02-8812. New York Central Lines, LLC-Abandonment Exemption-in Delaware County, OH and CSX Transportation, Inc.-Discontinuance of Service Exemption-in Delaware County, OH

New York Central Lines, LLC (NYC) and CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) have filed a notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 subpart F— Exempt Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for NYC to abandon and CSXT to discontinue service over approximately 1.5 miles of railroad from milepost QED 114.1 to milepost QED 115.6 in Delaware, Delaware County, OH.^[1] The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Code 43015.

NYC and CSXT have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the line for at least 2 years; (2) overhead traffic will be diverted to another CSXT rail line with the construction of a track connection; ^[2] (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 either is pending with the Surface Transportation Board (Board) or with any U.S. District Court or has been decided in favor of complainant within the 2-year period; and (4) the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7 (environmental reports), 49 CFR 1105.8 (historic reports), 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 these exemptions, any employee adversely affected by the abandonment or discontinuance shall be protected under Oregon Short Line R. Co.—Abandonment—Goshen, 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, these exemptions will be effective on May 14, 2002,^[3] unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,^[4] formal expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),^[5] and trail use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by April 22, 2002. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by May 2, 2002, with: Surface Transportation Board, Case Control Unit, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423.

A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to applicants' representative: Natalie S. Rosenberg, CSX Transportation, Inc., 500 Water Street J150, Jacksonville, FL 32202.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void ab initio.

NYC and CSXT have filed an environmental report which addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment and discontinuance on the environment and historic resources. SEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by April 19, 2002. Interested persons may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to SEA (Room 500, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423) or by calling SEA, at [phone]. [TDD for the hearing impaired is available at 1-800-877-8339.] 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), NYC 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 NYC's filing of a notice of consummation by April 12, 2003, 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.dot.gov.”

Decided: April 5, 2002.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  Pursuant to Board authorization in 1998, CSX Corporation, CSXT's parent company, and Norfolk Southern Corporation jointly acquired control of Conrail Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary, Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). As a result of that acquisition, certain assets of Conrail have been assigned to NYC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Conrail, to be exclusively operated by CSXT pursuant to an operating agreement. The line to be abandoned is included among the property being operated by CSXT pursuant to the NYC operating agreement.

2.  CSXT states that this track connection has not yet been constructed and that it is negotiating an agreement with the city of Delaware and the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) wherein the ORDC would contribute funds for the construction of the connection track in exchange for the closure of the five grade crossings on the line. CSXT states that it will petition the Board for approval of the construction of the connection track, which at this point is likely to be constructed on CSXT property.

3.  CSXT states that the proposed consummation date of this abandonment is March 22, 2003, because this line is utilized for overhead traffic, and it does not intend to consummate the abandonment until such time as the connection track construction is complete.

4.  The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Board's Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) in its independent investigation) cannot be made before the exemption's effective date. See Exemption of Out-of-Service 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.

5.  Each offer of financial assistance must be accompanied by the filing fee, which as of April 8, 2002, is set at $1,100. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).