Union Pacific Railroad CompanyAbandonmentWallace Branch, ID

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. AB-33 (Sub-No. 70)]

Union Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment--Wallace Branch, ID

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Draft Supplemental Environmental

Assessment and Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board's (Board's) Section of

Environmental Analysis (SEA) has prepared, and now asks for public

review and comment on, a Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment

(Draft Supplemental EA) to complete the environmental review process

under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for this rail

abandonment proceeding.

DATES: Written comments on the Draft Supplemental EA are due February

22, 2000 (45 days).

ADDRESSES: Send an original and 10 copies to Vernon A. Williams, Office

of the Secretary, Room 711, Surface Transportation Board, 1925 K

Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20423-0001, to the attention of Phillis

Johnson-Ball. Please refer to Docket No. AB-33 (Sub-

[[Page 1227]]

No. 70) in all correspondence addressed to the Board.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Phillis Johnson-Ball, (202) 565-1530

(TDD for the hearing impaired (202) 565-1695). Additional information

is contained in the Draft Supplemental EA. To obtain a copy of the

Draft Supplemental EA, contact D.C. News & Data, 1925 K Street, NW,

Washington, D.C. 20423, phone (202) 289-4357 or visit the Board's

website at ``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV''.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Draft Supplemental EA addresses the

Union Pacific Railroad Company's (UP's) filings with the Board on June

18, 1999 and October 19, 1999, of environmental information required to

complete the environmental review process in this rail abandonment

proceeding in accordance with the Court's decision in State of Idaho v.

ICC, 35 F.3d 585 (D.C. Cir. 1994). UP now seeks final approval to

salvage (i.e., remove the tracks, ties, and roadbed) the rail lines

known as the Wallace-Mullan Branches (Wallace Branch) in Benewah,

Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Idaho outside of the Bunker Hill

Superfund Site (BHSS).1

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\1\ The 71.5-mile line extends from milepost 16.5 near Plummer,

to milepost 80.4, near Wallace, and then to milepost 7.6, near

Mullan, in Benewah, Kootenai, and Shoshone Counties, Idaho. The line

traverses the U.S. Postal Service zip codes 83851, 83861, 83833,

83810, 83839, 83837, 83846, and 83846. The Wallace Branch no longer

has stations because rail service has already been discontinued. The

7.9-mile section of right-of-way within the BHSS was addressed in

the BHSS Record of Decision (EPA 1992) and is not part of the

salvage proposal before the Board. Section 121(e)(1), 42 U.S.C.

9261(e)(1), relieves railroads of the requirement to obtain Board

approval to abandon the portions of rail lines within Superfund

sites if they do so in connection with remediation actions carried

out in compliance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation and Liability Act.

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To meet its obligations under NEPA, SEA has completed its

independent review of the material submitted by UP and has prepared

this Draft Supplemental EA to address UP's environmental information

and evaluate (1) whether the six environmental conditions previously

imposed by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) 2 are

met and (2) whether the environmental concerns regarding salvage

activity raised during the course of the environmental review process

have now been appropriately addressed and resolved. The document also

contains SEA's preliminary recommendations for mitigating the potential

environmental impacts from salvage activity that have been identified.

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\2\ The ICC Termination Act of 1995 (ICCTA), which was enacted

on December 29, 1995, and took effect on January 1, 1996, abolished

the ICC and established the Board to assume some regulatory

functions involving rail transportation matters that the ICC had

administered, including the functions involving the abandonment of

rail service at issue here. The ICC's six environmental conditions

required consultation and possible permitting and review by

appropriate agencies with specialized expertise prior to any salvage

activity on this line.

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Based on SEA's independent evaluation of all the available

information, SEA preliminarily concludes that the material provided by

UP is sufficient to satisfy five of the six environmental conditions

imposed by the ICC to ensure that, prior to salvage of the line, the

potential significance of environmental effects related to the proposed

track salvage will have been properly evaluated.3

Furthermore, SEA concludes, based on the available information and the

input of other agencies and government entities with specialized

expertise, that if UP complies with the mitigation in the Engineering

Evaluation/Cost Analysis and the Track Salvage Work Plan that were

issued and approved by EPA, and the Biological Assessment prepared by

UP and approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and if the

additional mitigation SEA recommends in this Draft Supplemental EA is

imposed and implemented by UP, UP's proposal to salvage the Wallace

Branch would not have significant adverse environmental impacts.

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\3\ The only condition that has not yet been satisfied is the

ICC's Environmental Condition No. 6, involving historic

preservation. SEA recommends that the Board impose a modified

historic preservation condition on any decision approving salvage to

ensure completion of the historic review process.

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SEA encourages the general public and interested agencies,

government entities, and parties to participate in the environmental

review of UP's salvage proposal by commenting on this Draft

Supplemental EA during the 45-day comment period which ends February

22, 2000. SEA seeks public input on all aspects of this Draft

Supplemental EA, as well as on the Board's environmental review

process, so that SEA can assess public concerns and issues related to

the UP proposal and determine whether additional environmental analysis

and mitigation are necessary to analyze and effectively mitigate the

potential environmental impacts that could occur as a result of track

salvage activity on this line.

SEA will fully consider all comments that it receives in preparing

final environmental recommendations to the Board, which will be based

on further documentation and analysis, if any is needed. The Board then

will consider the entire environmental record, the Draft Supplemental

EA, all public comments, and SEA's Post EA recommendations, including

SEA's final recommended environmental mitigation before issuing a

decision either granting or denying UP final authority to salvage the

portion of the Wallace Branch outside of the BHSS. In that decision, if

UP's proposal is approved, the Board will impose any environmental

conditions it deems appropriate.

By the Board, Elaine K. Kaiser, Chief, Section of Environmental

Analysis.

Vernon A. Williams.

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00-418 Filed 1-6-00; 8:45 am]

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