96-9965. Jacksonville Port Authority; Adverse Discontinuance; In Duval County, FL

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 23, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17953-17954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-9965]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION -
    \1\ The ICC Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-88, 109 Stat. 
803 (the Act), which was enacted on December 29, 1995, and took 
effect on January 1, 1996, abolished the Interstate Commerce 
Commission and transferred certain functions to the Surface 
Transportation Board (Board). This notice relates to functions that 
are subject to Board jurisdiction pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10903.
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Surface Transportation Board \1\
[STB Docket No. AB-469]


Jacksonville Port Authority; Adverse Discontinuance; In Duval 
County, FL
AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.
ACTION: Exemption from statutory provisions concerning giving of notice 
of an application and filing of a system diagram map.

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SUMMARY: Under 49 U.S.C. 10502, the Board is exempting the Jacksonville 
Port

[[Page 17954]]

Authority from the requirements that it post and publish notice of its 
application and certify that it has done so, and that it file with the 
Board a system diagram map identifying and describing the subject line. 
The Board is granting an exemption because the application is being 
filed by a party other than the carrier whose operations are the object 
of the discontinuance.

DATES: The exemption will take effect on April 23, 1996. Petitions to 
reopen must be filed by May 3, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send pleadings referring to STB Docket No. AB-469 to: (1) 
Office of the Secretary, Case Control Branch, Surface Transportation 
Board, 1201 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20423; and (2) 
petitioner's representatives: Ernst D. Mueller, 220 East Bay Street, 
Jacksonville, FL 32202; and Kelvin J. Dowd, 1224 Seventeenth Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20036.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph H. Dettmar, [phone]. 
[TDD for the hearing impaired: [phone].]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Jacksonville Port Authority (JPA) has 
filed an application seeking a determination by the Board that the 
public convenience and necessity require or permit the discontinuance 
of service by Jaxport Terminal Railway Company (JTRC) over 
approximately 10 miles of terminal switching tracks that JPA owns and 
that connect its Talleyrand Marine Dock and Terminal Facilities in 
Jacksonville, FL, with the tracks of line-haul carriers. The fact that 
the application has been filed by a party other than the carrier whose 
operations are the subject of the discontinuance has led JPA to seek a 
waiver of the requirement that it post and publish notice of its 
application. Also, JPA is unable to require JTRC to file a system 
diagram map (SDM). Accordingly, JPA seeks exemption from the provisions 
of 49 U.S.C. 10903(a)(3) (B), (C), and (E), which require, respectively 
posting of a copy of a notice of the application in terminals and 
stations, publishing a copy of the notice in newspapers for specified 
periods, and certifying that it has satisfied these requirements. JPA 
also seeks exemption from the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 10903(c), which 
require carriers to submit to the Board an SDM identifying each line 
for which the carrier plans to file a discontinuance application.
    The Board is granting the exemption, finding that compliance with 
the statute is not required to carry out the rail transportation policy 
of 49 U.S.C. 10101, the matter is of limited scope, and strict 
adherence to the statutory requirements is not needed to protect 
shippers from the abuse of market power. The Board is also granting JPA 
a waiver of certain regulatory requirements relating to (1) the 
submission of service, financial and environmental information and (2) 
the notice and SDM matters discussed above.
    Additional information is contained in the Board's decision, in 
which the Board also declined to institute an investigation into the 
proposed discontinuance. To purchase a copy of the full decision, write 
to, call, or pick up in person from: DC News & Data, Inc., 1201 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 2229, Washington, DC 20423. Telephone: 
[phone]/4359. [Assistance for the hearing impaired is available 
through TDD services [phone].]


    Decided: April 16, 1996.

    By the Board, Chairman Morgan, Vice Chairman Simmons, and 
Commissioner Owen.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-9965 Filed 4-22-96; 8:45 am]
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