Warren & Trumbull Railroad CompanyDiscontinuance of Service Exemptionin Trumbull County, OH and Economic Development II Rail CorporationAbandonment Exemptionin Trumbull County, OH

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-513 (Sub-No. 1X)] and [STB Docket No. AB-530 (Sub-

No. 1X)]

Warren & Trumbull Railroad Company--Discontinuance of Service

Exemption--in Trumbull County, OH and Economic Development II Rail

Corporation--Abandonment Exemption--in Trumbull County, OH

Warren & Trumbull Railroad Company, Inc. (WTRC) and Economic

Development II Rail Corporation (EDRC-II) have filed a notice of

exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F--Exempt Abandonments and

Discontinuances for WTRC to discontinue service over and EDRC-II to

abandon, a 2.5-mile line of railroad from milepost 89.1 at the DeForest

Junction Station to milepost 91.6 at the North Warren Station, in the

city of Warren, Trumbull County, OH.1 The line traverses

United States Postal Zip codes 44481, 44482, 44483, 44484 and 44485.

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\1\ The involved line segment was approved for abandonment in

CSX Transportation, Inc.--Abandonment--Between Deforest Junction and

North Warren in Trumbull County, OH, ICC Docket No. AB-55 (Sub-No.

449) (ICC served Feb. 12, 1993).

EDRC-II entered into an agreement providing for WTRC to

reactivate and operate the line. See The Warren & Trumbull Railroad

Company--Operation Exemption--Rail Line in Trumbull County, OH,

Finance Docket No. 32438 (ICC served Jan. 14, 1994).

EDRC-II acquired the involved line from Consolidated Rail

Corporation in Economic Development Rail II Corporation--Acquisition

Exemption--Lines of Consolidated Rail Corporation, STB Finance

Docket No. 32768 (STB served Apr. 15, 1996).

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WTRC and EDRC-II have certified that: (1) no local traffic has

moved over the line for at least 2 years; (2) any overhead traffic has

been rerouted over other, parallel tracks; (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 September

18, 1997, unless stayed pending reconsideration. Petitions to stay that

do not involve environmental issues,2 formal

[[Page 44171]]

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 4 must be filed by August 29, 1997. Petitions to

reopen or requests for public use conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must

be filed by September 8, 1997, with: Office of the Secretary, Case

Control Unit, Surface Transportation Board, 1925 K Street, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20423.

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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

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.

\3\ 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).

\4\ 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 representatives: Kelvin J. Dowd, Esq., Slover & Loftus, 1224

Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,

the exemption is void ab initio.

WTRC and EDRC-II have filed an environmental report which addresses

the effects of the abandonment and discontinuance, if any, on the

environment and historic resources. The Section of Environmental

Analysis (SEA) will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by August

22, 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), EDRC-II 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 EDRC-II's filing of a notice of

consummation by August 19, 1998, and there are no legal or regulatory

barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically

expire.

Decided: August 13, 1997.

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

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97-21957 Filed 8-18-97; 8:45 am]

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