Soo Line Railroad Company; Abandonment Exemption; in Dakota County, MN

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-57 (Sub-No. 45X)]

Soo Line Railroad Company; Abandonment Exemption; in Dakota

County, MN

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

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

approximately .62+/-mile line of its railroad on the Farmington

Minnesota Line between milepost 143.73+/-to milepost 144.35+/-in

Farmington, Dakota County, MN. The line traverses United States Postal

Service Zip Code 55024.

Soo has certified that: (1) No local traffic has moved over the

line for at least 2 years; (2) any overhead traffic can be 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, 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 August 16,

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 July

27, 1998. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions

under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by August 6, 1998, 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 $1000. 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 and

Deinard Professional Association, 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 July 22, 1998. 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 July 17, 1999, and there are no legal or regulatory

barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically

expire.

Board decisions and notices are available on our website at

``WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.''

Decided: July 13, 1998.

[[Page 38692]]

By the Board, Joseph H. Dettmar, Acting Director, Office of

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98-19130 Filed 7-16-98; 8:45 am]

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