Illinois Central Railroad CompanyAbandonment Exemptionin Forrest and Lamar Counties, MS

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-43 (Sub-No. 170X)]

Illinois Central Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in

Forrest and Lamar Counties, MS

Illinois Central Railroad Company (IC) has filed a notice of

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

1.94 miles of its line of railroad, known as the Hattiesburg-Varnado

Switch, between milepost MH-3.06 near Hattiesburg, and milepost MH-5.00

near Varnado Switch, in Forrest and Lamar Counties, MS.

IC 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 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 May 30, 1997, 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 \3\ must be filed

by May 12, 1997. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use

conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by May 20, 1997, with:

Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, Surface Transportation

Board, 1925 K Street, NW., 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 $900. See 49 CFR

1002.2(f)(25).

\3\ The Board will accept late-filed trail use requests as long

as the abandonment has not been consummated and the abandoning

railroad is willing to negotiate an agreement.

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

applicant's representative: Anne E. Keating, General Solicitor,

Illinois Central Railroad Company, 455 North Cityfront Plaza Drive,

20th Floor, Chicago, IL 60611.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,

the exemption is void ab initio.

IC 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 May 5, 1997. 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), IC 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 IC's filing of a notice of consummation by April

30, 1998, and there are no legal or regulatory barriers to

consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically expire.

Decided: April 22, 1997.

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

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97-11032 Filed 4-28-97; 8:45 am]

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