Notice2025-00628
The Lowville & Beaver River Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Lewis County, N.Y.
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
January 14, 2025
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3272-3273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00628]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 180X]
The Lowville & Beaver River Railroad Company--Abandonment
Exemption--in Lewis County, N.Y.
The Lowville & Beaver River Railroad Company (LBRR) has filed a
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt
Abandonments to abandon a 10.57-mile rail line extending from milepost
0.0 in Lowville, N.Y., to milepost 10.57 \1\ in Croghan, N.Y. (the
Line).\2\ The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip Codes 13367 and
13327.
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\1\ In its verified notice of exemption, LBRR states that the
Line terminates at milepost 10.44. (Verified Notice 2.) In a
subsequent filing, LBRR clarifies that the endpoint is actually
milepost 10.57 in Croghan. (LBRR Suppl. 2, Sept. 27, 2023.)
\2\ By decision served on January 22, 2024, the Board held this
proceeding in abeyance and directed LBRR to (1) seek after-the-fact
authority to acquire the Line; and (2) update its Environmental and
Historic Report (E&H Report), serve that updated report on the
parties required to receive it, and allow 20 days for responses.
Mohawk, Adirondack & N. R.R.--Aban. Exemption--in Lewis & Jefferson
Cntys., N.Y., AB 768X et al., slip op. at 3-4, 8 (STB served Jan.
22, 2024). By a separate decision served concurrently with this
notice, the Board finds that LBRR has complied with the Board's
directives and therefore removes this proceeding from abeyance.
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LBRR has certified that: (1) no local or overhead freight traffic
has moved over the Line in at least 15 years; \3\ (2) there is no
overhead traffic to reroute; (3) no formal complaint filed by a user of
rail
[[Page 3273]]
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 past two
years; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7(b) and 1105.8(c)
(notice of environmental and historic reports),\4\ 49 CFR 1105.12
(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1) (notice to government
agencies) have been met.
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\3\ In the decision being served concurrently with this notice,
the Board grants LBRR's motion to waive the Board's regulation at 49
CFR 1152.50(b) to the extent it requires LBRR to have had Board-
authorized ownership of the Line for at least two years in order to
qualify for a class exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F.
\4\ On April 5, 2024, LBRR submitted a verified supplement and
amendment to its verified notice of exemption, which included a
revised E&H Report. On April 29, 2024, LBRR submitted additional
revisions to its E&H Report.
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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,\5\ this exemption will be
effective on February 13, 2025, unless stayed pending
reconsideration.\6\ Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental
issues,\7\ 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 January 24, 2025.\8\ Petitions to reopen and
requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed
February 3, 2025.
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\5\ 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).
\6\ The Board received numerous comments in this docket from
parties opposing the abandonment. In the decision served
concurrently with this notice, the Board considers these comments as
petitions to reject the verified notice and denies the petitions.
\7\ 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.
\8\ 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 180X, 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
LBRR's representative, John K. Fiorilla, Dyer & Peterson PC, 605 Main
Street, Suite 104, Riverton, NJ 08077-1440.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
LBRR 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 January 17, 2025. 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 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/
railbanking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a
subsequent decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), LBRR 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 LBRR's filing of a notice of
consummation by January 14, 2026, 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: January 8, 2025.
By the Board, Valerie O. Quinn, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2025-00628 Filed 1-13-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 14, 2025.
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