[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 169 (Thursday, August 31, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45492-45493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21636]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION
[Docket No. AB-57 (Sub-No. 38X)]
Soo Line Railroad Company; Abandonment Exemption; Dakota County,
MN
Soo Line Railroad Company (Soo) has filed a notice of exemption
under 49 CFR Part 1152 Subpart F; Exempt Abandonments to abandon its
approximately 0.25-mile rail line (known as the ``Vermillion River
Bridge Trackage'') between milepost 390.92 north of the Vermillion
River and milepost 391.17 south of the Vermillion River and north of
East 21st Street,
[[Page 45493]]
including the Vermillion River Bridge, at Hastings, in Dakota County,
MN.
Soo has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the
line for at least 2 years; (2) overhead traffic has been rerouted over
other lines; (3) no formal complaint filed by a user of rail service on
this line (or a state or local government entity acting on behalf of
such user) regarding cessation of service over the line is either
pending with the Commission or with any U.S. District Court or has been
decided in favor of the complainant within the 2-year period; and (4)
the requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7 (environmental report), 49 CFR 1105.8
(historic 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 use of this exemption, any employee adversely
affected by the abandonment 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. 10505(d) must be filed.1
\1\ The Railway Labor Executives' Association (RLEA) filed
comments opposing the proposed abandonment and requesting that we
conduct an investigation, hold oral hearings, and modify the
standard labor protective conditions we routinely impose in
abandonment exemptions. Because the Commission does not normally
consider comments prior to the publication of a notice of exemption
under 49 CFR 1152.50(b), RLEA can file a petition to stay and/or a
petition to reopen or revoke on or before the dates specified in
this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Provided no formal expression of intent to file an offer of
financial assistance (OFA) has been received, this exemption will be
effective on September 30, 1995, unless stayed pending reconsideration.
Petitions to stay that do not involve environmental issues,2
formal expressions of intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR
1152.27(c)(2),3 and trail 'use/rail banking statements under 49
CFR 1152.29 must be filed by September 11, 1995.4 Petitions to
reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must
be filed by September 20, 1995, with: Office of the Secretary, Case
Control Branch, Interstate Commerce Commission, Washington, DC 20423-
2191.
\2\ The Commission will grant a stay if an informed decision on
environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Commission
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 stay should be filed
as soon as possible so that the Commission may take appropriate
action before the exemption's effective date.
\3\ See Exempt. of Rail Abandonment--Offers of Finan. Assist., 4
I.C.C.2d 164 (1987).
\4\ The Commission will accept a late-filed trail use request so
long as the abandonment has not been consummated and the abandoning
railroad is willing to negotiate an agreement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A copy of any petition filed with the Commission should be sent to
applicant's representative: Larry D. Starns, 1000 Soo Line Building,
105 South 5th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402.
If the notice of exemption contains false or misleading
information, the exemption is void ab initio.
Soo has filed an environmental report which addresses the
abandonment's effects, if any, on the environment and historic
resources. The Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) will issue an
environmental assessment (EA) by September 5, 1995. Interested persons
may obtain a copy of the EA by writing to SEA (Room 3219, Interstate
Commerce Commission, Washington, DC 20423) or by calling Elaine Kaiser,
Chief of SEA, at (202) 927-6248. 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 other trail
use/rail banking conditions will be imposed, where appropriate, in a
subsequent decision.
Decided: August 23, 1995.
By the Commission, David M. Konschnik, Director, Office of
Proceedings.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-21636 Filed 8-30-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7035-01-P
