West Central Ohio Port AuthorityAbandonment Exemptionin Clark County, OH; The Indiana and Ohio Central Railroad Company, Inc. Discontinuance of Service Exemptionin Clark County, OH

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket Nos. AB-535X and STB Docket No. AB-536X]

West Central Ohio Port Authority--Abandonment Exemption--in Clark

County, OH; The Indiana and Ohio Central Railroad Company, Inc.--

Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in Clark County, OH

West Central Ohio Port Authority (Westco) and The Indiana and Ohio

Central Railroad Company, Inc. (IOCR), have filed a notice of exemption

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

for Westco to abandon and IOCR to discontinue service over a 5.6-mile

line of railroad between milepost 123.86 at or near Glen Echo and

milepost 129.46 at the north edge of Warder Street in Springfield,

Clark County, OH. The line traverses United States Postal Zip Code

45502.1

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\1\ Westco acquired the involved line from Consolidated Rail

Corporation in West Central Ohio Port Authority--Acquisition

Exemption--Consolidated Rail Corporation, Finance Docket No. 32443

(ICC served Jan. 28, 1994).

IOCR's lease and operation of the involved line was approved in

The Indiana & Ohio Central Railroad Company, Inc.--Lease and

Operation--West Central Ohio Port Authority, Finance Docket No.

32602 (ICC served Mar. 15, 1995).

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Westco and IOCR have 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 December

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

do not involve environmental issues,2 formal 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 must be filed by

November 28, 1997. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use

conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by December 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).

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

applicants' representative: Thomas F. McFarland, Jr., McFarland &

Herman, 20 North Wacker Drive, Suite 1330, Chicago, IL 60606-2902.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,

the exemption is void ab initio.

Westco and IOCR 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 November

21, 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), Westco 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 Westco's filing of a notice of

consummation by November 18, 1998, and there are no legal or regulatory

barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically

expire.

Decided: November 12, 1997.

By the Board, Beryl Gordon, Acting Director, Office of

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97-30303 Filed 11-17-97; 8:45 am]

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