Pioneer Valley Railroad Company, Inc.Abandonment Exemptionin Hampshire County, MA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB-531 (Sub-No. 1X)]

Pioneer Valley Railroad Company, Inc.--Abandonment Exemption--in

Hampshire County, MA

Pioneer Valley Railroad Company (PVRR) has filed a notice of

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

an approximately 4.6-mile line of railroad from milepost 9.4 near

Easthampton to milepost 14.0 at Mount Tom, in Hampshire County, MA. The

line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Code 01027.

PVRR has certified that: (1) no local traffic has moved over the

line for at least 2 years; (2) any overhead traffic formerly handled on

the line 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, 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 April 17,

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 March

30, 1998. Petitions to reopen or requests for public use conditions

under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by April 7, 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 $900. See 49 CFR

1002.2(f)(25). This fee is scheduled to increase to $1000, effective

March 20, 1998.

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

applicant's representative: Thomas J. Litwiler, Oppenheimer Wolff &

Donnelly, Two Prudential Plaza, 45th Floor, 180 North Stetson Avenue,

Chicago, IL 60601.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information,

the exemption is void ab initio.

PVRR 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 March 23, 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), PVRR 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 PVRR's filing of a notice of

consummation by March 18, 1999, and there are no legal or regulatory

barriers to consummation, the authority to abandon will automatically

expire.

Decided: March 10, 1998.

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

Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98-6852 Filed 3-17-98; 8:45 am]

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