Notice2025-11591
Norfolk Southern Railway Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Portage Counties, Ohio; Cleveland & Cuyahoga Railway, LLC-Discontinuance of Service Exemption-in Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Portage Counties, 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
June 25, 2025
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 120 (Wednesday, June 25, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27064-27065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11591]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 418X); Docket No. AB 1257 (Sub-No.1X)]
Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--in
Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Portage Counties, Ohio; Cleveland & Cuyahoga
Railway, LLC--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in Cuyahoga, Geauga,
and Portage Counties, Ohio.
Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) and Cleveland & Cuyahoga
Railway, LLC (CCRL) (collectively, Applicants), have jointly filed a
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for NSR to abandon, and for
CCRL to discontinue service over, an
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approximately 7.0-mile rail line extending between milepost RH 15.0
<plus-minus> in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and milepost RH 22.0 <plus-
minus> in Portage County, Ohio (the Line). The Line traverses U.S.
Postal Service Zip Codes 44139, 44023, and 44202.
Applicants have 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
entity acting on behalf of such user) regarding cessation of service
over the Line is pending with either the Surface Transportation Board
(Board) or with 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), 49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper publication), and 49 CFR
1152.50(d)(1) (notice to government agencies) have been met.
As a condition to these exemptions, 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 July 25, 2025, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\2\ must be
filed by July 3, 2025. 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 July 7, 2025.\3\ Petitions to
reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must
be filed by July 15, 2025.
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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 the 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 290 (Sub-No. 418X) and
AB 1257 (Sub-No. 1X), 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 Applicants' representative,
Crystal M. Zorbaugh, Mullins Law Group PLLC, 2001 L St. NW, Suite 720,
Washington, DC 20036.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemptions are void ab initio.
NSR 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 June 30, 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 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/railbanking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a
subsequent decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of 4 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), NSR 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 NSR filing of a notice of consummation by June 25,
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: June 18, 2025.
By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Brendetta Jones,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2025-11591 Filed 6-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 25, 2025.
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