Kansas Southwestern Railway, L.L.C.Abandonment Exemptionin Reno, Pratt and Stafford Counties, KS

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-437 (Sub-No. 2X)]

Kansas Southwestern Railway, L.L.C.--Abandonment Exemption--in

Reno, Pratt and Stafford Counties, KS

Kansas Southwestern Railway, L.L.C. (KSW) has filed a notice of

exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to

abandon an approximately 64.27-mile line of railroad on the Iuka Branch

between milepost 609.97, at Olcott and milepost 630.13 at Iuka, and the

portion of its Stafford Branch between milepost 610.0, at Olcott and

milepost 654.11 at Radium, in Reno, Pratt and Stafford Counties, KS.

The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 67121, 67583,

67578, 67545, 67577, 67571, 67569 and 67066.

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

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

handled on the line during that period; (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 January

27, 1999, 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 January

7, 1999. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions

under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by January 19, 1999, with: Surface

Transportation Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925

K Street, NW, 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: Karl Morell, Ball Janik LLP, 1455 F St.,

NW., Suite 225, Washington, DC 20005. If the verified notice contains

false or misleading information, the exemption is void ab initio.

KSW 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 31, 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

[[Page 71538]]

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), KSW 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 KSW's filing of a notice of

consummation by December 28, 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: December 14, 1998.

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

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98-33571 Filed 12-24-98; 8:45 am]

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