81 FR 1671 - CSX Transportation, Inc.-Discontinuance of Service Exemption-in Harlan County, KY

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 8 (January 13, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Page 1671]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00592]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 55 (Sub-No. 752X)]


CSX Transportation, Inc.--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in 
Harlan County, KY

    CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT), filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR part 1152, subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and 
Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over an approximately 
7.3-mile rail line on its Southern Region, Huntington Division, CV 
Subdivision, Engineering Appalachian Division, also known as the 
Catron's Creek Branch from milepost 0WO 243.0 to milepost 0WO 249.8 and 
from milepost 0WOS 249.5 to milepost 0WOS 250.0, in Harlan County, Ky. 
(the Line). The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 
40831 and 40964, and includes no stations.
    CSXT has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years; (2) because the Line is not a through 
line, no overhead traffic has operated, and, therefore, none needs to 
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 (Board) or 
with any U.S. District Court or has been decided in favor of 
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 be effective on February 12, 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 January 22, 2016.\2\ Petitions to reopen must be filed by 
February 2, 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. Because there will be environmental 
review during an abandonment, this discontinuance does not require 
an environmental review.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
CSXT's representative: Louis E. Gitomer, Law Offices of Louis E. 
Gitomer, LLC, 600 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 301, Towson, MD 21204.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''
    Decided: December 31, 2015.

    By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of 
Proceedings.

Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2016-00592 Filed 1-12-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P