Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railroad-Abandonment Exemption-in Allegheny County, PA; Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company-Discontinuance of Service Exemption-in Allegheny County, PA, 55471 [2011-22840]

Agencies

• Surface Transportation Board
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 173 (Wednesday, September 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 55471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-22840]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB 1086X; Docket No. AB 227 (Sub-No. 12X)]


Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railroad--Abandonment Exemption--in 
Allegheny County, PA; Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company--
Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in Allegheny County, PA

    Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railroad (PWV) and Wheeling & Lake Erie 
Railway Company (WLE) (collectively, applicants), have jointly filed a 
verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR pt. 1152 subpart F--Exempt 
Abandonments and Discontinuances of Service for PWV to abandon, and for 
WLE to discontinue its sublease rights over, approximately 1.82 miles 
of railroad (the West End Branch) between milepost .58, near Green 
Tree, and milepost 2.4, near McKees Rocks, in Allegheny County, Pa. The 
line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Code 15220. Currently, 
PWV leases the line to Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR), which in 
turn subleases the line to WLE, which operates it.\1\
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    \1\ Citing Wheeling Acquisition Corp.--Acquisition & Operation 
Exemption--Lines of Norfolk & Western Railway, FD 31591 et al. (ICC 
served Dec. 28, 1990), applicants assert that it is not necessary 
for NSR, as the current lessee of the line from PWV, to seek 
discontinuance authority as it is no longer a common carrier on the 
line.
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    Applicants have certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over 
the line for at least 2 years; (2) there is no overhead traffic that 
needs to be rerouted; and (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. Applicants have further certified 
that 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.
    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) has been received, this exemption will be 
effective on October 7, 2011, 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 requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by 
September 19, 2011. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use 
conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by September 27, 2011, 
with the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, 
DC 20423-0001.
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    \2\ The Board will grant a stay if an informed decision on 
environmental issues (whether raised by a party or by the Board's 
Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) in its independent 
investigation) 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.
    \3\ Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing fee, which is 
currently set at $1,500. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).
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    A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to 
applicants' representative: Michael J. Barron, Jr., Fletcher & Sippel 
LLC, 29 N. Wacker Dr., Suite 920, Chicago, IL 60606.
    If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, 
the exemption is void ab initio.
    PWV has filed a combined environmental and historic report that 
addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment and discontinuance on 
the environment and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental 
assessment (EA) by September 12, 2011. Interested persons may obtain a 
copy of the EA by writing to OEA (Room 1100, Surface Transportation 
Board, 395 E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001) or by calling OEA 
at (202) 245-0305. Assistance for the hearing impaired is available 
through the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) 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), PWV 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 PWV's filing of a notice of 
consummation by September 7, 2012, 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 https://www.stb.dot.gov.

    Decided: September 1, 2011.

    By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of 
Proceedings.
Raina S. White,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2011-22840 Filed 9-6-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P