82 FR 37159 - Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado Railway, L.L.C.-Discontinuance of Service Exemption-in Franklin, Harlan, Furnas and Red Willow Counties, Neb., and Decatur, Rawlins and Cheyenne Counties, Kan.

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 151 (August 8, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37159-37160]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16701]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 1032 (Sub-No. 1X)]


Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado Railway, L.L.C.--Discontinuance of 
Service Exemption--in Franklin, Harlan, Furnas and Red Willow Counties, 
Neb., and Decatur, Rawlins and Cheyenne Counties, Kan.

    Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado Railway, L.L.C. (NKCR) has filed a 
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt 
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service to discontinue service over 
174.2 miles of rail line located between: (1) Milepost 216.9, at 
Franklin, Neb., and milepost 257.4, at Oxford Jct., Neb.; and (2) 
milepost 0.2, at Orleans Jct., Neb., and milepost 133.9, at St. 
Francis, Kan, in Franklin, Harlan, Furnas, and Red Willow Counties, 
Neb., and Decatur, Rawlings, and Cheyenne Counties, Kan. (the Line). 
The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 67756, 67745, 
67730, 67731, 67739, 67744, 67749, 69026, 69036, 69046, 68926, 68920, 
68977, 68967, 68966, 68971, 68960, 68929, 68939, 68946, 68972, and 
69020.
    NKCR has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years; (2) no overhead traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two

[[Page 37160]]

years; (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 which 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 be effective on September 7, 2017, 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 August 18, 2017.\2\ Petitions for reconsideration must be 
filed by August 28, 2017, with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which 
currently is set at $1,700. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25). Effective on 
September 1, 2017, the fee will increase to $1,800. See Regulations 
Governing Fees for Servs. Performed in Connection with Licensing & 
Related Servs.--2017 Update, EP 542 (Sub-No. 25) (STB served July 
28, 2017).
    \2\ Because this is a discontinuance proceeding and not an 
abandonment, trail use/rail banking and public use conditions are 
not appropriate. Because there will be an environmental review 
during abandonment, this discontinuance does not require 
environmental review.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
NKCR's representative: Karl Morell, 440 1st Street NW., Suite 440, 
Washington, DC 20001.
    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.GOV.

    Decided: August 3, 2017.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Rena Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-16701 Filed 8-7-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P