Trustees of the Cincinnati Southern RailwayAbandonment Exemptionin Hamilton County, OH; The Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway CompanyDiscontinuance of Service Exemptionin Hamilton County, OH

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-557X; STB Docket No. AB-290 (Sub-No. 187X)]

Trustees of the Cincinnati Southern Railway--Abandonment

Exemption--in Hamilton County, OH; The Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas

Pacific Railway Company--Discontinuance of Service Exemption--in

Hamilton County, OH

Trustees of the Cincinnati Southern Railway (CSR) and The

Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway Company (CNO&TP) have

filed a notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 Subpart F--Exempt

Abandonments and Discontinuances for CSR to abandon and CNO&TP to

discontinue service over a 1.2-mile line of railroad between Stations

722+19 and Stations 71+11 in Cincinnati, Hamilton County,

OH.1 The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip

Code 45202.

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\1\ CNO&TP's lease and operation of CRS's line was approved by

the Interstate Commerce Commission in The Cincinnati, New Orleans

and Texas Pacific Railway Company--Ex-Mod. Of Lease--Cincinnati

Southern Railway, Finance Docket No. 21666 (Sub-No. 1) (ICC served

Nov. 13, 1987).

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CSR and CNO&TP have certified that: (1) no local traffic has moved

over the line for at least 2 years; (2) any 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

[[Page 70842]]

(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

21, 1999, 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 January

4, 1999. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions

under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by January 11, 1999, with: Surface

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

applicants representative: James R. Paschall, General Attorney, Norfolk

Southern Corporation, Three Commercial Place, Norfolk, VA 23510-2191.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the

exemption is void ab initio.

CSR and CNO&TP have 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 24, 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), CSR 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 CSR's filing of a notice of

consummation by December 22, 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 15, 1998.

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

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98-33733 Filed 12-21-98; 8:45 am]

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