2024
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 65 (Wednesday, April 3, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23078-23079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07020]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 1233 (Sub-No. 2X)]
Allegheny Valley Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in
Allegheny County, Pa.
Allegheny Valley Railroad Company (AVR), has filed a verified
notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt
Abandonments to abandon an approximately 3.6-mile segment of rail line
known generally as the ``Brilliant Branch'' located in Pittsburgh and
Aspinwall, Allegheny County, Pa. (the Line). The Line consists of the
following segments: (1) the Brilliant Branch, extending from milepost
0.7 in East Liberty (in the City of Pittsburgh), crossing AVR's
Allegheny Branch and the Allegheny River, passing through the Borough
of Aspinwall and ending at approximately milepost 3.0, in Pittsburgh;
(2) the Brilliant Branch-West Leg Wye, beginning at approximately
milepost 0.0 on AVR's Allegheny River Bridge in Aspinwall and ending at
approximately milepost 0.5, in the Township of O'Hara, Pa.; and (3) a
portion of the Allegheny Branch Connection in Pittsburgh beginning at
approximately milepost 1.8, at the connection to the Brilliant Branch,
and ending at approximately milepost 2.6, approximately 528 feet
westerly of its connection to the Allegheny Branch. The Line traverses
U.S. Postal Service Zip Codes 15206, 15208, and 15215.
AVR has certified that: (1) no local traffic has moved over the
Line for at least two years; (2) any overhead traffic on the Line can
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 on
behalf of such user) regarding cessation of service over the Line is
pending with either the Surface Transportation Board (Board) or 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),\1\ 49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper publication), and 49 CFR
1152.50(d)(1) (notice to government agencies) have been met.
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\1\ In its verified notice, which AVR submitted on February 23,
2024, AVR requested that the Board waive the provision at 49 CFR
1105.11 calling for the carrier to use a form transmittal letter
when sending its environmental and/or historic report to appropriate
agencies. In a decision served on April 2, 2024, the Board denied
the waiver request and deemed the filing date for AVR's verified
notice to be March 14, 2024 (20 days after AVR re-served its
environmental and historic report with the form cover letter).
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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,\2\ this exemption will be
effective on May 3, 2024, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues must be
filed by April 12, 2024.\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 April 15, 2024.\4\ Petitions to
reopen and requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must
be filed by April 23, 2024.
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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 1233 (Sub-No. 2X), 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 AVR's representative, Thomas J. Healey, Fletcher & Sippel
LLC, 29 N Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
AVR 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 April 8, 2024. 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. If you require an
accommodation under the
[[Page 23079]]
Americans with Disabilities Act, please call (202) 245-0245. 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), AVR 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 AVR's filing of a notice of
consummation by April 3, 2025, 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>.
Dated: March 29, 2024.
By the Board, Mai T. Dinh, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Stefan Rice,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2024-07020 Filed 4-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 3, 2024.
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