81 FR 13873 - Wisconsin Chicago Link Ltd.-Discontinuance of Service Exemption-in Cook County, Ill.

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 50 (March 15, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 13873]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05815]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 1238X]


Wisconsin Chicago Link Ltd.--Discontinuance of Service 
Exemption--in Cook County, Ill.

    Wisconsin Chicago Link Ltd. (WCLL), filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR part. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over two segments of 
rail line (the Line), consisting of approximately 4 miles of railroad 
in Chicago, Cook County, Ill. The first segment is leased by WCLL from 
Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR), the successor to Pennsylvania 
Lines LLC (PLLC). That leased segment extends between approximately 
milepost 309.8 (at a connection with CSX Transportation, Inc., by way 
of the Altenheim Subdivision of the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal 
Railroad Company at Ogden Junction near Rockwell Street), and 
approximately milepost 307.9 (600 feet north of the north bank of the 
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, near the Ash Street Interlock). The 
second segment consists of roughly two miles of overhead trackage 
rights (incidental to the leased segment), extending south from 
milepost 307.9, which trackage rights were intended to facilitate 
present or future connections with other railroads. Wis. Chi. Cent. 
Ltd.--Lease Exemption--Pa. Lines LLC, FD 33831 (STB served Feb. 10, 
2000). The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 60608, 
60609, and 60632.
    WCLL has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years; (2) any overhead traffic 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 either with the Surface Transportation 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 1105.12 (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 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) to subsidize continued rail service has been 
received, this exemption will become effective on April 14, 2016, 
unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not 
involve environmental issues and formal expressions of intent to file 
an OFA to subsidize continued rail service under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) 
\1\ must be filed by March 25, 2016.\2\ Petitions to reopen must be 
filed by April 4, 2016, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
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    \1\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,600. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
    \2\ Because this is a discontinuance proceeding and not an 
abandonment, interim trail use/rail banking and public use 
conditions are not appropriate.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
WCLL's representative: Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 
North Wacker Drive, Suite 920, Chicago, IL 60606.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    Because there will be an environmental review during an 
abandonment, this discontinuance does not require an environmental 
review.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''

    Decided: March 10, 2016.
    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2016-05815 Filed 3-14-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P