Notice2024-09778
Union Pacific Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in St. Louis County, Mo.; Missouri Eastern Railroad, LLC-Discontinuance of Service 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
May 6, 2024
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 88 (Monday, May 6, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 88 (Monday, May 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 37275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09778]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 33 (Sub-No. 350X); Docket No. AB 1338X]
Union Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in St.
Louis County, Mo.; Missouri Eastern Railroad, LLC--Discontinuance of
Service Exemption--in St. Louis County, Mo.
Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) and Missouri Eastern Railroad,
LLC (MER) (collectively, Applicants) have jointly filed a verified
notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for UP to abandon, and for
MER to discontinue service over, a 0.55-mile portion of the Rock Island
Old Passenger Main extending from milepost 11.58 to milepost 11.03,
near Olivette, in St. Louis County, Mo. (the Line). The Line traverses
U.S. Postal Service Zip Code 63132.
Applicants have certified that: (1) no local traffic has moved over
the Line for at least two years; (2) no overhead traffic has moved over
the Line for at least two years, and there is therefore no need to
reroute any traffic; (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 complainant
within the two-year period; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7
and 1105.8 (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 or 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,\1\ these exemptions will
be effective on June 5, 2024, 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/railbanking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be
filed by May 16, 2024.\3\ Petitions to reopen or requests for public
use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by May 28, 2024.
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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 effective date of the
exemptions. See Exemption of Out-of-Serv. Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377
(1989). Any request to stay should be filed as soon as possible so
that the Board may take appropriate action before the effective date
of the exemptions.
\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 Nos. AB 33 (Sub-No. 350X) and AB
1338X, 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 UP's representative, Christine A. Neuharth, 1400
Douglas Street, MS 1580, Omaha, NE 68179, and MER's representative,
Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 North Wacker Drive, Suite
800, Chicago, IL 60606.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemptions are void ab initio.
UP 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 May 10, 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 Americans with Disabilities Act, please call
(202) 245-0245. 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), UP 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 UP's filing of a notice of consummation by May 6,
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>.
Decided: May 1, 2024.
By the Board, Mai T. Dinh, Director, Office of Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2024-09778 Filed 5-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 6, 2024.
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