Soo Line Railroad CompanyAbandonment Exemptionin St. Louis County, MN

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-57 (Sub-No. 43X)]

Soo Line Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in St. Louis

County, MN

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

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

approximately 3.0+-mile line of railroad known as the West Duluth Line,

between milepost 465.43+ and milepost 468.43+ in West Duluth, in St.

Louis County, MN. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip

Code 55802.

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; (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

[[Page 63748]]

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 January 1, 1998, 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

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

conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by December 22, 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: Larry D. Starns, Esq., Leonard, Street &

Deinard, 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

abandonment's effects, if any, on the environment and historic

resources. The Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) will issue an

environmental assessment (EA) by December 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), 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 December 2, 1998, and there are no legal or regulatory

barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically

expire.

Decided: November 25, 1997.

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

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97-31557 Filed 12-1-97; 8:45 am]

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