Notice2026-06791
Belvidere & Delaware River Railway Company, Inc.-Abandonment Exemption-in Hunterdon County, N.J.
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 9, 2026
Issuing agencies
Surface Transportation Board
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 68 (Thursday, April 9, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 68 (Thursday, April 9, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18020-18021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-06791]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. AB 1301X]
Belvidere & Delaware River Railway Company, Inc.--Abandonment
Exemption--in Hunterdon County, N.J.
Belvidere & Delaware River Railway Company, Inc. (BDR) has filed a
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt
Abandonments to abandon approximately 3,288 linear feet of rail
extending from Alexandria Creek milepost 34.27 to a point 566.75 feet
south of milepost 35 in Hunterdon County, N.J. (the Line). The Line
traverses U.S. Postal Service Zip Code 08848.
BDR has certified that: (1) no local freight traffic has moved over
the Line for at least 15 years; (2) no overhead traffic has moved over
the Line for at least 15 years and, therefore, there is no overhead
traffic that needs to be rerouted; (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),
49 CFR 1105.12 (newspaper publication), and 49 CFR 1152.50(d)(1)
(notice to government agencies) have been met.
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
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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\ this exemption will be
effective on May 9, 2026, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues must be
filed by April 17, 2026.\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 April 20, 2026.\3\ Petitions to
reopen and requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must
be filed by April 29, 2026.
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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 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.
\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 No. AB 1301X, 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
BDR's representative, John K. Fiorilla, Dyer & Peterson, PC, 322 US
Highway 46 W, Suite 220, Parsippany, NJ 07054.
If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,
the exemption is void ab initio.
BDR 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 14, 2026. 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/rail
banking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a subsequent
decision.
Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 1152.29(e)(2), BDR 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 BDR's filing of a notice of
consummation by April 9, 2027, 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: April 3, 2026.
By the Board, Anika S. Cooper, Chief Counsel, Office of Chief
Counsel.
Zantori Dickerson,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2026-06791 Filed 4-8-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 9, 2026.
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