Soo Line Railroad CompanyAbandonment Exemptionin Marshall and Roberts Counties, SD

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-57 (Sub-No. 50X)]

Soo Line Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Marshall and

Roberts Counties, SD

Soo Line Railroad Company (Soo) has filed a notice of exemption

under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to abandon a

8.1mile portion of its line of railroad between milepost

228.2west of Claire City and milepost 236.3, at

the end of the track near Veblen, in Marshall and Roberts Counties, SD.

The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 57224 and

57270.

Soo has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the

line for at least 2 years; (2) any overhead traffic on the line can be

rerouted over other lines; (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 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. 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 February

10, 2000, unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that

do not involve environmental issues,1 formal expressions of

intent to file an OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2),2 and trail

use/rail banking requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by January

21, 2000. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions

under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by January 31, 2000, with: Surface

Transportation Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925

K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20423.

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\1\ 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 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.

\2\ Each offer of financial assistance must be accompanied by

the filing fee, which currently is set at $1000. See 49 CFR

1002.2(f)(25).

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A copy of any petition filed with the Board should be sent to

applicant's representative: Diane P. Gerth, Esq., Leonard, Street and

Deinard Professional Association, 150 South Fifth Street, Suite 2300,

Minneapolis, MN 55402.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,

the exemption is void ab initio.

Soo has filed an environmental report which addresses the effects

of the abandonment, if any, on the environment and historic resources.

The Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) will issue an environmental

assessment (EA) by January 14, 2000. 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 (202) 565-1545.

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), Soo 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 Soo's filing of a notice of

consummation by January 11, 2001, 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 website at

``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''

Decided: January 3, 2000.

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

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00-419 Filed 1-10-00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915-00-P