82 FR 37651 - SMS Rail Service, Inc.-Abandonment Exemption-in Gloucester County, N.J.

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 154 (August 11, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 154 (Friday, August 11, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37651-37652]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17007]


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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. AB 1095 (Sub-No. 2X)]


SMS Rail Service, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in Gloucester 
County, N.J.

    SMS Rail Service, Inc. (SMS), has filed a verified notice of 
exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to 
abandon approximately 5.8 miles of rail line (the Line) within the 970-
acre refinery owned by Paulsboro Refining Company, LLC (PRC), in 
Paulsboro, Gloucester

[[Page 37652]]

County, N.J.\1\ The Line traverses United States Postal Service Zip 
Code 08066.
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    \1\ The Line is the same line as to which the Board granted 
PRC's application for adverse abandonment against SMS in December 
2014. See Paulsboro Refining Co.--Adverse Aban.--in Gloucester Cty., 
N.J., AB 1095 (Sub-No. 1) (STB served Dec. 2, 2014). That decision 
later was vacated at the parties' joint request due to settlement. 
Paulsboro Refining Co.--Adverse Aban.--in Gloucester Cty., N.J., AB 
1095 (Sub-No. 1) (STB served June 19, 2015).
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    SMS has certified that: (1) No overhead traffic has moved over the 
Line for at least two years and overhead traffic, if there were any, 
could be rerouted over other lines; (2) 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 either is pending with the Surface Transportation Board 
(Board) or with any U.S. District Court or has been decided in favor of 
a complainant within the two-year period; and (3) 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.\2\
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    \2\ To qualify for the two-year out-of-service class exemption, 
a carrier must also certify that ``no local traffic has moved over 
the line for at least 2 years,'' 49 CFR 1152.50(b). Here, SMS 
certifies that ``no rail traffic has been transported by SMS over 
[the Line] . . . for at least two years.'' (Notice, App. 1 at 1 
(emphasis added).) In light of the unique circumstances of this case 
(including, among other things, the recent adverse abandonment 
proceeding pertaining to the Line), the Board has waived 1152.50(b) 
to the extent, if any, that SMS's certification could be deemed not 
to meet the requirement of that regulation. SMS Rail Serv., Inc.--
Aban. Exemption--in Gloucester Cty., N.J. (July Decision), AB 1095 
(Sub-No. 2X), slip op. at 1 (STB served July 13, 2017).
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    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 September 10, 2017, unless stayed pending reconsideration. 
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,\3\ formal 
expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),\4\ and 
interim trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be 
filed by August 21, 2017. Petitions to reopen or requests for public 
use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by August 31, 2017, 
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 
20423-0001.
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    \3\ The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on any 
environmental issues raised 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.
    \4\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,700. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25). Effective 
September 1, 2017, the fee will become $1,800. See Regulations 
Governing Fees for Servs. Performed in Connection with Licensing & 
Related Servs.--2017 Update, EP 542 (Sub-No. 25), slip op. App. C at 
20 (STB served July 28, 2017).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
Robert A. Klein, Berkowitz Klein, LLP, 629 B Swedesford Road, 
Swedesford Corporate Center, Malvern, PA 19355-1530.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    Combined environmental and historic reports that addressed the 
effects, if any, of abandonment of the Line on the environment and 
historic resources were prepared and submitted to the Board as part of 
PRC's adverse abandonment application for the Line in Docket No. AB 
1095 (Sub-No. 1). The Board's Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) 
issued an Environmental Assessment (EA) in that proceeding on February 
12, 2014, concluding that the proposed abandonment would not 
significantly impact the quality of the human environment and 
recommending no environmental mitigation conditions. Following the 
public comment period, OEA issued a final EA in which it recommended no 
environmental mitigation conditions. In its decision granting PRC's 
adverse abandonment application, the Board adopted OEA's analysis and 
found that the proposed abandonment, if implemented, would not 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment and that no 
environmental conditions were needed. See Paulsboro Refining Co.--
Adverse Aban.--in Gloucester Cty., N.J., AB 1095 (Sub-No. 1), slip op. 
at 6 (STB served Dec. 2, 2014). In the July Decision, the Board found 
that the environmental review conducted in Docket No. AB 1095 (Sub-No. 
1) satisfies the agency's obligations under the National Environmental 
Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321, and the National Historic Preservation Act, 
54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq., in this case and therefore waived the 
environmental and historic reporting requirements under 49 CFR 1105.7 
and 1105.8 for this proceeding.
    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), SMS 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 SMS's filing of a notice of 
consummation by August 13, 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:

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2017-17007 Filed 8-10-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4915-01-P