81 FR 69896 - Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation-Abandonment Exemption-in Scott County, Iowa

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 195 (October 7, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 195 (Friday, October 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69896-69897]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24330]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 337 (Sub-No. 9X)]


Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation--Abandonment 
Exemption--in Scott County, Iowa

    Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation d/b/a Canadian 
Pacific (DM&E) has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 
pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to abandon a 1.95-mile rail 
line referred to as the Eldridge Line, between milepost 7.52 +/- and 
milepost 9.47 +/- in Scott County, Iowa (the Line). The Line traverses 
United States Postal Service Zip Code 52748.
    DM&E has certified that: (1) No local freight traffic has moved 
over the Line for at least two years; (2) because the Line is not a 
through route, no overhead

[[Page 69897]]

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 either 
pending 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 1105.7(c) 
(environmental report), 49 CFR 1105.11 (transmittal letter), 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 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 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, this exemption will be 
effective on November 10, 2016, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\1\ formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\2\ and 
trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by 
October 17, 2016. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by October 27, 2016, with 
the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 
20423-0001.\3\
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    \1\ 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.
    \2\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,600. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
    \3\ DM&E states that the Line may be suitable for other public 
purposes or trail use, and is not aware of any restriction on title 
to the property, including any reversionary interest which would 
affect the transfer of title or the use of the property for non-rail 
purposes.
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
DM&E's representative: W. Karl Hansen, Stinson Leonard Street LLP, 150 
South Fifth Street, Suite 2300, Minneapolis, MN 55402.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    DM&E has filed environmental and historic reports that address the 
effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic 
resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by October 
14, 2016. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to 
OEA (Room 1100, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-
0001) or by calling OEA at (202) 245-0305. Assistance for the hearing 
impaired is available through the Federal Information Relay Service at 
(800) 877-8339. Comments on environmental and historic preservation 
matters must be filed within 15 days after the 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), CSXT 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 DM&E's filing of a notice of 
consummation by October 7, 2017, and there are no legal or regulatory 
barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically 
expire.
    Board decisions and notices are available on our Web site at 
``WWW.STB.GOV.''

    Decided: October 4, 2016.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Rena Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2016-24330 Filed 10-6-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P