Lake State Railway CompanyAbandonment Exemptionin Alpena County, MI

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-534 (Sub-No. 1X)]

Lake State Railway Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Alpena

County, MI

Lake State Railway Company (Lake State) has filed a notice of

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

its 8-mile line of railroad between milepost 0.0 near Alpena, and

milepost 8.0 near Hillman, in Alpena County, MI. The line traverses

United States Postal Service Zip Code 49707.

Lake State has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over

the line for at least 2 years; (2) there has been no overhead traffic

moving over the line during this time; (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 November

16, 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 must be filed by October

27, 1997. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions

under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by November 6, 1997, 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 $900. 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: 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.

Lake State 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 October 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

[[Page 54156]]

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), Lake State

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 Lake State's filing of a notice

of consummation by October 17, 1998, and there are no legal or

regulatory barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will

automatically expire.

Decided: October 9, 1997.

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

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97-27600 Filed 10-16-97; 8:45 am]

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