Notice2025-21772
South Carolina Central Railroad Company, LLC-Abandonment Exemption-in Muscogee County, Ga.; Georgia Southwestern Railroad, Inc.-Discontinuance Exemption-in Muscogee County, Ga.
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
December 3, 2025
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 230 (Wednesday, December 3, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 230 (Wednesday, December 3, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55773-55774]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-21772]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 312 (Sub-No. 6X); Docket No. AB 1000 (Sub-No. 5X)]
South Carolina Central Railroad Company, LLC--Abandonment
Exemption--in Muscogee County, Ga.; Georgia Southwestern Railroad,
Inc.--Discontinuance Exemption--in Muscogee County, Ga.
South Carolina Central Railroad Company, LLC (SCRF), and Georgia
Southwestern Railroad, Inc. (GSWR) (collectively, Applicants), have
jointly filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152
subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for SCRF
to abandon, and for GSWR to discontinue service over, approximately
2.17 miles of rail line, which includes the Dummy Line, extending from
Milepost 0.60/Value Station 91+21 to the end of the line at Value
Station 41+60, and the Georgia Power Lead Track, extending from Value
Station 0+00/59+79 to the end of the line at Value Station 41+61 in
Muscogee County, Ga. (collectively, the Line).\1\ The Line has no
stations and traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip Code 31901.
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\1\ According to the Applicants, SCRF owns a perpetual freight
easement for the Line and the physical assets are owned by the
Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), but GDOT does not hold
a residual common carrier obligation over the Line. See State of
Ga., Dep't of Transp.--Acquis. Exemption--S.C. Cent. R.R., FD 34057
(STB served Apr. 23, 2002).
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Applicants have certified that: (1) no local traffic has moved over
the Line since 2016; (2) no overhead traffic exists on the Line because
it is stub-ended; (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,\2\ these exemptions will
be effective on January 2, 2026, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\3\ must be
filed by December 12, 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 December 15, 2025.\4\ Petitions
to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28
must be filed by December 23, 2025.
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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 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.
\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 312 (Sub-No. 6X) and AB
1000 (Sub-No. 5X), 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, Justin J. Marks,
Clark Hill PLC, 1001 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 1300 South,
Washington, DC 20004.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemptions are void ab initio.
SCRF 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 December 8, 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/
[[Page 55774]]
railbanking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a
subsequent decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), SCRF 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 SCRF's filing of a notice of
consummation by December 3, 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: November 28, 2025.
By the Board, Anika S. Cooper, Chief Counsel, Office of Chief
Counsel.
Aretha Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2025-21772 Filed 12-2-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 3, 2025.
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